Accepting job offers & salaries

How to respond to a counter offer

With many employers struggling to retain good quality staff, professionals are increasingly likely to be presented with a counter offer when they announce their resignation.

The decision whether or not to accept a counter offer is an important one that may have a lasting impact on your career.

You should consider whether the counter offer will truly address your original reasons for wanting to leave and if your future with the company could be impacted even if you decide to stay.

“Our research has shown that while many professionals have received counter offers during their resignation process, 39% of those who accepted returned to the jobs market within a year," said Suzanne Feeney, country manager at Robert Walters. 

"This suggests that employees who have considered leaving a company and have found an alternative role will not be persuaded to stay long term.”

Your existing company wants to buy you back

It is in an organisation’s best interest to retain their best staff if they can, so when a valued team member hands in their notice, managers will often try to financially incentivise the employee to stay.

Change can seem daunting and increased pay and progression is appealing, but before you accept the counter offer you should consider a number of factors:

1. Are the reasons behind the counter offer in your best interest?

It is usually cheaper to keep an employee through offering a pay rise or promotion than it is to hire and train a new member of staff, so this may be the main reason your employer wants you to stay.

"While it is clearly in your employer's interest to retain you, this doesn’t change the fact that you’d been unhappy enough at work to not only look for another opportunity, but to interview and subsequently receive an offer for a new job," continued Suzanne. 

2. Has the trust been broken?

While many professionals have received counter offers during their resignation process, 39% of those who accepted returned to the jobs market within a year.

It may be worth considering whether your employer's opinion of you will be coloured by the fact that you seriously considered leaving.

If you have been looking for another job, then your employer may see you as less trustworthy than before and could view any dental or doctors appointments suspiciously which may make you feel unsettled at work.

3. Would you have received a pay rise or promotion if you hadn’t resigned?

It is worth considering whether you would have received this recognition of your hard work if you hadn’t handed in your notice, and if not – do you want to stay at a company that doesn’t reward its employees until they hand in their resignation.

"In some cases employers will offer an increased salary as a counter offer at the direct expense of a bonus payment," added Suzanne.

"Particularly for professionals in fields where their bonus accounts for a signifincant part of their annual income this can interfere with their financial plans."

4. Why did you want to leave in the first place?

While financial rewards are attractive incentives, recent research by Robert Walters has shown that employees are most likely to look for new job opportunities that offer them better career progression.

So accepting a counter offer purely for the financial benefits doesn’t mean that you won’t still feel dissatisfied in your role in a few months’ time.

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No one enjoys getting turned down for a job, and if you’ve done a lot of preparation for a role that you really wanted, it can be harder still to accept a rejection. But with the right mindset, you can turn the experience into a career development opportunity. Here’s how…

Ask for detailed feedback

 The key thing to do after a rejection is to think about what happened, and how you can learn from it.

Asking for and listening to feedback is the most valuable thing you can do when faced with a job rejection. Self-analysis alone won’t paint the whole picture of why you weren’t the right person for the role.

So start by gathering all the feedback you can from the recruiter – and through them, the employer. If the feedback feels a bit superficial or generic, don’t be afraid to ask for a more detailed assessment. You put a lot into the process, after all, and you’re entitled to get some actionable insights at the end of it.

Review and reflect

Once you’ve had a chance to come to terms with the employer’s decision, it can be tempting to brush the experience aside and never think of it again. But that would be to pass up on a significant learning opportunity.

So, thinking about the feedback you received, go back through everything that happened, from the way you prepared and researched through to your interactions in the interview and any follow-up.

If the process took place in stages, rank your performance for each part and determine where there is room for improvement. Ask yourself: What did I sense went well? What could I have done differently?

Could a presentation have been prepared more thoroughly? Could you have worked harder to build rapport with your interviewer(s)? Did you focus too much on technical competence at the expense of showcasing your softer skills? Were there any questions you feel you could have answered better?

There is always room to improve, so use any setbacks to shine a light on these areas.

Identify learnings and build a personal development plan

Think about feedback from past rejections, and from appraisals and the like. Are there any recurring themes? What should your development priorities be?

Make a note of any weaknesses or issues that you can do something about, and use them as a focus for the way you approach your preparation next time.

