COUNTEROFFERS: Should You Consider?

You turn in your notice. Suddenly, the company that’s been “too busy” to review your salary finds the budget to match the salary at your new job or maybe even beat it.

They tell you how valuable you are. They offer more money. Maybe even a new title.

It feels flattering…but it’s just 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹. If you leave, they have to hire a headhunter to replace you. They have to train someone new. It takes 6 months for a new person to be fully trained.

It’s a business decision for your company. It costs them less to give you a raise and keep you than to hire and train someone else.

According to several HR and recruiting studies, 65-80% of employees who accept a counteroffer leave within 6 months. It’s not because the raise wasn’t real, but because 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲, on either side.

Here’s what really happens:

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Every doctor’s appointment, every personal day, every lunch that runs long, leadership quietly wonders if you’re interviewing again. Once you’ve turned in your notice, you’ll never be seen as the same loyal employee.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲. The reasons you originally started looking are still there. The culture doesn’t shift, the workload doesn’t lighten, and the leadership style doesn’t suddenly change. No matter how many promises they make to keep you!

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝘁. You just received your “next raise” early. When annual reviews come around, others get increases and you don’t, because they already “took care of you.”

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗱. The raise was reactive, not proactive. It’s not appreciation. It’s retention panic.

Sometimes they pay you to stay but then replace you with someone else. Yes! That happens. They pay you more now, but they start quietly looking for a replacement. Then, they let you go because they no longer trust you.

It’s common sense. You essentially put a gun to their head and said, “Give me a raise or I’m leaving.” No, not in those exact words, but it’s basically the same thing. You threatened to leave in order to get more money.

After the dust settles, how do you think you will be viewed? Your boss will be bitter toward you for ruining the department budget and being unhappy enough to look for a new job. 

A counteroffer might make you stay a little longer, but it almost never makes your stay happier.

If your value only rises once you resign, that says everything you need to know about where you stand.

B𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲? Once you turn in your notice, keep looking forward. Then you are the employee they remember who did a great job, they should have taken better care of, and they wish they could have back. 

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