Accept a counteroffer or not?
 

I have a job offer that's generous. The recruiter working with me sent me a document written by industry experts that advised never accept a counteroffer. I've listed some of their reasons below. I tried resigning today but my manager refused to accept it. I am meeting with our VP tomorrow to discuss their counteroffer. Not sure what to do. Of course I know the recruiter's advice is self-serving but it does have some merit. What are you thoughts about this?

• Any situation is suspect if an employee must receive an outside offer before the present employer will suggest a raise, promotion or better working conditions.
• No matter what the company says when making it's counteroffer, you'll always be a fidelity risk. Having once demonstrated your lack of loyalty (for whatever reason), you will lose your status as a team player and your place in the inner circle.
• Counteroffers are usually nothing more than stall devices to give your employer time to replace you. Your reasons for wanting to leave still exist. They'll just be slightly more tolerable in the short term because of the raise, promotion or promises made to keep you.
• Counteroffers are only made in response to a threat to quit. Will you have to solicit an offer and threaten to quit every time you deserve better working conditions?
• By accepting a counteroffer, you have committed the unprofessional and unethical sin of breaking your commitment to the prospective employer making the offer.
• Decent and well-managed companies don't make counteroffers...EVER! Their policies are fair and equitable. They will never be subjected to counteroffer coercion, which they perceive as blackmail.

I always felt that a counteroffer meant that they didn't value me untill I left. Never accepted, never will.

It is also a fact that most people who accept counteroffers change employers within a year from accepting the offer.

No "Industry Expert" by any means, but here are a few counterpoints to your counteroffer recruiter guy (blue = mine):

I'm with Eric - sounds like your recruiter does not know his stuff as well as he is making out.

At the end of the day, only you now why you were willing to leave. If they fix that and make you a counter offer that makes it worth staying (position and money) then go ahead and stay. Point out that the cost of replacing you can be 20% of the first years salary.

In today's work climate you are a lucky person - you have a choice of jobs!! Best of luck to you.

Tim

I'd take the money and stay.

The only reason I would make a counter offer is to keep the employee around long enough to replace him, and only then if there is no way I can't get along without him for a few months. If my guy is unhappy with any part of our salary, benefits, corporate culture, working conditions etc and he hasn't talked to me about it, I'll assume he's always been looking for the place with the greenest grass and my shop was always just a stop on the way. I'll wish him good luck. And wave.

I'm not big on counter offers for several reasons. I'd always be worried that the current company may feel, "we're paying him more now, we expect more out of him." If I'm already working hard, and feel that I'm not making industry standard compensation, I'm not sure why they'd expect more.

I usually don't give my notice until I have an offer letter from the new employer. Also, usually at that point they've at least gotten a verbal acceptance of the offer from me. So yes, I'd have to go back on my word to stay.

I'd always be worried that if the existing company wanted to shore-up the bottom line, because I was making more, I would be the first cut.

Yeah, I'm not big on counter offers.

Just my .02 worth, and EACH situation is unique imo and depends upon several factors. Early in my career (IT), "my value" (and marketablility) absolutely soared compared to the compensation. It wasn't blackmail, but I stated the obvious to my manager and he wholeheartedly agreed. I was absolutely not going to stick around, but he put me on a "special" salary review schedule of every 4 months (then 6) and I stayed on for 4 more years (parting on VERY good terms). I was in the same situation fifteen years later when marketability exceeded compensation by a large %. I left as an AVP (large bank) and increased my salary by 50 percent within a couple of years. I have no regrets playing my hand either on either occasion...

I have never been in such a position, it must be nice to be wanted. As the owner/employee the only way I could get a raise would be to charge more (or work longer & harder, but after 25 years of this job I'd trying go in the other direction).
Jim

Generally speaking I agree with the above - you're at a disadvantaged position because you show your hand and that you're a free agent for whom money trumps loyalty. That said I've taken counter offers in the past and it has worked out quite well. As long as you're okay with the company knowing you view them as just a paycheck and expect to be treated as expendable labor, I don't see the downside.

The reality is being employed is kind of like dating - right from Day #1 you're covertly sizing each other up and in a bit of a game to see who's going to dump the other first... That's how it usually ends up - either the employee jumps ship when something better comes along or the company lays you off when it becomes inconvenient to keep you around. You always want to try and be the dumpER and not the dumpEE... This calls for occasionally bluffing and paying attention to what reads you get from management, etc. Speaking from personal experience I've hinted to employees that they might want to start looking elsewhere... I'd they're too dumb to pick up on it, well...

The counterpoint to the above is that if your company has kept you around after a round or two of layoffs it's obvious you're valued - reinforced by their countering at all. You're right in trying to capitalize on that and turn it into income. Best of luck.

"I just work here, and some day I won't...just like EVERYBODY else" :). A career in corporate America "can" be brutal, so it's a two-sided coin. Your CEO wants to double her salary (from 8 > 16 million in one year)??? ...literally thousands can be terminated "just like that"...consequences be damned. BTDT too.

I had a thread about counter offers about 3 years ago. I'm glad I didn't take the counter offer then. It worked out well for me.

In that thread someone said something valuable. When asked "who do you work for," his answer is always "me". It's true, I work for a paycheck for me and my family. Who ever can provide the biggest paycheck and best working conditions gets me. The company doesn't work for me. It works for it's own bottom line. It wants the highest quality employees for the lowest salary that it can keep. That helps it's bottom line.

These days, there is no such thing as real loyalty in work. If it's good for the company to lay you off, then you'll get laid off. If I can improve my situation by leaving and working at a different job.....

You pursue a new job because your current one is lacking.

You "pursue" a new job to leverage changes in your current one.

Sounds like you where looking for the former. Forget the counter and move on.

