Dealing with Counter Offers

It is becoming increasingly common for employers to make promises and offers of increased compensation to employees that resign.

While counter offers may be tempting, and even flattering, they are often knee-jerk reactions made in desperation to retain you and there are certain drawbacks.

Consider the following:

• Is the counter offer and promise of more money/promotion a short-term solution to avoid an immediate inconvenience?
• Often loyalty to the company is called into question for future projects now that an employee has admitted they considered leaving the company.
• If you’ve requested increased responsibilities/promotion for some time before, why is it only now that your employer is willing to make changes when you’ve decided to leave?
• Will anything change if you’ve accepted a counter offer? More often than not the reasons that made you leave in the first place remain the same, or revert to normal after a short time.
• Have chances for promotion been hindered by handing in your notice? Again, trust and loyalty are called into question.
• If your employer is making promises to keep you there, are they putting it in writing? It may demonstrate a certain distrust to question a counter offer in this manner, however, it’s worth noting that the majority people who accept counter offers voluntarily leave their employer within six months, due to unfulfilled promises.

While counter offers may be financially attractive and alluring, because it means not breaking any ties, they can be a double-edged sword and significantly impair your chances of achieving career potential.