Late last month I was working with a candidate who I had
helped secure a new job. This individual was really excited about his new
company and was going to be starting in a week. Five days before he was
about to start his old boss called him into his office and offered him a
significant raise, a change in duties and a new job title. They pleaded
with him to stay, promising that there will be big changes and that they
couldn’t bear to lose him. After careful consideration he accepted the
counter and informed his new employer that he would not be joining them after
all.
As a recruiter in the trenches I see this situation everyday
and shudder whenever a company makes a counter offer. I do my best to
prepare candidates for these and let them know that they typically work out in
the long term about 25% of the time. Still they happen all of the time
and candidates accept them with regularity. When this happens I will
question their reasoning and make them aware of why counters don’t typically
work out. However, I usually bite my tongue and avoid telling them how
I really feel about counters – at that point they are not in a position
to hear what I’m saying. Ultimately I end up congratulating them on their
promotion and tell them to keep in touch. Full disclosure – What I want
to say is “Why are you being so stupid? This has a low probability of
working out and you will be screwed!”
Back to the story from above. After my candidate
accepted the counter, I sent him an email congratulating him on his new
position. Three weeks later he responded to this email asking to
talk. The same boss that called him in and talked him out of leaving had
called him back into his office on Monday. He was really sorry. The
company didn’t have the funds to come through on their promise. Nothing
was going to change – but he was still valued as an employee…. Let that
sink in. What an A@#$# - That company not only broke a promise but they
prevented him from bettering his situation. The worst part – his
potential new company just hired someone to replace him the week before.
He is now at square one in a job he hates even more than before and less
options.
Let me tell you something. This is the norm! I’m
sure that some of you will email me and tell you about all of the times you
accepted a counter and it worked out. That’s great – you are nothing but
lucky! I can even tell you a story of one of my other candidates that
accepted a counter and ended up winning a major award. Just remember that
for every one of these that does work out to the positive there are four times
as many that leave a trail of broken dreams, broken promises and ugly
exits. They just don’t work.
So… Why don’t counter offers work? Below are the five
reasons I don’t think that they work out:
1. The Company is Just Buying Time
Of all reasons this is quite possibly the most wicked.
Sometimes companies make a counter offer and have no intention of following
through. Essentially they make the offer out of spite because they are
angry that someone is leaving or so they can get their ducks in a row and not
have their business interrupted by you leaving. Either way it is cold
hearted and inconsiderate. This probably has something to do with why you
are trying to leave in the first place.
2. Money Doesn’t Solve All Problems
Blah, blah, blah. Money doesn’t buy happiness.
Mo Money Mo
3. The Feeling of Trust is Irreparably Broken
This is one of the biggest reasons that things eventually
fall apart. Even though they won’t say it a company will never forget
that you tried to quit. Never. When you make a mistake they will
maybe be less forgiving. When you decide to dress a little nicer for work
– just because – they will wonder if you have an interview scheduled over your
lunch. Eventually this will damage the relationship enough that one of
you decides to move on.
4. People (Specifically Managers) Can’t Change –
Same with Culture
All of you people out there that are married (or were
married) should appreciate this. My wife is fond of telling me when we
fight, “You know who you married!” What she means by this is that
there are certain core personality traits that can’t be changed about a person
and by marrying that person you need to accept them and lose your right to get
mad about them. The same goes for companies and managers. I don’t
care how valuable of an employee you are. Your resignation is not the
epiphany that is going to stop your boss from being an a@#$#$! These
types of personality changes typically only occur in Dickens novels after a
visit by three spirits on Christmas or after a severe brain injury. A
company might be sincere in wanting you to stay but you need to be realistic,
try as they may companies and managers can’t make radical changes about who
they are. If that is why you are leaving then you should just go.
5. Job Searches Open Up Wounds that Don’t Heal
Do you remember how it feels to have a mosquito bite?
It starts as a small itch – but the more that you itch it the worse it
gets. Eventually it gets big and red and it really hurts. This is
what a job search does to all of the little gripes you have about your current
employer. However, unlike a mosquito bite – it doesn’t completely go away
when you take a counter offer. All of those gripes that you thought of
sit in the back of your head and weigh you down. The problem is
that you rarely are able to put the genie back in the bottle and it just stays
with you. Eventually you will get fed up and decide to look again.
Scott Thompson, CPC | Senior Search Consultant
Capstone Search Group
Capstone Search Group
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