A Fresh Form Of Recruitment

Handling a Counter Offer

If you resign and your employer decides to offer you a more attractive salary or overall job package in order to persuade you to stay, you have been “counter offered”. Counter offers are more common than you might think. Recruiting high calibre individuals can be an expensive and time-consuming process for employers and you might unexpectedly find yourself in a bargaining position.

If your employer tries to persuade you to stay by offering you a pay rise equal to, or above your new job offer you might first want to ask yourself why it took the threat of leaving to bring it about. Most of us are easily flattered and the offer of more money coupled with colleagues telling you “the place won’t be the same without you” can easily make you forget the reasons you wanted to leave in the first place.

Don’t feel guilty and always stand your ground. Remind yourself of the reasons you’re leaving and remember that it’s taken a great deal of thought and consideration to come to this decision. The fact is that once you have made the decision to resign, there is rarely a good enough reason to change your mind.

If you feel that the counter offer meeting is becoming confrontational, ask for the counter offer to be put in writing (that day) and say that you will consider it overnight and reply in writing. This way, you don’t have to have deal with the confrontation and sometimes the ‘guilt trip’ – you can reply calmly, professionally and formally in writing.

Experience shows that the majority of people who accept a counter offer will end up leaving within a year anyway. Will things ‘really’ change of you stay? And will your boss and your colleagues ever trust you again, now that you’ve resigned once? Be certain of your reasons for leaving, stick to your decision and handle the situation in a professional and courteous manner for all parties concerned.