Should you accept a counteroffer?
I will answer this question right now – no, in most cases, you shouldn’t accept a counteroffer. And I’ll explain why in this article.
Have you ever been in this situation before? You’re unhappy at your current job, and start putting feelers out there. Maybe you’re underappreciated, got passed up for a promotion you felt you deserved or overloaded.
So you start putting feelers out there. Or perhaps a recruiter reaches out to you about an intriguing new opportunity. And before you know it, you’ve landed yourself an offer at a new company.
As you inform your current company of the situation, they suddenly present you with a counteroffer to stay. What do you do?
Here are the reasons not to accept a counteroffer from your current employer.
Why you were leaving won’t change
If you’ve found yourself in a situation where you’re faced with making a tough decision to leave a current employer or accept a counter, it can be a stressful situation deciding what to do.
But I’ve seen it repeatedly – I offer a candidate a role, but they turn around and accept a counteroffer to stay at their current company. Within a year, they are back on the open market and reaching out to me to see if I have a role for them.
While I have real experience to back it up, I encourage you to research how many people are still with their companies 12 months after accepting a counter.
Most people end up leaving anyway
According to The Society For Human Resource Management, 57% of people won’t be with their company 24 months after accepting the counter. So, think long and hard about if accepting a counteroffer is in your best interest.
So why is that?
Because the reasons why you were leaving in the first place likely won’t change. If you have a bad boss, you’ll still have a bad boss. When the company culture is poor, it will still be poor later. If the benefits are terrible…they’ll still be terrible later.
When you decided to see what else is out there, you did so for a good reason. And you SHOULD keep your options open. You are a free agent, and the cold hard reality is that you need to be selfish with your career. Being selfish isn’t a bad thing – if you’re not looking out for yourself, no one will. Let’s face it; companies lay long-tenured employees off with little to no notice.
Leaving a bad boss, poor company culture or dying industry isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing for your career. So that’s why you shouldn’t accept a counteroffer.
But there are many other things to consider as well.
Why are they countering your job offer?
You need to ask yourself why they are countering you now. Why were they undervaluing you and only deciding to do something about it as you threatened to leave for greener pastures? Did they take you for granted? Did they take advantage of you?
…or were they caught off-guard with no contingency plan to replace you?
You’ve now played your cards
Remember what that means if it’s the latter (and there’s a good chance it is). You’ve now played your hand if you’ve already announced your intention to quit. By accepting the counteroffer, the organization knows you’re a flight risk.
And once you’re back onboard, an astute boss will work to transfer knowledge, cross-train others in your work and prepare for the inevitable separation later down the road. Likely, they are just buying extra time at your expense.
Your relationships may suffer
Not to mention your relationships won’t be the same. Your boss knows you’re unhappy. They are now likely searching for your replacement. Because you’ve now broadcast your intent to leave, an astute boss will realize they need a contingency plan. Offering you the counter showed that they were unprepared. But make no mistake…they won’t be caught off guard again.
You should be concerned about layoffs or other adverse employment decisions. If you’ve already shown dissatisfaction, you will be labeled as someone who’s not committed to the business’s long-term success. (ironic when the same company lays you off, right?)
Who do you think will get looked at when the company hits a rough patch?
READ: How to deal with office politics
You’re now more expensive
Especially if you now have a higher salary to go with it. This is another thing to consider if you’re entertaining a counteroffer. If you were undervalued in the first place, why did it take the threat of leaving to get them to see the light suddenly? They either became complacent or even took advantage of you – believing you were not a flight risk.
Even if you were promised a newly expanded role as a carrot, consider how your longer-term career prospects may be affected. Will they keep looking at you, someone who they can count on? I’ve seen cases like this before – people look at you differently once you announce you’re leaving.
Senior leaders believe you are not as dedicated as you once were and may pass on you for future opportunities. So in most cases, those roles you were promised are just to keep you happy for now.
The work conditions remain unchanged
And let’s revisit the work conditions. Sure, it might get better for a while. There will be a bit of a honeymoon period. But when it wears off (and it always does), the same issues that caused you to look around in the first place will still exist.
If the working conditions or business environment were your motivator, those things will unlikely change. And if the business is going through a rough patch and you’re worried about stability, a new role won’t help in the long run.
Even though you might have been promoted into a new role, you’ll still need to work with the old boss – the same one you essentially threatened to quit on.
Listen, I’ve seen it firsthand. I’ve even had someone who was in the middle of moving across the country for our role get a call from their old company while they were driving a moving truck. They accepted the counter, turned around, and moved home.
Six months later, I got a sheepish call from them, asking if I had any positions they could fit.
So, should you accept a counteroffer from your employer?
So if you get a counter, congratulations. It feels nice to be wanted. But I’d advise thinking long and hard about whether the old employer is worth revisiting. It’s sort of like an old romance. If your reasons are looking are valid, look back on it fondly but realize it ended for a reason.
And look forward to new beginnings. Your career will thank you for it later.
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