You’ve decided to leave your current role and have found a new position elsewhere. When you hand in your notice at your current job you get a counter offer to stay on. Your employer will have spent a lot of money on your training and development and may decide you’re too good to lose. Offers vary but they’ll no doubt offer you a pay rise, a promotion, or more flexible working hours. This offer may sound too good to be true and it probably is.
Any counter offer you receive must address all your frustrations with the job. If it doesn’t then the same problems are going to pop up again in the future. Over 80% of people who do accept a counter offer leave within nine months anyway. They either leave voluntarily or are let go by their employer. Really ask yourself if it’s worth it for a few extra pounds in your paycheck.
The fact is, it’s going to cost your employer a lot less to keep hold of you than it is to train someone new in your position. A pay rise may sound attractive now but may not seem so good when you get overlooked for future pay rises because of it.
There’s also your employer’s trust in you to consider. You’ve shown to them you’re not happy in your current role and have actively been looking for a new job. However much they might seem like they want you to stay now, six months or a year down the line when they find a cheaper alternative you may well be let go.
There’s a reason you wanted to leave your job, so is their new offer really good enough to make you want to stay. More money or benefits may seem tempting now but it won’t be long before you’re back to where you started, wishing you’d taken that new job when you had the chance.
If you do accept the counter offer, don’t expect to be offered a job by the employer you let down ever again. By rejecting them after you’d accepted a position they’ll see you as untrustworthy and won’t consider you again in the future. It will also give the same impression to your existing employer who won’t trust you not to jump ship at the next opportunity.
Counter offers may sound good on paper but you need to think about the reasons you wanted to leave in the first place. Decide whether it’s really worth giving up the chance to leave for a new role. Now they know you want to leave your employer will be looking to replace you with a cheaper alternative as soon as they can.
If a counter offer does seem too good to turn down then make sure you get it in writing. And realise that it’s going to put you on the back foot in any future negotiations over pay or progression in the company.