78% of UK employers are having difficulty filling positions due to the lack of skilled candidates currently available. With such a large percentage of roles that seem impossible to fill, the counteroffer has now become expected with those handing their notice in.
Statistics are now showing that 55% of employers offer a counteroffer and only 5% of those are declined – but with statistics showing that over 80% of employees who accept a counteroffer leave within six months and 90% within a year, is a counteroffer the right decision for you?
Counteroffers can be appealing, they normally come with a pay increase and/or offer of more agreeable working terms. Accepting a counteroffer also means you won’t have to master the working methods of another company or build relationships with new colleagues.
All with the added bonus that you already know your current company and how to do your job, all of this making it seem easier to stay.
With a percentage of 90% for those accepting a counteroffer and leaving within a year, the odds are high that money isn’t going to be enough to overcome the reasons that you wanted to leave and look for a new role in the first place.
When you decide to look elsewhere for a new role, there is a 99.9% chance that there is a reason why. Whether that’s financial gain, lack of training/development, lack of promotion prospects, better work-life balance, hybrid working, or simply because your colleagues chewing drives you mad.
When the time comes you know it and you are ready. You have written your cv, attended numerous interviews, and finally been offered a job that aligns with your aspirations. Now the only thing to do is hand in your notice and move on to the next chapter of your career. Making it now time to hand in your notice.
When you go to your line manager to hand in your resignation they turn around and offer you anything to stay.
What do you do? Of course, it is flattering to be offered higher pay, career development, better working hours or a promotion, but will the reason you wanted to leave still be there? Would it be a good move for you and your career? Or is this just a short-term fix for your current employer and if it was something you previously asked for, how much do they really value you if now they are suddenly able to offer what you asked for?
You are at a fork in the road, and you are now weighing up your options, but you need to ask yourself these two questions:
- Why are they doing this?
- How does this benefit me and my career?
Why are they counter offering?
The why is often the question most people don’t ask, most of the time the answer is that your leaving doesn’t suit the plans of your company or manager and finding a replacement will take time and effort. Everyone has a job to do and people are under stress and pressure to achieve it, your manager is no exception. As a manager, one of the biggest pressure points is staff retention within the business and you handing in your notice does not help them achieve their targets or growth.
At this stage they will likely match the salary you have been offered by your new company and also promise that you will be in line for more interesting work in the future or a promotion. The latter is almost always left open-ended and very rarely materialises – which is likely why there is such a high percentage of people leaving between 6 -12 months after accepting a counteroffer.
How does this benefit me and my career?
Taking the emotion out of your decision-making, if your company needed to decrease its headcount, they would not hesitate to make redundancies so why should you – it’s business, not personal.
You need to approach the counteroffer without considering the emotional ties of great colleagues and a role that you enjoy, and rationally you must decide what is best for you.
Counteroffers can cause an internal conflict and at this point, it is always worth revisiting all the reasons you were dissatisfied enough to begin looking for a new career opportunity.
Pros and Cons of a Counter Offer
Will it challenge you?
You may have been doing the same job for a number of years and are feeling bored and your skillset underutilised. Would your new role include a change in your current role and the opportunity to add new skills, or will you be doing the same as you were before?
Does it have progressive career opportunities?
Have they offered you a promotion or the promise of a promotion? If they have you must ensure that this is with immediate effect and in writing and that you have in writing what your new promotional role will include and your new salary.
Future Career Opportunities?
Consider how likely you are to be in line for promotion in the future. If you have recently handed your notice in then retracted due to a counteroffer, is your boss really going to forget that you were willing to leave when looking at building their management structure?
Business Relationships
How will your relationship with your manager be going forward? Will the element of trust still be there or will there always be a question mark over your loyalty and will they suspect that you will leave in the future? How do you feel toward your boss knowing that they were prepared for you to go before?
Culture
Does your firm value compliance and risk or are the divisions seen as a necessary evil? How are you and your colleagues treated? Culture will not change with a counteroffer and the frustrations and issues will still be there.
Salary
Increasing your salary is the most common element of a counteroffer and the simplest most cost-effective solution for a company. The question to ask yourself is why have you had to resign to get a pay rise? What has changed since yesterday when they valued your loyalty, effort, and skillset less? The only change is that they are going to lose you and with the cost of recruiting and training new staff it is cheaper to increase someone’s salary by up to £20,000 rather than hire a new person. You must also consider where the money is coming from, have they just offered you the next pay rise early and how long will you need to wait for your next pay rise?
The new company has offered you your new wage as a starting salary and the likelihood is that you will earn a pay rise either at the end of your probation or within 12 months of starting.
Longevity
The percentages are not in your favour and that’s not us scaremongering. With statistics showing that over 80% of employees who accept a counteroffer leave within six months and 90% within a year, are you looking to accept a counteroffer as a temporary solution or are you going to continue to look?
It is your choice
No matter your reasons of looking to leave, and the counteroffer – you can only do what you feel is best for you. We of course as recruiters are more pragmatic and will always believe that if you were prepared to invest your time and energy into moving that it is likely time to move on.
Get the Best Out of Working With a Specialist Recruiter
If you are a: Candidate
If you are making the decision to leave, we are ready to support you in your career and find the role, salary and benefits that you are looking for. With our extensive network, our specialists are able to match you with companies that are not only offering the right package but the culture to suit you.
If you are a: Company
When choosing your recruitment company, make sure you select a niche specialist and not just a general recruitment company. Working with specialist recruitment agencies allows you access to their niche network – ensuring you have access to those who are available and also those who are passive.
Recruiters also help you find employees to be drawn to your specific role and company giving you an increased chance of attracting employees with the same values as you.
Talk to the Compliance Specialists
If you are considering your career options or are looking to expand your team, get in contact with our compliance and financial crime recruitment team. Compliance Professionals offers a complete job search and hiring service for both candidates and employers to achieve their ambitions.
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