Counter Offers

What are they?

A counter offer sometimes happens when you tell your current company that you are leaving for a better opportunity or position. Your current employer panics and immediately offers you a raise ticker tape parade and/or increased responsibility if you stay with the company. They always tell you what you want to hear before you leave and usuaaly start the process of trying to find someone less junior than you are for you to train and replace you.

Reasons companies extend a counter offer:

• Department morale suffers when people leave.
• Employee resignations do not look good on a manager’s record.
• It is cheaper to give you a raise than it would be to recruit a new employee.
• They can give you a raise and have you stay while they search for your replacement.
• The projects you are working on will suffer delays because of your departure.
• Companies want to have a low turnover rate.
• Companies do not want sensitive or confidential information going to a competitor.
• Companies do not want skilled professionals going to competitors.

Top reasons why you should not accept one:

• You had to threaten to leave in order to receive the rewards and career path you have earned.
• All trust has been lost with your employer adn 80% of all employees who accept a counteroffer are no longer with the employer after 1 year.
• The same circumstances that now cause you to consider a change will repeat themselves in the future; even if you accept a counteroffer.
• You will be signing up again to spend 8 hours plus a day at a company that you were trying to leave.
• Aside from money, your original reasons for leaving your job will still be present after accepting a counter offer.
• The money extended to you in the counter offer often comes out of your next raise or bonus. Companies usually have strict guidelines about salary increases and promotions.
• You will not be considered a loyal employee from here on out; therefore, you will not be included in the inner circle.
• When promotion time comes around, managers remember who has tried to leave the company already, and who is likely to be there for years to come.
• If the company hits rough waters, you will be the first to be let go.
• Often, when you accept a counter offer, your manager will already be looking for your replacement.
• Statistically, four out of five employees who accept a company’s counter offer end up leaving that company within 6 to 9 months anyway.