5 reasons why you shouldn’t accept them
It may seem to be the best of both worlds…………….you’ve interviewed and been successful in securing a new role.....GREAT, you resign and then your current employer counter offers.....WOW, now you have two companies fighting to get you on their team!
Clearly this is very flattering - check you out you smashed it, so popular and in demand……! However, the truth is, this puts you in a difficult position. You really need to think very carefully before deciding and in most cases my advice would be to not accept the counter offer.
- You’ve only received it because you resigned! It is a purely reactive tactic from your employer and should make you wonder whether you need to resign every time you want to improve your situation. Why didn’t they value your contribution in the first place?
- Your reasons for wanting to leave still exist! You may have several reasons – salary, benefits, no promotion on the horizon, don’t like your boss, hours too long – there are various. You may be offered more money to stay, it’s tempting “better the devil you know” but if you still have other issues, you’ll probably end up leaving anyway! Salary is hardly ever the prime or only motivator for resigning – more money won’t ultimately change anything about your job role/company.
- Statistics show that if you accept a counter offer, there is a 90% chance you will be out of the job within six months. ( https://www.careerprofiles.com/)
- You could lose both jobs. Be careful not to push things too far or too hard. If you are banking on using an offer from another company just to get more money out of your own employer, you’re playing a very dangerous game. Your boss may just walk you out. The same goes for the offering company if they feel you are using a counter offer to get more out of them - the offer may well be withdrawn.
- Your employer now knows you’re unhappy. From now on your commitment to them will be in question. Do you really have a dentist appointment? Wow don’t you look particularly smart today!? How can they truly trust you? You may now be overlooked for promotion, or not asked to be involved in specific projects, as your loyalty is in doubt.
We have seen a huge increase in counter offers this year, it’s a competitive marketplace particularly in areas where there are skill shortages so your employer really does not need the added time and cost of hiring your replacement and remember if they value you and your contribution – surely they would be showing you that already!