Turn these requirements into a plan. What can you do to fix the gaps in your performance? Depending on the issue, there may be some training or informal coaching you can undertake to help you develop. Or it may simply be a case of working harder on some of your answers, and finding someone to practise them with.

Be philosophical 

Feedback can also help you to recognise that sometimes rejection is simply out of your hands – and can even ultimately be in your interest. Some things can’t be changed overnight – if the interviewer prefers someone with extensive client management experience (which you don’t have) or they want someone who speaks the local language (and you don’t, or not as well), then it pays to be philosophical. The key with your plan is to focus on the things you can realistically change.

Chemistry plays a vital part in any successful working arrangement. So even if you’d felt your interview went perfectly, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the role within that specific company was perfect for you.

Refine your search

Sometimes the interview and/or feedback process can make you realise that, although it’s disappointing to be rejected, the role didn’t, on reflection, feel like quite the right fit for you either. 

Look back over the job specification and ask yourself if you could truly see yourself in that role on a day-to-day basis. If there were aspects of the role that didn’t excite you, the interviewer may have been able to see this too.

Use your experience to help you refine future job searches. Are you perhaps looking at keywords that don’t quite match your ambitions and aspirations? Did the role that went with the job title not quite match your expectations? Did the interview make you realise that this is not quite the right sort of job for you? And if not, then what is?

Build resilience

In today’s rapidly changing workplace, as technologies accelerate and companies transform themselves with great agility, developing a mindset of grit and resilience is essential for long-term success.

See each setback as a challenge to grow both your self-understanding and your ability to bounce back and deal with disappointment. Overcoming obstacles on your career path will increase your chances of landing the right role. So make a point of staying constructive, and do all you can to learn from the experience to help you get ready for the next opportunity.

After all, getting turned down from a job happens to everyone, the most important thing is what you learn from it. 

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A woman’s guide to getting a pay rise

Even when we feel we deserve a promotion, a pay rise, or a better starting package, not everyone finds it easy to ask, and this can be especially true of women. Here are some ideas and inspiration to help boost your assertiveness in conversations about money…  

 

According to research by Mintel, women continue to be less confident about asking for a pay rise than men – half as much, in fact, with 42 per cent of men saying they feel confident about asking for a rise, compared with just 22 per cent of women.

“Women have traditionally not been good at asking for pay rises,” says Suzanne Feeney, country manager at Robert Walters Ireland, who links it with a more general confidence issue.

”It’s often said that when a woman sees a job description, if she can master nine out of the ten requirements, she’ll focus on the one she’s not sure about, and maybe not apply as a result,” says Suzanne. “Whereas a man might see the same ad, and feel confident about applying even if he can only tick four out of the ten boxes!”

Singapore-based Joanne Chua, Robert Walters’ regional client development director for Southeast Asia and Greater China, agrees. “Confidence at work and around asking for more money is an issue,” she says. “We seem to think we’re never good enough.”

So what can you do to increase your confidence in asking for and talking about money? And what steps can you take to improve your chances of a positive outcome?

Ask yourself: “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Nervousness about talking money can have many causes – a lack of self-esteem, reluctance to break cultural norms, fear of being seen as mercenary or fear of rejection. But it’s worth remembering that making sure you’re paid fairly is a basic right, and it makes good business sense too. Done right, demonstrating your negotiation skills will show commercial savvy that will impress your boss.

“No one should think less of you for asking,” says Suzanne. “Any employer worth their salt will respect your confidence and ambition. And if they don’t, well what does that say about them?”

”Say to yourself: ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’” adds Joanne Chua. “The worst thing is they can say no. But who would you rather be – someone who tried, or someone who didn’t dare ask?”

Prepare, prepare, prepare…

“You have to go into that meeting the most prepared you can be,” says Suzanne Feeney. “Start by looking back over the past year and thinking about where you have over-achieved. Look at your job description and think about when you have performed over and above that. Ask: what projects have you been involved in that have been real successes? List the impact you’ve had – on your team, the business and the bottom line.”

