Should you accept a counteroffer?

You’ve made the decision to move on to pastures new. Applied for positions, interviewed and received an offer. Congratulations!

You may or may not have considered that your manager could add a counteroffer into the equation. What should you do in this instance?

Take it in your stride, thank your manager for the counter offer and reiterate your intention to resign.

Why am I telling you to resign and not consider the counteroffer? Here’s why….

• Remember all those reasons why you started looking in the first place. They still exist!
  The offer is only a purely reactive tactic from your manager.
• Your loyalty to your manager and the company will now always be in question. This could lead to future issues within your role, they will probably now consider you a risk and may make contingency plans without your knowledge.
• If you weren’t valuable enough to be given a salary raise or promotion before, why would your manager be willing to give you them now? All of a sudden you have become a more valuable employee? That is not why. It’s because your manager doesn’t want to deal with the disruption your departure could create and having to recruit a replacement for your position.

Should you decide not to leave for pastures new then many surveys have been completed over the years to measure what happens to employees who accept counteroffers. Statistical numbers show you will be looking for a new opportunity again within 6 to 12 months.

What have your experiences been with counteroffers? Let me know in the comments section below.