Should You Accept the Counteroffer?

Have you ever received a counteroffer, the chances are you have and if you haven’t you either have never handed in your notice or you will receive a counteroffer in the future.

The reality of the modern working environment is that counteroffers are part and parcel of business, but have you ever thought about the reasons why counteroffers are so unsuccessful? Like all relationships, whether this is work, friends, or family; when trust is broken, it is at best very hard to repair, or in most scenarios impossible to repair.

But the truth of the matter—from speaking with hundreds of hiring managers—is, they feel they have been put in an uncomfortable position and the counteroffer is an option only for several reasons: easiest option, cheapest option and project work but they highlighted that they would overlook this employee for promotion, and they would start looking for a replacement straight away as the counteroffer is just to buy some time.

Did you know: 80% of candidates?who accept a?counteroffer ?from their current employer end up leaving within 6 months, 9 out of 10 will leave within 12 months & 50% will be actively looking within 60 days.

“If I do a job in 30 minutes, it’s because I spent 10 years learning how to do that in 30 minutes. You owe me for the years, not the minutes.”

The reasons you want to leave have not changed, the cost to your employer to replace you will be up to 213% of your annual salary. (That's why they are counter offering, you are the cheapest option.) Your?value ?should not be based on what another company offers you, you should be valued based on the work you are doing.

I have carried out a couple of polls on LinkedIn over the last year and the results are overwhelming in favour of NOT accepting a counteroffer and I also received numerous messages from managers stating that they would never counteroffer to an employee once they have decided to hand in their notice.

495 people responded to the question: “Should you accept a counteroffer?”

• ?No, you should NOT accept a Counteroffer?????????????????????????????82% NO
• Yes, you should accept a Counteroffer ????????????????????????????????????18% YES

Here are a few questions to ask yourself before considering a counteroffer:

• Why are you leaving?
• Will things change?
• How will your relationship be affected with your manager?
• Will you be considered for a promotion?
• Is your job now safe?
• Why are you not being paid what you are worth?
• Will you be losing an opportunity?

“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make” – Lewis Carroll

by @Harry Merrigan (IT Recruitment Consultant - Cloud, Security, and Infrastructure)