This exercise is a good way of reminding yourself why you are worth a rise, but it has other benefits too. “Quite often your manager may simply not be aware of – or may not recall – all the things that you’ve achieved, and how you’ve contributed,” says Suzanne. “So think back to positive feedback from appraisals, testimonials from co-workers, and positive feedback from clients or other parts of the business.”

Pick your battles

You need to go to the meeting with a good idea of what you’re worth – and a good awareness of what you potentially deserve and are currently missing out on. ”Don’t negotiate for the sake of it – just to prove you can,” cautions Joanne Chua. “Size up the opportunity, and benchmark against your peers.”

Robert Walters’ own regional Salary Surveys can be very useful here. In addition, most industries are supported by publications and bodies which provide regular salary reports. Another way to benchmark your pay is to look at comparable job ads on recruiter sites. Websites like Glassdoor and LinkedIn also provide salary information which can help you get a clear indication of the range for your role and level of experience.

It’s a good idea to speak to a recruiter you trust too. Recruiters deal with salary negotiations on a day-to-day basis and can give you guidance on what to ask for.

While it’s important to benchmark your pay accurately, Suzanne Feeney warns against targeting a specific co-worker’s pay. “It’s dangerous to get into direct comparisons with colleagues,” she says. “You don’t want to go storming in with, ‘Why does Bob get £500 more than me?!!’ You may not know the whole context, and that sort of approach is likely to put an employer’s back up. Plus, of course, the whole issue is implicit in the conversation anyway.”

Practise with someone you trust

“Women especially have to learn to use the right language in negotiations and to be confident and direct,” says Suzanne Feeney. “So practise till you can do it.” Suzanne emphasises the need for women to be more assertive in a polite, balanced way, and not apologetic for, or excessively grateful for, receiving something which is effectively their right anyway.

Role-playing what you want to say, and how, is a great way to grow your confidence for the meeting ahead, she adds. “Discuss what you’ll say with a partner, or friend(s) you trust. Practise at home being non-confrontational but also calm and confident – weed out all those expressions like ‘I’m terribly sorry’ and ‘I’m so grateful’.”

Joanne Chua advises finding someone you trust that you can have a heart-to-heart with to discuss your fears and concerns. “Find a mentor who can give you support and guidance,” she says. “Talk to someone who’s been down the same path.”

Don’t make it personal

Another way to take the heat out of the conversation is to imagine you’re acting on behalf of a third party, says Joanne Chua. “Don’t make it personal,” she says. “Ask yourself: How much should someone doing that job, sitting in that chair, be on? Given the role and the budget, how much should they be paid?”

Time it right

Timing is vital when it comes to broaching the subject of salary. “Make sure you call a timely meeting,” advises Suzanne Feeney. “If the annual pay review is in January, and you call the meeting for February, you’re likely to have missed the boat. In such a case November would be better.”

Keep it focused

Similarly, don’t try to combine your pay issue with another discussion. “Call a specific meeting about your pay – don’t tack it on to a meeting about anything else,” says Suzanne. “It’s very important that things keep to the point and don’t digress.”

Learn the dance of negotiation

You don’t have to be a master negotiator to close the deal, but knowing the basics can help you a great deal:

· Listen hard: Active listening shows respect and builds trust. Repeat back key points your manager makes: mirroring shows that you appreciate their perspective and take them seriously.

· Acknowledge objections: An objection such as “we just don’t have the budget” is often used as a way to try and bring the negotiation to an end. But you can keep the conversation going by acknowledging the objection, repeating it back to your manager, and asking additional questions until a compromise or an alternative solution might emerge. These additional questions might include: “Do you know when budget might be made available for this?” or “What are your plans for growing and developing the team?”

· Pace yourself: Don’t feel pressured to jump at the first figure that’s put in front of you. Your manager probably has a final figure in mind, and – like yours – it’s unlikely to be the first thing that’s offered.

· Own the silence: “Don’t feel the need to fill the silence with chatter and white noise – ask your question and wait for the answer. Just let the silence fill the room,” advises Suzanne Feeney. “It took me years to learn this one, and women often find it harder than men, but it’s a classic sales technique that’s often very powerful.”

