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Counter
Offers
BEWARE
OF COUNTEROFFERS
A Guide for Candidates
A recruiter has approached you, or you've answered an ad in the
paper. Or, a colleague you spoke with at an association meeting,
shared information that caused you to look into another
opportunity. You've gone through the interviewing process and
received a great offer-and a better opportunity with a better
company. You've analyzed and agonized over the decision to leave
your current (good or bad) job, for what appears to be a better
one, and you've accepted (or decided to accept) the offer.
However, upon resigning, your current boss asks you to stay and
made you a counteroffer. Career changes are tough enough as it
is, and anxieties about leaving a comfortable job, friends and
location and having to reprove yourself again in an unknown
opportunity can cloud the best logic. But just because the new
position is a little scary doesn't mean it's not a positive
move. Since counteroffers can create confusion and buyer's
remorse, you should understand what's being cast upon you.
Counteroffers are typically made as
some form of flattery, e.g.:
-
"You're
too valuable. We need you."
-
"You
can't desert the team/your friends and leave them
hanging."
-
"We
were just about to give you a promotion/raise, and it was
confidential until now."
-
"What
did they offer? Why are you leaving? and what do you need in
order to stay?"
-
"Why
would you want to work for that company?"
-
"The
President/CEO wants to meet with you before you make your
final decision."
Counteroffers
usually take the form of more money:
-
A
promotion/more responsibility
-
A
modified reporting structure
-
Promises
or future considerations
-
Disparaging
remarks about the new company or job
-
Guilt
trips
Of
course, since we all prefer to think we're #1, it's natural to
want to believe these manipulative appeals, but beware!!!
Accepting a counteroffer is often the wrong choice. THINK ABOUT
IT; If you were worth "X" yesterday, why are they
suddenly willing to pay you "X + n " today, when you
weren't expecting a raise any time soon?
Also consider how you've felt when someone resigned from your
staff. The reality is that employers don't like to be
"FIRED". Your boss is likely concerned that he'll look
bad, his career may suffer. Bosses are judged in part, by their
ability to retain staff. Your leaving may jeopardize an
important project, increase workload for others or even foul up
vacation schedules. It's never a good time for someone to quit.
It may prove time consuming and costly to replace you. It's much
cheaper to keep you, even at a slightly higher salary. And it
would be better to fire you later, in the company's time frame.
Accepting a counteroffer can have many negative consequences.
Consider: Where did the additional money or responsibility you'd
get come from? Was it your next raise or promotion - just given
early? Will you be limited in the future? Will you have to
threaten to quit in order to get your next raise? Might a
cheaper replacement be sought out?
You've demonstrated your unhappiness or lack of blind loyalty,
and will be perceived as having committed blackmail to gain a
raise. You won't ever be considered a team player again. Many
employers will hold a grudge at the next review period, and you
may be placed at the top of the next reduction-in-force
"hit list".
Apart from a short-term, band-aid treatment, nothing will change
within the company. After the dust settles from this upheaval,
you'll be in the same old rut. A rule of thumb among recruiters
is that more than 80% of those who accept counteroffers leave,
or are terminated, within six to 12 months. And half of those
who accept counteroffers reinitiate their job searches within 90
days.
Finally, when you make your decision, look at your current job
and the new position as if you were unemployed. Which
opportunity holds the most real potential? Probably the new
one-or you wouldn't have accepted it in the first place.
Beware
of Counteroffers!
They'll beg you to stay now... and give you the boot later!
*Part of the above material was taken from an article by R.
Gaines Baty
© 1995-1998 CS ASSOCIATES, LLC, which appeared in the National
Business Employment Weekly.
TEN
REASONS FOR NOT ACCEPTING A COUNTER OFFER
-
What
type of company do you work for if you have to threaten to
resign before they give you what you are worth?
-
Where
is the money for the counteroffer coming from? Is it your
next raise early? All companies have strict wage and salary
guidelines, which must be followed.
-
Your
company will immediately start looking for a new person at a
cheaper price.
-
You
have now made your employer aware that you are unhappy. From
this day on, your loyalty will always be in question.
-
When
promotion time comes around, your employer will remember who
was loyal and who wasn't.
-
When
times get tough, your employer will begin the cutback with
you.
-
The
same circumstances that now cause you to consider a change
will repeat themselves in the future; even if you accept a
counteroffer.
-
Statistics
show that if you accept a counteroffer, the probability of
voluntarily leaving in six months or being let go within one
year is extremely high.
-
Accepting
a counteroffer is an insult to your intelligence and a blow
to your personal pride; knowing that you were bought.
-
Once
the word gets out, the relationship that you now enjoy with
your co-workers will never be the same. You will lose the
personal satisfaction of peer group acceptance.
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