You made a decision to seek out a new job, interviewed with a prospective company, an offer was extended, and all was going great until you gave notice to your current employer and they hit you with a counter offer. What to do now?

If you are a valuable resource to your current employer and boss they won’t want to see you walk out the door, particularly to the competition. They will entice you with a counter offer with the hope that you will stay. Although being made an attractive counter offer can be validating to your ego, you should question a few things before giving them your answer:

• Why didn’t the company recognize your worth while you were there and adjust your compensation and title accordingly?
• If your employer truly thought you were worthy why didn’t they improve your situation earlier? Do you need to resign every time you want to increase your visibility within a company?

Of course not.

Let’s face it, there were reasons why you considered leaving your current job. Those reasons still exist. If money was a prime motivator for resigning, receiving a better counter offer will not change the current situation or state of play. Before accepting the counter offer ask yourself why the employer has made it in the first place. Much research has been done over the years which shows only 6% of employees who accept a counter offer are still with their current employer after 12 months.

Counter offers are often a reactive attempt by employers to keep their knowledge base from walking away. There is a concern now they may not be able to fill your role in time so they will want to keep you there in the interim while they search for a replacement. Then consider you a risk and start contingency plans, for you may no longer be seen as a dedicated member of the team.

Part of the initial discussion with a prospective company and internal recruiter revolved around the best way to manage your career. You were asked why you were looking to begin with, your compensation expectations for a new job, and what ultimately is important to you. With this information a picture was formed on whether or not the new opportunity would meet your needs. If you have just received an offer from the prospective company then in all likelihood all your key points had been addressed. Why would you now consider a counter offer?

Leaving a job you have invested a lot of energy in is hard but there are a couple things to help make this transition go smoothly:

• Decline the counter offer in a respectful way and thank the current employer for the time you spent there. Be nice on the way out.
• Provide a plan to help transition your work and train a replacement, however, with some companies don’t be surprised to be walked out the door.

Either way, this will help ensure your moving forward with a clear conscious, knowing the reasons you decided to take the new job was based on informed decisions.

Much success!