3 reasons why accepting a counter-offer could be a mistake 

Counter-offers are when an employee who has received an offer from another company is then offered a matching or better offer by their current employee. The employee then must decide whether they should take the new offer or remain in the post. On occasion, it could very well be that choosing to stay is the best decision for you. However, as we’ve been doing this for a very long time, we can with confidence provide 3 big reasons why accepting a counter-offer is typically a mistake:

• The money may be better, but what about the work

For most of us, a pay increase is always going to be tempting. The thought that you can get the money you want without the aggravation of changing jobs is going to feel in the moment like a huge win. This may be the case for some, but for many, the decision to look for a new job in the first place is typically down to an amalgamation of reasons. Reasons such as your relationship with your coworkers or managers, your workload, employee benefits, and so on. Reasons that do not change once you have accepted the decision to remain in post for more money. What typically happens is that a few months down the line, you’ll start looking for jobs again because you’ll be reminded of what made you think about taking the leap in the first place.

• Shifting working relationships

Once you’ve presented your boss or management team with a counter-offer from a competitor or similar company your relationship will naturally change. This will be particularly true if you didn’t first try and approach your manager for a 121 on your performance and pay review. While we hope and know this isn’t always the case, for many, there will be a negative shift in relationship dynamics.

From experience, the increased pay that has come about from a counteroffer will also see either an increased workload or more interest being paid to work output. In some situations, this can result in the employee leaving or being let go further down the line. While this is in extreme cases, we do encourage you to either have a chat about your salary first and secondly consider what may change should you accept a counteroffer.

• The itch of what if?

Lastly, it is only human nature to think about what if? Like, what if you had accepted the other job? Probably more so on tough days at work, it will be natural to consider what your life would be like if you had taken the new role. If you are able to scratch the itch and not think about the other offer then amazing. But, again for most of us, the knowledge that we could have had something different ultimately see us looking for new opportunities all over again.

From our experiences, there’s always a better way to get the promotion or pay rise you’re looking for than bringing a counteroffer to your manager. Ultimately, this will feel to your company like you are playing a game when it could have been handled differently through negotiations or management.  We encourage you to consider why you’re thinking about moving on and weighing up the pros and cons of doing so before submitting applications. As recruiters, our job is to get the best outcome for you, which means we can tell you before you apply whether you should stick or twist.

If you’re on the lookout for an exciting new role with a company whose values match your own – then look at our current jobs page as we work with loads of fantastic, value-driven organisations.