The Counter-Offer Question

You resign. Your employer suddenly finds some extra money, offers you a new title or promises to fix the thing that’s been frustrating you for the past year.

It can be very tempting, but why did it take your resignation to get here?

Counter-offers are one of those subjects where recruiters tend to have a predictable view. Accepting one is a terrible idea, apparently, and you’ll almost certainly regret it.

I’m not going to tell you that.

In truth, I’ve worked with candidates for a long time and I’ve rarely seen a counter-offer end particularly well. The difficulty is that saying this can sound suspiciously like a recruiter protecting their fee.

Candidates know recruiters have a vested interest, so I’ve never found it useful to be pushy.

If you’re wondering whether you should accept a counter-offer, start with why you wanted to leave.

Go back to the beginning

People rarely decide to leave a job overnight. It’s usually a gradual realisation. Perhaps you’ve stopped learning. Your relationship with your manager has deteriorated. There’s nowhere obvious for you to progress. The culture has changed. You’re underpaid. You’re exhausted. Or perhaps you’ve simply been there long enough and feel ready for something new.

Write down what those reasons were before you resigned.

Then look at the counter-offer and ask which of them have actually changed.

A salary increase may solve a salary problem. It probably won’t solve a difficult manager, limited progression or the feeling that you’ve outgrown the role.

Why has the offer appeared now?

This doesn’t mean your employer doesn’t value you.

Losing a good person is expensive and inconvenient. There’s recruitment, handover, lost knowledge and the time it takes for somebody new to get up to speed. Sometimes making a counter-offer is simply easier than replacing someone.

A resignation can also concentrate minds wonderfully.

Money that apparently wasn’t available before can sometimes be found remarkably quickly.

If salary was part of the reason you wanted to leave, it’s fair to ask why you’re suddenly worth more today than you were yesterday. Perhaps the resignation has prompted a long overdue correction. If so, that may genuinely solve the problem.

Think beyond the immediate increase too. A substantial counter-offer can sometimes amount to receiving your next pay rise early. If your new salary puts you at the top of the range for your role, or ahead of others at a similar level, what does that mean for your salary progression over the next year or two?

None of that automatically makes the offer cynical. Your employer may genuinely want to keep you. The useful thing to consider is whether they’re addressing the reasons you wanted to leave or simply making it easier for you to stay.

Be specific about what is being offered

If you’re considering staying, get beyond the headline number.

What exactly is changing?

If you’ve been promised a promotion, when will it happen? If the role is changing, what will you actually be responsible for? If progression was the issue, what does the next year look like? If workload or flexibility was the problem, what has been agreed?

A vague promise made during a slightly panicked resignation conversation is very different from a clear commitment. I’d strongly advise getting those changes in writing, with clear timelines.

Consider the other opportunity too

There’s another side to the decision.

You presumably went through an interview process because something about the new role appealed to you. Don't let the counter-offer make you forget that. It can be surprisingly emotional resigning to someone you like, and it’s easy to feel guilty when they’re flattering you and asking you to stay.

What attracted you to the new business? What would you learn? Who would you work with? Where might the role take you?

Compare the two opportunities as they actually are, rather than comparing the familiarity of your current job with all the uncertainty that naturally comes with a new one.

Sometimes staying is the right answer

There are occasions when a counter-offer genuinely fixes the problem.

Perhaps you were happy apart from salary and your employer corrects it. Perhaps a new role has opened internally that changes your prospects completely. Perhaps going through the external interview process has simply made you realise that you already have more of what you want than you thought.

That’s fine.

Just make sure you’re staying because the reasons for leaving have changed, rather than because staying suddenly feels easier.

Once the flattering bit has worn off and the bigger salary has appeared in your bank account a couple of times, you’ll still be doing the job.

The question is whether it’s now the job you actually want.

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