· Expand the pie: A negotiation isn’t about bulldozing a perceived opponent into giving you everything you want. It’s about giving to get – bargaining for what you both want. So if the final figure on the table isn’t quite aligned with what you had in mind, says Suzanne Feeney, you may be able to negotiate something else that works for you. “Is there something else you can get instead?” she says. “For example, extra annual leave, study days, training courses, flexible hours, mentoring, an extra percentage on your pension, CPD courses?”

· Think it over: Even if you’re happy with the proposal, always give yourself a night’s sleep to think things over. It’s important not to let the emotion of the moment sway you; it’s always wise to reflect on the offer and ideally discuss it with someone you trust.

Consider your options

If you don’t get exactly what you want from the conversation, stay calm and give yourself time to decide on your response.

”Don’t issue an ultimatum if you don’t get what you want,” says Suzanne Feeney. “Just buy yourself some time instead – say, ‘I’d like to think about that and come back to you’. Don’t get emotional or petty. Stay calm and professional, and take some time to reflect.”

In some cases, if you don’t get what you want it may be that the manager simply doesn’t have it in their power to do anything at the current time. “In such a case, say that you’d like to put in a date for a review,” says Suzanne. “Ask: when do you think we might be able to move on this? Note the date and follow up accordingly.”

Always end positively. Regardless of the outcome, make sure you finish the meeting on a constructive note and show your appreciation for the time you’ve been given.

And if on reflection you’re still not happy with the outcome of your negotiation, of course, it may be time to think about looking for another job where you feel the pay is closer to what you deserve. 

Thinking of moving on? Read our article on how to execute the perfect resignation. 

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You've been offered a new job, but just as you hand in your notice, you're approached with a counter-offer from your current employer. What to do? These questions will help you work through your options.

 

 

 

 

1. Why did you consider a new job in the first place?

Changing jobs is never easy, so you must have had good reason to explore the job market and consider leaving your current role. Perhaps you've been lacking motivation lately and have felt like you aren't moving quickly enough or maybe you've fallen out of sync with the company values since you joined.

There are plenty of reasons why it might be time to move on, and for most people these are not just about money. It can feel flattering to get a pay rise and feel you’re wanted, but it’s unlikely to be a long-term solution for you unless you can feel confident that the underlying issues that made you want to leave in the first place are likely to be addressed.

"After all, 39% of people who initially accept a counter-offer end up back in the job market within a year anyway," according to Suzanne Feeney, country manager at Robert Walters Ireland.

2. Have you taken some time to weigh up your decision?

Our initial reactions to a counter-offer can be emotional and impulsive – a flush of pleasure at feeling in demand, perhaps, and the feel-good factor of an unexpected pay rise. Loyalty and affection for your current colleagues and workplace can play a part too.

Don't be blindsided by the emotion of leaving a workplace; focus on the reasons you decided to do so.

But it's important to separate the emotional side of leaving your job with the reasons behind your decision, says Suzanne. “It can feel like going through a break-up when you leave your job,” she says, “but try to distance yourself and be rational.”

Suzanne recommends making sure you take a few days to consider your options. Draw up a list of pros and cons, and discuss the issue with family and friends you trust. In this way, you can make sure that your decision has been carefully argued, and isn’t just based on an initial emotional reaction.

3. Is the pay rise enough to stay? And why are you only being offered a pay rise now?

Part of the counter-offer is usually a significant pay rise. This certainly makes staying in your current role an appealing option – but is higher pay really enough? After all, if your pay was the problem you probably would have addressed this issue with your manager before feeling compelled to look for other jobs.

And why has it taken until now, as you're about to resign, for your company to offer you a pay rise? You need to consider whether you would have been rewarded for your hard work and contribution to the company if you hadn't handed in your notice.

“If they can offer you more money now, it’s only natural to ask: Is there a reason they didn’t pay you that before?” says Claire Dunwoody, Business Director Robert Walters who recruits for HR roles in Ireland.

“It could mean they’ve been under valuing you. And even if they pay you more now, are you just being frontloaded a pay review you might have got anyway, taking you to a pay level you will now be stuck on for longer?”

From a business point of view, it's frankly cheaper and easier for a company to pay a bit more to retain an existing, valued employee rather than invest in recruiting, training and developing a new starter from scratch. From this perspective, the pay rise may seem less flattering. So again, it's important to look beyond and think about your position in the long run, when the novelty of increased pay has worn off.

