Why you shouldn’t accept counter-offers

Written by: Chane da Costa

“You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety”, a quote by Abraham Maslow that certainly supports this blog post. Many job seekers often go for a counter offer without considering the consequences and realising the damage it may cause their reputation. The fact is that within a year, 90% of candidates that accept counter-offers are no longer in the position counter offered. Whatever your reason may be, if you are looking for a new job, ensure that you are serious about the change and that you are not looking for any counter-offers.

The 8 poisons of a Counter-Offer

I am not saying that all counter-Offers are bad, but majority of the time they do have a negative effect on the candidate and here is why:

1.       Employers often offer counter-offers in a panic or stressful situation. Once the situation is in relief, they often keep you on board until they can find a replacement for you. Once they have found a replacement they will most likely look for ways to make you leave the company.

2.       If you are not leaving because of remuneration and your employers make a counter-offer or a promise to keep you there, if it didn’t happen in the past what ensures you that these promises will actually happen?

3.       If your reason for leaving is remuneration, you need to ask yourself one question: Why am I worth more now, than what I was worth 15 minutes ago? Your employer knows how much you worth and if they have the correct values in place, they will not provide you with a salary less than what you deserve.

4.       It is also easier and cheaper to provide employees with counter-offers than having to recruit, train and teach them the ropes of the company. It costs a lot of time and money to replace a great candidate and get them settled in the company.

5.       Your reputation has been damaged. Your will be known as the person who wanted to leave and your employer might suspect you wanting to leave a few months down the line. The employers trust in you may be questioned and your position in the inner circle will be jeopardised. In the end, accepting a counter-offer will leave you worse off than what you were.

6.       You are also labelled as a fidelity risk to the company.  The lack of loyalty by searching for a new position will keep your employers on the radar and when the company is experiencing any hardship, you will be the first person they let go.

7.       You run the risk of damaging your personal brand with the company you received the first offer from. You have wasted their time going through the recruitment process and your chances of not getting another offer from them are high. It is import not to burn bridges and become blacklisted as a bad recruit with any future employer that you may come into contact with.

8.       Using an offer as a bluff in the hopes to receive a counter offer is dangerous and may leave you jobless. Employers only propose a counter-offer when a resignation letter has been received.

In searching for a new job you have already decided you want to leave and are unhappy in your current position. The chances of the situation changing are very unlikely and it is better to move on. A good employer wants to see their employees grow and prosper. You will receive a promotion or increase in due course. If you feel like you are at a ceiling in your position, your relationship with your employer should be open enough to tell him/her that you need something more challenging. It is important not to get greedy and compare your situations to others.

As a recruiter I have seen many candidates looking for new employment after 6 months. If this is the case, as an employee you need understand that a your employer needs at least a year or more to gain trust in your and experiment with how much responsibility they can hand over to you. It is important to remember to also give your employer a chance.

Candidates need to remember that it is difficult to leave what you know for what you don’t know. If you are comfortable with constant job change, you also need to be careful of becoming a “job hopper”. Job hoppers are candidates who show relative trends in their employment history of only working for companies for 6month/1 year/2 years. HR personnel are very sceptical about job hoppers as they do not want to hire staff who last for less than 2 years. They are looking for loyal employees who live and believe in their brand.