Successfully navigating your employer’s counter-offer

Research carried out as part of our Robert Half Salary Guide 2023 found that the high rates of inflation and the growing cost of living crisis are impacting employees and employers alike, leading to a stretched hiring landscape. Business leaders are concerned about the impact on retention, with 78% agreeing that the rising cost of living will push employees to seek higher salaries.

As such, the pressure is on for businesses to retain their important talent. But what happens once you have decided to leave your current employer? Well, businesses may choose to give you a counter-offer. A counter-offer is an employer’s final effort to keep a valued employee from leaving the business.

Counter-offers can take many forms: an increase in salary, additional company benefits, a sought-after promotion or new job title, additional responsibility, a change in role, more involvement in projects that interest you - or any combination of these.

A counter-offer is an offer from your current employer, to rival the one you have received from your future employer and convince you to stay. However, it’s usually made after the employee hands in their notice of resignation.

As the competitive hiring market continues to bite and hinder employers’ ability to grow, counter-offers are becoming more popular, with over a third of hiring companies noticing an increase in prospective hires receiving a counter-offer from their current employer.

What should you do if you receive a counter-offer? Here are our top tips for dealing with a counter-offer

Take your time

Based on your strength of feeling, it can be tempting to rush in and make a hasty decision that you may later come to regret. Ask for a few days to consider your options and speak to your close family and friends who will have your best interests at heart. You can also draw up a ‘pros and cons list to help you with your decision.

Compare your offers

You should carefully assess the strength of the counter-offer with the offer from your prospective employer. However, look beyond the salary and benefits and decide which company will help to develop your career in the long term. Whilst a short-term boost in salary is definitely a bonus, you should be careful not to risk your long-term earning potential.

You should also consider which of the companies most closely align with your values. Working for a company with a positive culture and corporate vision can improve how motivated, engaged and happy you are at work.

Related: How to write a resignation letter

Consult your recruitment specialist

If you have been using a recruiter to aid with your job search, let them know about the counter-offer at the earliest possible opportunity. They will likely have gone through this process countless times before and will be well placed to give you their professional opinion on other aspects you should be considering.

It is their job to find the ideal candidate who will stay with the prospective employer long term. Having one of their candidates leave and go back to a previous employer will be damaging to their relationships with their clients.

Analyse the reasons for leaving

The majority of counter-offers will involve a pay rise, however, money may not be your main reason for leaving your job. You may be looking for a new employer with a better work-life balance, to get more responsibility, or to escape a toxic work environment. As such, you should ask yourself if the counter-offer addresses your concerns or if it is simply a quick fix to a wider issue.

Counter the counter-offer

A counter-offer is a negotiation between two parties. If the new offer does not address all of your concerns, then you should use the opportunity to raise the stakes. Push back where appropriate to explain where your needs are not met. For example, if you do not feel the counter-offer takes your long-term career progression into account, ask for a detailed personal development plan.

However, businesses may not have the autonomy to make personalised changes to your contracted terms and conditions, so if you are looking for remote or flexible working and it’s not part of the corporate policies, for example, you may have to look elsewhere.

Whatever decision you make, learn from the process and take the experience as a lesson learned in negotiating and navigating your career. However, for any additional help, you can view our Salary Guide 2023 to view the market salaries and essential benefits for a host of industries and job roles.