4. How will your future in the company be affected?

Some employees worry that the fact that they are now known to have considered accepting another job could affect the way they are perceived in the company if they choose to stay.

It might be that you sense a lessening of trust in you, so that if ever you work from home or have to attend a medical appointment, you feel all eyes watching you. Or it might be a concern that people in the company see you as a ‘flight risk’, and so are reluctant to involve you in strategic work or confidential information because they fear you may be on the verge of looking to leave again. 

“Bear in mind that it will now be common knowledge that at one point at least, you wanted to leave,” says Claire. “So, you need to factor in whether that knowledge will prejudice your future and they only want to save the cost and disruption of having to replace you.”

5. What is going to make you happy?

If you've been feeling excited and ready to begin working in a new environment and a more fulfilling role, this is a very telling sign that you shouldn't accept your counter-offer.

Whilst it's tempting to stick to what you know, with the benefit of a bigger pay cheque, taking the time to evaluate your options will mean you don't regret your choice in a few months' time.

So make sure that, whatever option you choose to accept, it's for the right reasons.

Check if it's time to move on from your current role or have a look at our tips for how to prepare for a job change 

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Ronan Farrelly – Principal at Robert Walters’ Dublin discusses counter-offers and how to manage them.

As the recruitment market improves in Dublin, the frequency of counter offers has become a lot more prevalent. Ever since the downfall in the economy, professionals in certain sectors were relieved that they simply had a job. Once basic needs were met, people in Ireland were generally happy. However, over the past six to twelve months, people’s attitudes towards their careers have begun changing.

Some professionals have remained in the same role for the past five years and have seen no bonus or only minor increases to their basic salary, this being especially applicable within Irish banks. As the market continues to make a slow recovery, and as companies begin to reinvest in technology, professionals are becoming more confident to seek new challenges and to grow their skills and expertise elsewhere.

Here at Robert Walters, we have witnessed a notable increase in the number of counter offers being made across all sectors, from large global banks to SMEs, as employers seek to retain their top talent.

Why do employers counter offer?

In short, employers do not want to see top talent leave their business, especially when people have a particular expertise, whether in finance, risk, compliance, IT etc.

What is a typical counter offer scenario?

The counter offer scenario can be quite an uncomfortable situation for both the employee and employer. The employee has verbally accepted an offer from another business and hands in their notice to resign. However, after having accepted this resignation and listened to the employee’s motivations for wanting to leave, the current employer subsequently makes a counter offer against the prospective new employer.

A counter offer can include anything from a substantial increase in salary to a promotion or a new corporate title. Sometimes an employer may go so far as to create a completely new role for the employee with the hope of enticing the valuable member of staff to stay with the business.

For example, this year we saw a counter offer situation where the employee was offered a €10,000 increase on their basic salary along with a promotion and a new corporate title.
A counter offer can include anything from a substantial increase in salary to a promotion or a new corporate title.

Disadvantages of a counter offer

If a counter offer is accepted, trust can become a major testing factor between employee and employer. Employers may question their employees’ motives and doubt their loyalty to the business. Surprisingly, we find that a large percentage of people who accept a counter offer from their employer return to the job market within twelve months.

Should I accept a counter offer?

When deciding whether to accept a counter offer, you need to fully understand the ‘real’ reasons for wanting to move.

You should ask yourself these questions and consider the following before contemplating a move:

• Why are you here? Why are you looking to move jobs?
• Is there anything that would keep you in your current organisation: promotion/new role/pay rise?
• Have you discussed career options with your current boss?
• Describe your ideal job
• Are there any companies you would like to work for? If so, why?
• What do you want out of your career?
• What is important to you? Money/work-life balance etc.
• What motivates you in a working environment?
• What de-motivates you in a working environment?
• Is location important?
• Where do you want to be in a few years time?

Once a person is fully clear on their main motivations for considering a move in the first instance, counter offers can become irrelevant.

Seeking a new opportunity? To discuss your current accounting & finance recruitment needs in more detail, please contact:

Ronan Farrelly
Principal - Legal
T: +353 1 633 4111
E: ronan.farrelly@robertwalters.com

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