Before accepting a counteroffer from your employer, consider whether you’ll be the winner or the loser in this employment manoeuvre. Although no statistics are available, many employees who give notice are receiving counteroffers from their current companies to encourage them to stay.
PART 2:
These proposals can include one or more of the following:
- A pay increase.
- A promotion and/or added responsibility.
- A promise of a future raise, promotion or other incentive.
The creation of a new, more appealing reporting structure or organisation. An employer may accompany its offer with an added motivator, such as a special call or visit from the vice president or CEO and other flattering gestures. Or it may try to manipulate a departing employee by heaping on a sense of false guilt.
Now suppose that after months of interviews and negotiations, you accept a position with a new employer. When your current company makes a counteroffer, you decide to renege and stay where you are. The popular notion is that you’re the winner. After all, you’ll be paid more money, keep your tenure and possibly receive a promotion.
Obviously, the jilted company loses.
It must restart its search from scratch. Other good prospective candidates, have long since accepted different positions or lost interest. The company has lost months of productivity and perhaps unrecoverable revenue because the position has remained unfilled for so long.
Any recruiters involved in the search lose as well.
Counteroffers are a head-hunter’s nightmare. A recruiter can lose face with a client company, a substantial amount of time and allocated resources and possibly income when a candidate backs out after accepting.
What Really Happens
If you’re considering a counteroffer, why should you care about the jilted company or the head-hunter? Aren’t you still so far ahead of the game that their misfortunes are just a small setback? Not really. In business, your reputation can be your most valuable asset. By backing out of a commitment to a prospective employer, a candidate loses all respect from the firm’s leadership.
Consider the experience of a Software company, which had recruited an executive for a Regional Manager’s role after months of searching. After the candidate accepted the offer and committed to a start date, the firm stopped its search and announced the hiring to its staff, customers, and alternate candidates, says Sterling Wilson, chief financial officer of the company. The finalist then reneged on his acceptance.
“It was devastating to our organisation and our progress,” says Mr. Wilson. By reneging, the candidate seriously jeopardised the company’s relationships and credibility, and the alternate candidates were no longer available.
“The search had to start over,” says Mr. Wilson. “It caused a serious momentum loss for us, and didn’t reflect well on the candidate personally.
On the other side of the Counter Offer
The current employer who gains back its staffer may seem to be the big winner. Initially, it may appear to lose ground because of the pay increase or promotion it extends. However, these costs are minimal compared to the loss of momentum on a project or the expense of recruiting a replacement.
Firstly – winning back an employee is only a short-term fix, and the move may ultimately cause worse personnel issues. First, the company’s relationship with the employee is never the same. Most employees who accept counteroffers leave within six to 12 months, merely deferring their inevitable replacement. “We know the person is mentally ‘out-the-door’ and it’s probable that he or she will leave in the not-too-distant future anyway,” says a former partner of a Big-Five consulting firm. “We never quite trust them, and immediately begin contingency planning for a replacement………..on our timeframe.”
Secondly – the line of previously loyal employees threatening to leave to gain a raise begins forming at the door. “If someone isn’t committed to being here, it compromises our team and causes broad, negative ramifications far greater than losing that person,” Ultimately, the integrity of the employer, manager, and indecisive recruit can all be irreversibly damaged.
Keep your career on track. Submit a courteous, positive and final resignation letter that leaves no room for discussion. By behaving honourably, you may have the option or re-employment with the company or to join a former boss elsewhere later on. You’ll also have the chance to start a promising new role with additional challenges, an expanded network, an untarnished reputation, and a clear conscience. Everybody wins.
