Are you currently considering a counter offer? Make sure you have thought about these 5 points...
We have seen an increase in counter offers being made and accepted and although at the time it seems as though the outcome has been positive when accepting a counter offer, often that candidate who accepted the counter offer is back on the market and looking to move again within 6 months.
In this article we are not going to tell you that you shouldn’t accept a counter offer, it’s not our place to tell candidates what to do. Our role is to help you find a role that meets your requirements and career aspirations and offer advice and insight into the opportunities available to help you make the right decision for your career.
In this article we share some areas to consider if you are currently going though the process of a counter offer, currently going through the application process for a new role or simply just considering your job options, so you are prepared for a counter off and ultimately make the right decision when the time comes.
So here are the things we think are important to consider when in a position of being counter offered…
1. Why did you make the decision to move in the first place?
The first thing to think about when being counter offered is “why did you actually make the decision to move in the first place”. Knowing your reasons will make it far easier to make a decision on either accepting or rejecting the offer. If it’s purely a financial reason, then we always suggest having a conversation with your manager before you go down the route of finding a new job. At the point of a counter offer, there is an element of broken trust on both sides, which isn’t a good recipe for a healthy relationship. So you may have got what you wanted, but often at the expense of your working relationship with your manager/employer.
2. Does the counter offer solve the issues?
Once you have thought about and considered the reason why you wanted to move in the first place, you now have to consider if the counter offer is actually going to solve the issues. If it is a management style, culture or values issue, then it will be very difficult to actually change these things. So if you are being told this is something the business will address, will it actually change and how long are you willing to wait to see if it will change? Remember, you have an offer from a company that want you and they may not be as interested in the future if you reject them, as they will feel like they have been messed around.
3. Why has it taken you to hand in your notice for your manager to act?
This is always an interesting point to consider. It’s not necessarily about if you are valued or not, it’s more about the style of management and how that style is potentially holding your career progression and development back. If you aren’t having regular catchups or structured conversations throughout the year about you, your development and your progression, then do you really want to be managed by someone who isn’t invested in you and committed to developing you?
4. The shine will come off the apple pretty quickly
As we regularly see, the shine of the counter offer does often come off and the candidate is then left in the same position 3, 4, 5, 6 or even 12 months after they have accepted the counter offer. Think long term and not a quick fix that papers over the cracks and doesn’t actually solve the real reason for your unhappiness in your current role. Be bold and don't be nervous about change!
5. Get the counter offer in writing
Lastly and the most important thing to do… get the counter offer in writing. If your manager gets awkward about this or doesn’t commit to putting it in writing then you have your answer… they are not fully committed and there is no certainty the counter will actually come to fruition. It comes down to trust… do you trust your manager to follow through if the counter offer isn’t put in writing?
We hope this article has given you some food for thought. Accepting counter offers aren’t usually the most positive thing for you to do, as more times than not, the reasons for wanting to leave are a lot deeper than just a bit of extra money. We always suggest speaking to people you trust to help form your final decision, be that a family member/s or a friend/s.
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