Counter-offer 18

[AutoXer]

I know this guy... who knows this girl... She has worked for her current employer for 10yrs and pulls 82K/yr. She accepted an offer from another company for 87K/yr. Before her 2 week notice was up, her boss called her into his office. "Would you mind telling me what your offer was", he asked. She didn't want them to counter offer, so she lied and said 94K/yr. To her surprise, they countered with 97K/yr.

First off, good for her! Now, what does she do? Thoughts?

 

[PSE]

She could accept the counter offer and stay. If the reasons for wanting to leave are more than just for a higher salary, she could respond to the other company that she received a counter offer from her original employer that they could either match or possibly exceed.

Either way she needs to make a choice as her "bluff" got called.

When I left my first employer, the offered to immediately match the new offer. My reasons for leaving went beyond salary so I declined. The choice is ultimately hers.

Regards,

 

[vc66]

I agree with PSE.

There is also a lot more information that needs to be weighed. Do other employees know that she was going to leave? If so, would they treat her differently if she stayed? Is she sure that her boss isn't trying to make sure that he/she decides when she will leave, and not leave it up to her? Unfortunately in this world we live in, these are things that need to be contemplated.

Ultimately, compare the reasons to leave to the reasons to stay. Whatever weighs heavier--there's your decision.

Good luck either way.

Regards,

V

Mechanical Engineer
"When I am working on a problem, I do not think of beauty, but when I've finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."

- R. Buckminster Fuller

 

[JamesBarlow]

I would decline the counter offer just out of spite.

To think they have been paying 82 for a job that is worth 97 would really tick me off. You would then start to ask how many years of salary have you lost because of being underpaid and I would be livid.

 

[monkeydog]

Previous posts have good points.
You said she did not want them to counter-offer so she told them 94K, well, there is a reason she did not want them to counter-offer.

 

[epoisses]

she should tell the other company her current employer countered 107k!

 

[Twoballcane]

This is tricky and tempting; however, it also depends on the company she is going to. If it is a major player in her industry, she would have to go. You don’t want to piss off another company that may give you work in the future. If she bails from the new company, that company will never take her serious again. If the new company is small, well I would take the counter. But taking the counter also has its pitfalls. When layoffs come around, the people with less loyalty will be gone.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[Noway2]

One really needs to look at the reasons for leaving. If there are reasons other than money, then getting a larger salary won't fix the problem. While it may make things better for a while, the dissatisfaction will resurface.

As also pointed out, yes it is insulting that they were paying $82K and only when threatening to leave is the job worth $97K and this needs to be seriously considered. On top of that, is there the chance for retaliation when the next round of layoffs comes?

Personally, once I have decided to leave a place and accepted an offer with a new a company I stick with my decision.

 

[KENAT]

The above pretty much sum it up.

Why was she leaving, if just money and she doesn't think it will come back to bight her then sure stay (although I tend to feel some sympathy for what JamesBarlow says).

If there are other reasons for leaving, or it may come back and bight her at the next layoffs etc then maybe best to go now.

I think the telling thing is: "She didn't want them to counter offer, so she lied and said 94K/yr". So I'd guess there are other reasons for leaving and as others said, while money may patch this up for a while in a few months she'll be back to where she was, just a little more cash in the bank!

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[AutoXer]

The part that ticks me off the most, is that in order to get a substantial raise, you have to threaten to leave. I don't think they would have given her 97K/yr if she hadn't turned in her resignation. Even if she would have out-right asked for it, they may have given her a little raise, but not 15K.

 

[jistre]

Personally, in that situation, I wouldn't come back unless I were hired as a contract employee with the pay and full benefits stipulated in the contract and a buyout clause if they want to get rid of me before the term of the contract is up. Using a new job to leverage a raise just brings up too many trust and loyalty issues going both ways.

Even then, in the hands of the right lawyer, that contract is worth less than the paper it's written on, so it still would be hard to come back.

 

[ChrisConley]

The part that ticks me off the most, is that in order to get a substantial raise, you have to threaten to leave.

No kidding, I fought for 3 years with a previous employer to get 2 and 3% raises. I got fed up and left, on the way out the door they countered with an 18% raise.

Fortunetly it wasn't to far off the position I was moving to so I got to say: If I'm worth another 18% now, I was worth 18% more during rate review 3 months ago when you offered me 2%.

I also took the opportunity to tell everyone I left behind about the last minute offer. Several tendered resignations within weeks of mine just for the raise... and they got it.

 

[KENAT]

Star for you Chris just for sticking it to the man!

(I know, I know, don't burn bridges, act proffesionally...)

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[monkeydog]

Now Chris IS "THE MAN"

 

[ChrisConley]

I can't have burned the bridge too much, I recently received a phone call from the VP asking if I would be interested in coming back...



Thanks monkeydog

 

[KENAT]

I suppose you're the kind of person who falls in manure and comes up smelling of roses then;-).

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[bridgebuster]

Many years ago I read an article that discussed counter-offers; the consensus: Don't Take It,because in six months you'll be dealing with the same things that made you quit in the first place.

 

[jistre]

Ahh, every time they call you, I bet the salary has to go up, too. If not are they just offering you what you walked out on weeks ago?

If so, they're just showing you even more how underpaid you were.

It's fun to see companies like that operate and implode. Neglect your employees at your own peril. At the last company I worked for my group (3 engineers, 3 engineering techs, and a lab tech) was by far the largest revenue generator for the company. We had just come off of a 2 year development cycle for a product that was a customer hit and was generating contracts left and right and was going to generate revenues far in excess of our operating and production costs. At raise/bonus time, the development team who had suffered 2.5% or so raises for two years got a nice fat 7% raise as a reward for the success. At that point, most of us on the team still hadn't caught up with three years of inflation, and we'd delivered a product that was going to save the company (which hadn't turned a profit in ten years). A slap in the face is what we got for enduring poor raises and still delivering a product which by all measurements was a stunning success. Then the hemorrhage started.

On January 1 of the year the group imploded, all 7 of us that had developed the product were still there. I lasted the longest out of those who left because I had obligations outside the company after completion of which I was leaving the area, so there was no sense in looking elsewhere. On the day I left, I was the last degreed engineer in the group and there was only 1 other member of the original development group left. At this point, orders had been placed, but the product had yet to go into production due to the nature of the product and purchasing cycles. We were still in the tooling phase.

All for the want of a few decent raises and pats on the back for success, one of the finest teams I've ever had the privilege of working with evaporated, leaving the company high and dry in the middle of tooling up and preparation for production on a brand new product.

From what I hear, the product has finally turned the company around, and it's making a profit. I also hear stories of five figure bonuses being given, so it appears that lessons have been learned. I just wish it didn't take a great development team getting torn apart to do it.

 

[jistre]

Dang, I forgot the most important part of the story.

We were invariably asked what the company could do to keep us when we'd give our notices and to a man, we all replied "nothing". We knew that if we accepted any counteroffer, it would likely be a one-time band-aid fix until the company could find someone to replace us. More money, a better office, better facilities, what have you will not repair the core problems and trust issues that drove us all to look elsewhere.

 

[whyun]

Remember, if you can negotiate even one dollar an hour more in this year's raise, it is like one extra dollar an hour for the rest of your career.