With almost full employment in Ireland currently (according to CSO c 4.5% unemployment) we can all agree that it is most certainly an employee’s market. In this counter offer guide we set out to walk accounting & finance professionals through the process of how to handle a counteroffer should one come your way. It is fair to say that a counteroffer should not come as a surprise to you and yet, so often it does is to many candidates. Counteroffers should be considered even before you start your job search, not purely at the tail end of your job search.

So how do you prepare for a counteroffer? Firstly, you need to truly understand and be able to clearly explain your motivation for a change of job. Some things to consider are:

 

  1. Is it a bad week or badly suited job?
  • Have you thought through why you want to leave your company properly? Have you talked it through with a mentor or confidante? Is it a knee jerk reaction to a bad week in the office? Take some quiet time to assess and reassess your reason for a change and talk this rationale through with a mentor or confidante. They will help you to sense check your reasons

 

  1. What impact will your change of job and employer have on your personal life?
  • Once you have confirmed that you have a genuine reason for a move, then make sure you understand what impact that move is likely to have on your personal life – financially, family commitments, work life balance etc. Speak with your family/partner and make sure that the implications of this move make sense to both yourself and family

 

  1. Is your main reason for a move purely financial?
  • If the primary reason for a move job of job is purely financial, your first stop should be a formal or informal discussion with your manager and/or HR. Perhaps this can be accommodated and then again perhaps not. Our motto is – “If you do not ask, you don’t get” you may be pleasantly surprised and save yourself the pain of several rounds of interviews which was not required at all

 

  1. Is your move to do with fatigue in your current role and you crave a change?
  • If you still enjoy your company, team and culture then you owe it to yourself to find out what and if your employer plans for you. Perhaps there is no plan and/or opportunity in the short, medium or any term for that matter. Understanding the plan or lack of it, will make your final decision much easier to make

 

In summary, It’s crucial to really understand why you want to leave your job/employer and to see if this can be resolved internally first. If it cannot be resolved, then the time is right to leave. If you do decide to leave remember that when your employer tries to woo you to stay. If you’ve gone through the above steps then it won’t amount to a long term solution. Research shows that in the case of people accepting counter offers, the main reason for the original change remains and so too does the frustration! According to several studies, 90% of those people that accept a counteroffer, will leave their employer within the following 12 months.

If after reading this you’ve decided it’s time to make a move from your current role get in touch with our team here!