What is a counter offer?
For those who don’t know, a counter offer is an offer a company makes to try and “counter” an offer you already have e.g. You received an offer for R20k from another employer, so your company says they will give you R25k if you stay.
Before even starting your interview process/applying for a new position you must be absolutely sure that you are really looking for a new job. If you are just hoping to get an offer to try and get a counter offer from your employer, see our “How to ask for more money” tips here.
Ok, so you’ve made up your mind and you want to find a new job. Whether it’s because of your working environment, travel distance, outdated technology, you are sure that your company no longer is the place for you and you want to move. You’ve asked for more money, you’ve asked for flexi-time, you’ve asked to work from home etc., all have been turned down, so you know there is now nothing that your company can do to keep you.
You go through the whole interview process and finally find a company that tick all of your boxes and you accept their offer. You send in your resignation letter and the manager wants to see you…
Why is it that most companies only start listening when someone resigns? Some companies don’t realize how valuable someone is until they’re about to leave – the old saying “Don’t know what you had until it’s gone” rings true. Some companies say they want their employees to see what’s out there first, see everyone, go everywhere and then counter with an irresistible offer knowing that should you accept, you’ve already “burned bridges” everywhere else so you should now be around for another few years. Others say they don’t always take someone seriously when they ask for different conditions/higher salary and until the employee has an actual offer, there is no need to up their salary (in case they don’t get a new job anyways). All seem “sneaky” and so unnecessary. If you appreciate your employee, show them! Why put them through the ringer first? And an employee not seeing this is quite surprising. Now they want to woo you and do whatever it takes. Where was this when you went to speak to them?
So, should you take a counter offer?
Studies show that the majority of people who accept counter offers, are back on the market in six months anyways. Why is this? It could be because their initial reason for leaving wasn’t resolved (yes, they maybe got more money, but the environment is still the same) or because the trust is now broken, managers are a bit more suspicious of everything, denying half day leave, not giving you the best part of the project etc. or the counter offer conditions are not being adhered to (e.g. they agreed that you can work from home 3 days a week and after a month it went to 2 days a week and now it’s back to normal). Most employers will say whatever it takes in the moment to keep someone, especially once they realize employing someone new could be a lot costlier – not only in terms of salary, but also training the new person etc.
Another disadvantage of accepting a counter offer is that you will most probably now be “branded” by it. And the industry isn’t that big. When you do decide to look for something again (and really this time) companies are going to remember what happened last time. You need to remember that companies also usually interview more than one person for a job and also set up their own shortlist. Once the person on top of their list accepts an offer, they decline everyone else. So you then reneging a day or week or two later, puts them in a very difficult position. They will need to start interviewing again from scratch and then wait another month or two for the replacement to start. Some companies have even gone as far as to seek legal assistance in instances like this. We don’t always see they severity in this, but it’s the exact same scenario as you accepting a job, resigning from your company and a few days later the company retracts the offer because they found someone else. You will definitely be within your rights to take them to the CCMA, so the opposite is also possible and something to be mindful of before reneging on an accepted offer.
Apart from the legal ramifications and emotional mumbo jumbo, the best thing to do in this situation is think back to why you wanted a new job in the first place. What made it so bad at your company for you to put your CV out there to begin with. Forget about all the smooth talking your manager is doing and think back to why you felt it necessary to leave. Take a step back, evaluate everything logically and trust your instincts. We’ll always feel a bit more loyal to our current employer, we’ve known them for long, we have certain liberties there that we won’t necessarily have at a new company and once the manager starts wooing we feel so guilty as if we’re letting them down. But this is your career, your future and there is a reason you wanted to leave. We often describe it as moving from primary school to high school, it’s new, it’s scary, almost as if you’re starting all over again. But you can’t stay in primary school forever, you have to move forward to grow and learn and expand your skills.
Stay strong and remember why you put your CV out there.
Good luck with your new job!