Counter Offers

For this weeks TAG Talks I’d like to share our thoughts on "Counter Offers".

Let’s assume you’ve been exploring a new role and after several rounds of interviews, you’ve reached the final step and have received an offer. You’ve reviewed the offer, signed and executed it, and all your references and background checks are completed. The final step as you begin your new chapter, is to resign from your current employer. It’s at this point that the potential for a counter offer may become a reality.

Here are a few stat’s that we should all be aware of, as pertaining to counter offers.

About 50% of candidates will receive a counter offer from their current employer, and about 57% of them will accept it. This is a particularity scary stat to head hunters as it tells us that about one quarter of the deals we work on will result in our candidate accepting a counter offer, and therefore, us not being able to make a placement. Or in more simple terms, not being able to send our clients an invoice for said placement.

Perhaps more importantly though, our clients have invested hours in multiple meeting and interviews and in many cases, have opened their proverbial doors to someone they felt would be joining their team; only to learn that they have accepted a counter offer. Needless to say it often leaves a sour taste in a clients mouth, one which rarely fades away and can often haunt the candidate throughout their career.

Bare in mind that on average, it takes 1 to 3 months to get to this point, with countless hours of work involved and time invested; by all parties involved. On a personal note, I’ve had searches for senior executive roles that have lasted well over a year, so a counter offer in this case would be heart breaking to say the least.

Of the aforementioned candidates that do accept a counter offer, about 60% of them will be terminated within 90 days. Think of it this way. You have effectively told your current employer that you are active in the job market and that for the right offer, you are a flight risk. Any prudent business leader will interpret this risk as one that needs to be mitigated and as a result, will call someone like me to help them pre-emptively find your replacement.

Let’s assume you have survived the 90 day mark without being fired; about 80% of candidates that accept a counter offer will in fact end up resigning within 6 months, and if we stretch this out a bit longer the attrition rate at 12 months climbs to a staggering 90%.

So those are the numbers and for the most part, the numbers don’t lie. Let’s take a slightly more philosophical look at counter offers. I’ll use cell phone providers as an example as they do tend to be the most frequent culprits of what I am about to share.

I’m sure we can all relate to a time when you called your current provider and expressed how unhappy or dissatisfied you were, either with the service levels being provided, or the costs involved in being with that carrier. In so many cases what is the typical response?

They offer you more service, more features, more hardware or more upgrades and all at a reduced price. The question is this. Why then does it take the threat of losing you as a customer for your provider to step up and show you how valuable you are to them? Why doesn’t that very same provider call you arbitrarily and make those very same offers, without being under duress? I don’t know about you, but for me, I prefer to know that without a doubt, I am of value; both personally and professionally.

Now apply that same example to your current employer, as it pertains to a counter offer, which for the sake of this conversation we assume is more of something than you are currently receiving. Ignore the obviousness of the numbers and simply consider, why is it that you resigning inspires an offer implying that you are suddenly of greater value, and why wasn’t that offer made arbitrarily prior to your resignation?

If you are active in the job market, and if you are interviewing, do not do so lightly. Long before your potential resignation, consider what we have just shared and what your value proposition to yourself is. And if you find yourself being presented with a counter offer, graciously decline it and embark on a new chapter in your career; hopefully one where your value is never a mystery.

That’s it for this weeks TAG Talks. We really appreciate you investing the time to read and share this article. Please remember; surround yourself with exceptional people.?