So you’ve finally landed that job you’ve wanted. It’s time to put in your resignation. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, don’t be so sure….

As you attempt to resign, your current employer begins to plea: we can’t believe you’ve thought about leaving us. We need you. You are our star player. What can we do to change your mind? How about a raise? Forget the other company, we’ll pay you more….

How’s that for an ego boost? Regardless of how good it feels or how tempting the offer is, resist the urge to accept it, even if only temporarily. Give yourself an opportunity to carefully think it through.

Why?

60- 80% of individuals who accept counter offers end up leaving their employer within six months, voluntarily or otherwise. Most national surveys reveal this figure to be closest to the latter end of this range, 80%!!!

There are a variety of reasons why counter offers backfire, but here are two of the most common:

• Work Conditions: The reasons you were motivate to leave still exist—whether it’s a difficult boss, toxic culture, commute, lack of upward mobility, boredom, etc. If you’ve been miserable working somewhere, don’t expect a pay increase to change this. It may help you tolerate it, but for how long? According to statistics, not long at all.
• Trust Issues: Your boss may appear to have forgiven you for attempting to leave, but they won’t forget. They may now view you as a flight risk.  That bump in pay you’ve received may simply be a tactic they use (quite literally) to buy themselves enough time to devise a contingency plan or identify a replacement for you.

So if you’re having second thoughts about leaving your employer after receiving a tantalizing counter offer, THINK AGAIN. It’s critical that you make this decision for the right reasons. You have a great deal at stake…if you decide to stay only to wind up another statistic, you may effectively burn bridges with two employers.

Meghan