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.
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