Counter Offer: Impact on Leaving Decision

So, you’ve finally been offered a new telecommunications job (congrats!) and you’ve just informed your line manager of your news. Sometimes, it’s not uncommon to be presented with a counter offer, which can bring about a whole new set of considerations that can be a little stressful. To help, I’ve put together some handy points to think about…

1. Why am I being counter offered?

Counter offers within the telecommunications industry (also often referred to as buy backs) are common and can present an attractive opportunity to stay in your current job. The prospect of more money, a better bonus, a job title change or a promotion, can be hard to turn down.

You may think to yourself, why is this offer being made now when I’ve decided to leave? Counter offers can be made for many reasons. Sometimes, it can be a genuine plea from your employer to keep you. On occasions though, counter offers are made for convenience (to the employer) – unfortunately that can be the harsh reality. The time it takes to train a new employee, embed them into a firm can be inconvenient and costly for employers, so they’ll want to keep you at all costs. Despite the reason, it’s always worth giving your employer respect and listening to the counter offer.

2. Why did I decide to leave my current job?

In a previous article, we highlighted some of the reasons you may decide to leave your current employer. These included:

• An increase in benefits
• No future prospect in your current role
• The desire for a more challenging role which can develop your skill set
• Conflict between colleagues that is extremely difficult/impossible to amend
• Relocation desires
• Company reorgs
• Changes in leadership

Think back to the time you strongly considered looking for a new telecommunications job. What were your reasons or motivations? If those reasons still persist then maybe accepting the counter offer isn’t the right thing to do.

3. What attracts you to your new employer?

Interviewing is the most challenging part when securing a new job. You’ve searched for the right telecommunications job and done the hardest part of the process in interviewing, hopefully all the questions you had for your new employer have been answered. Are they offering you the right opportunities to learn and develop? Is there more responsibility within the new role? Does the role offer a higher basic salary and/or additional benefits? Where is it based? Is it fully remote working? Once you have all your questions answered, then you’ll be in a solid position to decide on whether to accept or reject the counter offer.

4. Who benefits the most from the counter offer…you or your employer?

If you do receive a counter offer, does it really outweigh all the reasons that made you want to leave? If you do decide to accept, make sure it will be a long-term gain for your career. You must put yourself first when answering this question. If you’re finding it difficult to decide then speak to someone you trust to gain their opinion or a specialist telecommunications recruitment agency like First Point Group. One safe piece of advice is that you shouldn’t stay for comfort. Whilst a counter offer may fulfil you in the short term, consider the long-term prospects on your career.