Career Resources: Articles and Advice from the Recruiter

IMPLICATIONS OF A COUNTER OFFER

One of the most dangerous pitfalls in the employment process is the allure of a counter offer from your current employer. Studies conducted by management consulting firms have identified that the acceptance of a counter offer is often damaging to one's career. Statistically, a high percentage of individuals who accept a counter offer will leave their employer within six months. Here are the dynamics:

• Counter offers are extended because you have threatened to leave. Once that threat (the other company) is removed, how will you be regarded? After someone has interviewed outside of the company, they are rarely accepted as an insider or part of the “inner circle.” Loyalty is questioned. “We needed him and had to buy him.” That feeling is not conducive to long-term relationships.
• Your employer has been paying you what he views you are worth. The additional income that you receive as the result of a counter offer is extended only because you have threatened to leave. Were you ever forced, out of necessity, to pay more for something than you thought it was worth? How did you feel afterward?
• Why are you suddenly worth more the day you quit than you were the day before? How long have you been worth more, and will they make the increase in salary retroactive?
• Is your employer buying time by extending a counter offer? A high percentage of our replacement searches are conducted because an employer has decided to replace an individual at their convenience, and bought themselves time by extending a counter offer.
• What happens when things slow down? The employee whose loyalty is in question is often exposed to being laid off.
• Is your counter offer merely an early payment toward your next salary review or an advance of next year’s bonus? You usually find out later that it is.

Finally, if you succumb to the temptation of accepting a counter offer, will you solve the problem that prompted you to consider a new position? Probably not. Acceptance of a counter offer only puts a band aid on a more serious problem which inevitably resurfaces in the near future.