You have to do what you are comfortable with but keep in mind that if you were to accept the counter offer the recruiter gets nothing, so of course they don't want you the accept.

When I was working I accepted two counter offers over the 30 years with the company, never had any repercussions. I was recruited by other companies but decided I liked where I was and was getting good compensation. The counter offers and acceptance of such just sweetened the pie.

When an employee accepts a new job offer, they have mentally, "left the building." The typical reason for a counter-offer is their skills are so valuable and the employer has not been providing them with compelling reasons to stay. Those compelling reasons are the combination of salary, autonomy, challenge, growth, responsibility, etc. But as others have said, the employee has tipped their hand that they'd rather be somewhere else, so a smart employer is scrambling to shore up the potential hole in the dam.

There are rare cases where the employee is truly happy where they are, but are unable to get sufficient attention without the threat of departure. The counter offer succeeds in changing the employment conditions (wages, responsibility) and both live happily ever after. But these are the exceptions to the rule.

You have accepted an offer from another employer. Where do you really want to work?

In my career I have never given a counter-offer; for a critical employee I have asked for them to stay longer and paid well for the extra time so I could insure business continuity. If an employee wants to leave, it's time for them to go.

I do not think that companies think of employee loyalty in the same way they used to, at least in the larger companies. Therefore, you should not be expected to have loyalty except to paycheck and benefits.

I expect that the company knows they can't get along without out, but they should also know that you'll be gone soon. I expect that the issue is not just money, but might also be opportunity for advancement. Under that situation, taking the counter offer still won't give you the opportunity for growth you may be seeking.

I was in this boat about 8-9 yrs. ago, accepted the counter offer and it worked out very well for me. Boss gave me a 50% raise on the spot, retroactive to the first of that month and I had to agree to stay for the next 18 mos. I still work for him. Three others on my team have also been with him for about the same amount of time. We're sort of the old cadre and are all close friends with the boss.

However, we just got a new comp plan last week, retroactive to Jan. 1 (such BS) and it's a huge commission cut. My boss and those from other teams know they will be losing a lot of people now. It's just a matter of how quickly others can find jobs. So they're scrambling to get the big boss to change things back to the old plan, which I can't see happening. It's going to get very interesting very soon. I'll be curious to see if managers will be able to customize comp. plans for those who threaten to leave, since we're all pretty much paid the same way. Two folks on my team came right out and said on a conf. call they'd be looking elsewhere. The managers have to know everyone else is thinking the same thing. I just need to find a better job before I give any kind of ultimatum.

Some questions to the OP that may help him do some self-analysis:

1. What are your main reasons for seeking employement elsewhere? Will more $$ from your current employer alter those reasons? If not, then accepting the counter offer will not change the reasons you sought employement elsewhere. Does the counter include more than just a salary increase? If so, will they resolve the reasons you have for seeking employment elsewhere? (Side note: I have never left a company based on getting more $$ elsewhere -- I do not believe that is the best way to advance one's career)

2. Are you being challenged in your current job?

3. Which company is more stable, your old company, or this new one?

4. Which company offers more opportunities for you to grow and move up?

5. Which company has better benefits? (Medical, retirement, 401(k), vacation, bonus structure, stock options, flexible working schedule...etc.)

6. How long have you been with your current company? How familiar are you with the company's landscape and how things work? Do you like the way things work there?

7. Which place is more suitable for your personality?

8. If you stayed with your current company, are you still an "at will" employee, or can you work up a contract that states they will keep you around for x amount of time? (You may want to have that as part of the counteroffer, to ensure they aren't holding you there until they find someone to replace you)

9. Does the counter offer include a promotion, or just a salary increase? If so, were you soon due a promotion anyway, or did your resignation prompt this?

10. How happy are you at your current job? Does it offer you a satisfying work experience?

Here is what I also suggest:
Divide a piece of paper into 4 quadrants, and label them as such:
Quadrant 1: " Positives for staying with old company"
Quadrant 2: " Negatives for staying with old company"
Quadrant 3: " Positives for going to new company"
Quadrant 4: " Negatives for going to new company"
Now, use 'free thinking' to list all of the aspects of your decision in the appropriate quadrants. Then prioritize them. (Ex: "my commute would be longer if I go to the new company" may be a negative for going to new company, but it is not as high a priority as
"My benefts are significantly less with the new company")

Whatever you do, don't burn any bridges with either company. Even though you have verbally agreed to the new job, they do understand if your present company offered you a counter-offer.

Hope this helps,
-Z-man.

Sounds like those points were written by a headhunter. Lowest form of life on the planet. They make used car salesmen and personal injury lawyers look honest and ethical.

BTW, if you take a counter-offer the headhunter doesn't get paid.
Gee, I wonder why they wouldn't like counter-offers?

If it's good take it. There is no loyalty in business, it's business.
If your company could or would replace you after accepting a counter-offer, then either they're spiteful pettly people or you are over-compensated compared to your contribution to the company. if they can get someone else to do the same work as well but cheaper, then it's time to move on.
If they can't, then they'd be shooting themselves in the foot and most businessmen don't do stoopid things like that. They have a business to run and their objective is to run it well and they need to best talent they can get, as long as it isn't over-priced.

I would have no problem considering or accepting a counter-offer, although I would never solicit one. that'd be a no-no in my book.

My mom pleaded with me to not be firm when I went to give my two weeks notice to my boss. She said to make it feel like I was open to a counter. And that's what happened and it worked out very well. At the time I hadn't even considered it because the offer I had was way better than I thought my current company could counter, even if they wanted to do so. But they did and it was within a few hours. My boss asked me when I needed to hear counter by. I said "today." And he did it. Sometimes you just have to be prepared to really walk before someone will pay you more.