A lesson to jobseekers everywhere - beware the counteroffer!
In today’s recruitment market the counteroffer has become a go-to staff retention tool.
As talent shortages persist in key industries, counteroffers are a last-ditch attempt to keep hold of staff. Critically, we believe they don’t offer long-term solutions to the question of why you want to leave a job in the first place unless the offer is tangible, meaningful and personal.
The reality of counter offers.
Most people will get a counteroffer at some point in their career.
“Up to 50% of candidates who resign will receive a counteroffer” from job to job, so strategising a response to one is wise.
Naturally, this strategy should go hand in hand with the reasons why you want to leave in the first place. It could be that you don’t feel rewarded, either financially or promotionally. It could be that you feel disassociated from the direction of the company, or simply that you need a change.
Counteroffers are, in our view, broad-stroke “solutions”. They are often not specific or personal enough to warrant acceptance.
Here’s why.
The Fix.
It can seem like a counteroffer does offer a fix - bosses will wrap up a counteroffer in a sweet package of more money, perhaps a new job title, an acknowledgement they “haven’t been fast enough at picking up on things”, or “we really want to give you the position you deserve now” and so on and so forth.
In reality, the vast majority of counteroffers are a poor HR sticking plaster.
They are mostly reactionary offers: short-term fixes to long-term problems. Throwing money at those sorts of issues never works. Only a small proportion of people leave jobs because of a lack of money. It's much more holistic than that.
Sadly, the stats back this up. Candidates should be aware that for all the attractiveness of a counteroffer, accepting a counteroffer is productivity and job happiness suicide unless the offer is truly personalised and it addresses the root causes of why you want to leave a job.
New job, old issues, and short-termism.
For candidates with one foot out of the door and into a new job, a counteroffer can seem like a sweet victory - finally, the job you worked for is offering you everything you wanted! They are offering everything your new company is offering, but you don’t need to faff around with onboarding because you already know the systems!
But as with many things in recruitment, if it's too good to be true, it often is. The most salient piece of research around counteroffers contains the following:
- “80% of employees that accept a counteroffer leave within six months and 90% within a year”.
- “50% of candidates that accept a counteroffer from their current employer will be back on the job market after two months”.
Counteroffers are not, in the main, long-term solutions to job dissatisfaction.
Your immediate response to a counteroffer.
So when faced with a counteroffer our advice, and the advice we give jobseekers, goes like this:
- Never forget why you’re leaving in the first place. Constantly refer to the emotions and professional reasons you decided to hand in your notice in the first place. Analyse them, and hold them close.
- Take a breath. Agree to nothing straight away. Ask your boss to put any offer, or any discussion around a counteroffer, in writing.
- Allow yourself time to take the offer in. If you are utilising an external recruiter, speak to them and ask them for their advice. Unless the offer is exceptional, they will say what I say - it’s too little, too late, they’re panicking, and it’s not your responsibility to cover for them while they look for a replacement, because they will be looking for one.
But in an effort to be fair here are some examples of when to take, and when to decline a counteroffer.
When to accept, or not accept, a counteroffer.
Did the boss sit down with you?
- By this, we mean did the boss see your letter of notice and simply ping off a knee-jerk response saying “I’ll see what your new job is offering”, or did they offer to sit down and discuss your position in full?
- In short, if a counteroffer is going to be offered you want it to be tangible, realistic to your position, and packaged to answer every reason why you wanted to leave in the first place. If it isn’t, don’t accept it.
Is the counteroffer an actual “package”?
- By this, we mean is the counteroffer simply an offer of more money, or does it take a full-spectrum approach to every point of contention in why you want to leave, and aim to answer them all? Does it give you timescales, realistic KPIs to hit to improve performance or a roadmap for advancement? Does it make you happy?
- Our advice is never to accept a counteroffer that doesn’t take a total, personal, positive approach to your job, career, happiness and skills development.
The one question a counteroffer needs to answer.
After the above two criteria have been answered, ask yourself this one question: would I have gotten all the above if I didn’t quit in the first place?
If the answer is no, don’t accept the counteroffer. You should never have to twist an employer’s arm into recognising good work and rewarding it appropriately.
Summary.
In our view, the majority of counteroffers are never worth the stress and effort. In very rare circumstances are they worthwhile.
They are generally offered when the worst of the workplace damage has been done, and are done as a knee-jerk reaction to someone quitting.
As highlighted above, they are not long-term fixes for job satisfaction and we always urge any candidate facing a counteroffer to never forget why they handed in their notice in the first place!
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