Counter offers are one on the hardest things to deal with throughout you career. They can destroy any carefully made plans and leave people feeling very confused and slightly flattered. While counter-offers may be tempting and even flattering, as with any business deal there are a number of pitfalls that you need to be aware of.
Companies are never happy to lose good sales staff, especially to a rival company and it can have a massive impact of a team’s sales figures and bonuses. If you employer knows you are looking to leave they are could be under pressure to find someone as soon as possible once you have left, but if they are able to keep hold of you with a counter offer then they can spend as much time as they require finding your perfect replacement before showing you the door. Statistics show that if you accept a counter offer, it is highly likely you will be looking for new jobs again within 6 months
By accepting a counter offer your employer knows they have someone on board who is unhappy and who’s loyalty will now be highly questionable. An important question to ask yourself is why did your current company wait for you to hand in your notice before they decided to offer you a salary increase or an improved role? Is it because your manager genuinely does value you, in which case why didn’t they do it sooners, or because they are worried about how your departure could affect their bonus!? Whilst this may seem harsh and underhand a number of candidates have discovered that this was the only reason they were kept on. When promotion time comes around, your manager will remember who was loyal, and who wasn’t.
Something you need to ask yourself is where is the increase in money coming from? Is it an early pay rise which everyone will be getting soon anyway or an advance on your bonus? You could find your bonus structure has been completely gutted to fund the increase in a basic salary and you may be worse off financially then before!
Should the company find itself in tough times and cut backs are required and with a salary that could be seen as inflated and with evidence showing a lack of commitment and loyalty you may be the first to go, even before colleagues who are not performing as highly.
As attractive as counter-offers may appear, they can greatly decrease your chances of achieving your career potential. You may find that the reasons that you were looking for a new role could arise again in the near future and your company is likely to being looking for your replacement immediately, in case you decide to resign again.
