So, you have decided to move jobs, written your CV, prepped and gone for interviews and finally received an offer from one of the companies you applied to. You’re on a high, excited about the future and your new role, now the difficult bit of handing your notice in and BOOM . . . you receive a counter offer from your current employer. What do you do now? This was supposed to be straight forward! This was not something you were expecting and actually quite flattering as you didn’t think they regarded you so highly. They offer you more money/a better package to meet the gaps you were disappointed in your role . . . it’s not that bad working there and the new package is extremely tempting. So, what do you do?
Admittedly, you are now in a strong position with a new job on offer and a counter offer from your current employer. It’s big decision time. If you ask anyone in the industry, most will tell you that counter offers don’t work out well in the long run. You have already spent considerable time considering your position before engaging with recruitment agencies and there was a reason you were leaving. Once the initial excitement of staying where you are with a better package, does it all go back to normal? Have all the reasons you were looking for a new job been addressed and why did you employer wait until you were almost out the door to do anything to promote you? When speaking to any candidate looking for a new job, the primary motivation is rarely money. They might be bored with the work and want new challenges, want to progress their skills, looking for promotion but know with the existing structure in their team that they won’t be able to achieve this, want different hours, better location etc. All these things are difficult to fix ‘overnight’, even with the best intentions of the employer.
Wondering ‘what if’. Will you be sitting back at your desk, doing much of the same work, but with some of the changes as the employer promised, wondering what you would be doing right now if you had taken that new role? Then, are your relationships with the management and your team still the same at your old job or are things a bit different now that you tried to leave? No one is trying to be different, but something has changed. Now that you have negotiated your better package, is there more of a chance that you will be missed on the next round of promotions because you just had yours ‘a few months ago’? Ultimately, if you had wanted to stay in your current job, you would have done everything first to fix the problems rather than looking for a new job. AND, ask yourself – does your current employer really realise your value or is it that it was more hassle for them to find a replacement and manage the disruption of your departure?
Remind yourself of the reasons you were leaving as you didn’t take the initial decision lightly. What were your deal breakers? Can they really be fixed, even with your employers’ best intentions? What is it that you like about your new role? What excited you when you accepted the new offer.
Sometimes you need to take a step back and have a think about these things.
So, we leave you with 10 important questions you need to ask yourself when facing the option of staying with your existing employer:
Will it decrease your chances of achieving your career potential? Overall, ask yourself will you still be happy in 3 or 6 months’ time? If they answer is yes, then that is great! You can stay with your exciting employer, on a better package and not move jobs. However, if there is any doubt in your mind after the flattering offer that has empowered you . . . it’s time to take that new role and move on to new experiences as well as a job that better suits your needs and life style.
You don’t want to be going through this process again, from scratch, in a few months’ time! We recognise that it is a big decision. If you would like to discuss counter offers and get advice on whether you should move jobs or speak to your manager about your frustrations, speak to one of our Talent Acquisition Consultants on 020 7183 6232 or email us at blog@remithq.com.