1) the impact of stretching your colleagues while they look for a replacement
2) the cost of advertising and responding to each and every respondent
3) the cost of taking people away from their tasks to interview
4) the cost of the fee to a search firm
5) the cost of getting your successor “up to speed”
Yet, the question remains, should you actually take a counteroffer? Should you actually consider accepting your current company’s proposal? Here are a few things to consider.
- What kind of company do you work for if you have to threaten to leave to get the salary you want or title you deserve? This is not a question of ego; it is recognizing that there is a message in every action or inaction a company makes. You can expect the same inertia the next time.
- Your company may start looking for your replacement. Now that you’ve announced that you’re unhappy, your firm may start looking for a replacement that meets their timetable, rather than yours.
- Where is the funding coming from for this? Since companies generally have guidelines for increases, are they only giving your next raise to you a little early?
- Your loyalty may be questioned in the future. The next time a promotion is in order and the choice is between you and “the loyal one,” who do you think will be rewarded?
- When the next cutbacks occur, who becomes an obvious target? Right now, we are in good times. Those times eventually end and firms make cuts in those times. You are an obvious target.
- The circumstances that caused you to want to leave will reoccur. It’s like the spouse or partner who promises to act better when they are threatened by you leaving. They may act better for a while, but the old behaviors repeat themselves after the crisis disappears. As a result,
- Statistics show that the person who accepts a counteroffer is far more likely to leave their job within a year of accepting it. Pretty grim, huh?
- You are being “bought” to overlook other faults. Your job is frustrating, your manager is a jerk, the location is wrong, the benefits are terrible, you received a bad bonus and your colleagues are incompetent. Here’s a few thousand more to forget about these other things.
As tempting as it may be to accept a counteroffer, you must carefully evaluate the benefits of leaving with the risks of staying. Most people are far better served by leaving, rather than staying.
Jeff Altman
The Big Game Hunter
Concepts in Staffing
jeffaltman@cisny.com
© 2006 all rights reserved.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.
If you have a question that you would like me to answer, email it to me at: thebiggamehunter@gmail.com
To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s new meta job lead tool, Job Search Universe, or to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, go to http://www.jeffaltman.com. Job Search Universe is also available at www.jobsearchuniverse.com To add your firm’s career page to “The Universe” email the url to jobsesarchuniverse@gmail.com.
For Jeff’s free recruiting ezine, NaturalSelection Ezine, to help human resources professionals, managers and business owners make even better hiring decisions, ,subscribe at www.naturalselectionezine.com . For information about personal job search services, go to www.VIPPersonalSearch.com.
If you would like Jeff and his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you’re looking for a new position, include your resume)
