Six reasons why accepting a counteroffer is bad for your professional development

You’ve decided to quit your job in search of greener pastures. You’ve applied for other positions and have even signed on the dotted line for a new attractive job offer. So you’ve just tendered your resignation and your boss is making you a counter- offer. It’s markedly more money so you’d be a fool not to take it, right? Wrong. Here’s why.

The odds are against you

Research has shown that over 80% of people who chose to accept a counteroffer and stayed with their original company were no longer in its employ six months later.

Your loyalty is now questionable

Your intention to leave the company has already been made known to your superiors and possibly your colleagues as well. If a promotion was in the pipeline before you tendered, the likelihood of you getting it has decreased significantly because your employer will simply not want to invest the resources to groom you. Likewise, should there be an opportunity for a salary increment come appraisal time, the company will think twice. In fact, since the counteroffer was not planned or budgeted for, the extra money they are throwing at you to get you to stay on probably already prices in your pay increment for next year.

And should times get tough, you can be sure that you will be one of the first on your employer’s list to be retrenched. At the end of the day, your “perceived disloyalty” has far-reaching consequences and may affect all aspects of your future with the company.

The sincerity of the offer is questionable

Sometimes, employers make a counteroffer for selfish reasons. They may “need” you to carry out your regular responsibilities as there is no one else who can take over your duties immediately. In the meantime, they may already be searching for your replacement, or grooming someone else to take over your responsibilities. Then once the other person is ready to come onboard, they will let you go.

Real change may not be imminent

Many people leave their jobs because they cannot get along with their bosses, or because the company culture doesn’t sit well with them. Perhaps your boss’ leadership style is too top-down and there’s no autonomy in your job. The fact of the matter is that your increased compensation may placate you initially but soon, you will realise that the reasons that prompted you to want to resign in the first place will resurface. Because chances are, you’ve already brought up your grievances to the management once before and if the company was sincere about improving the situation, it would have already done something about it by now. Do you really want to work for a company that only “values” you and gives you what you are worth only when you threaten to resign?

Your relationships with your colleagues will never be the same

It is likely that you have confided in at least one or some of your colleagues about your intention to resign. Once word spreads, your colleagues may perceive you as “blackmailing” the company into giving you a salary hike or even a promotion. Even if this was not a premeditated move on your part, it is natural for colleagues to conclude that you suddenly changed your mind and decided to stay on because you were offered more money. And colleagues who have been slogging away as much as, or even more than you while still having the same low salary, will suffer a blow to their morale and they may even come to despise you and spread damaging gossip about you.

Your name may be blacklisted in professional circles

The fact that you have received a counteroffer means you have already submitted your resignation to your current company. It is probably also safe to assume you’ve done so after signing the letter of offer from the new company. Thus, if you accept the counteroffer from your current company now, it will mean having to renege your agreement with the new company. Once you sign on the dotted line, it’s a binding contract and it’s unfair to leave the new company in the lurch. Your reputation is at stake because they might blacklist you for doing so and it is never a good idea to risk burning bridges because you never know when your professional paths may cross again sometime in the future.

How best then to handle grievances before it escalates into a situation where you feel forced to pack your bags?

Firstly, make use of all opportunities to provide feedback about your experience working in your current company, such as during formal appraisals and informal one-on-one sessions with your supervisor. If you desire being given opportunities to take on bigger projects or altering your job scope, communicate this to your superior in a professional manner. Some multi-national companies also have anonymous feedback forms that you can use. In the worst-case scenario, you can approach the HR department about your concerns, even anonymously like writing an untraceable letter, if necessary.

Try to salvage the situation early and failing which, remember the reasons above that outline why it’s never a good idea to accept a counteroffer if you find yourself faced with this dilemma.