The Bloomberg‘s screen shot that made it to the top page has made it to the front page and is getting tons of traction . There was also a lot of people in the comment saying they also did this and and how it worked for them. While it does seem like a good idea and 60% of workers approve of it and think it’s ethical let me give you the flipside or other side of what doing something like this could do to your career.
First of all why would you accept the counter offer? Why would you want to work for a company that you had to threaten to quit to get a raise? Are you going to need to do that every time? You just interviewed and found a company willing to pay your what your worth with no history of your work ethic, personality, etc to go on. They interviewed you, met you, evaluated your qualifications and experience and said “this person is worth X”. Your current employer has all that plus years of loyalty and work history to go off of and pays you less. You still want to work there??
2nd. Do you think things are going to change? If you have more gripes than just money an extra 5-10k or more is going to fix that? Over 12 months it might be only $200 a paycheck. Is it worth the bullshit that Mr Ceo gives you or your team? If it was your dream job and you loved the company and your boss and are treated great why couldn’t you just ask for more money?
3rd. “Once a cheater always a cheater”. Ever hear that to describe someone who cheats on their spouse? It’s almost no different here. You’ve cheated on your boss. You took time off to interview with a competitor (maybe) and now you’re threatening to leave if he/she doesn’t give you what you want. In their eyes you’re not only a cheater but an extorter. You think they are not going to remember this? In their eyes you thrown your “company loyalty “out the window. From now of when your call in sick or if you take a “personal day” then they will be thinking you’re possibly interviewing. If they have a down turn or have to lay off staff who do you think they’ll add to potential candidates? When review time comes you may even get the “you already got your raise when you threatened to quit in December”. Many are never going to forget that your did this.
4th. A large majority of the time you’re on borrowed time. They will give you the raise till they can find a replacement. They will also expect, in some cases, more out of you. They did not give you this raise because they like you, care about you/your family, or all of a sudden have an epiphany that they are underpaying staff. They gave it you because they did a cost benefit analysis and come to the conclusion that this was best FOR THE COMPANY, long term or until they can replace you, and that’s it.
5th. This is somewhat case by case but you’ve not only made your boss mad but the company that made you the offer is pissed now too. If your boss fires you in 8 weeks after accepting the counter offer this company has either filled the job or has you down as someone who doesn’t keep their word. Some will hire you but in my experience its a higher chance they won’t.
My suggestion is if you’ve made the decision to leave then leave. A 99% of the cases there was something else besides money that made you go out and start looking for a new job. Those things aren’t gonna be fixed because they gave you more money. Go work for the company that recognizes what you’re worth and values your experience, education and talents. You deserve it and shouldn’t have to threaten to get it.
Now, interviewing to see what’s out there is fine. Turning jobs down after you interview is fine. Even turning offers down is fine. What I would strongly caution against, unless you have no other choice, is leveraging an offer with your current company.
I’m so happy for todays work force and the way they are standing up and taking control, even if it makes my job harder, and I hope that many companies see that they’ve been exploiting workers for decades but the “leveraging the offer” thing has some major pitfalls and I want to make sure you all have that information before your do it and end up losing not one but 2 jobs.
Source and Disclaimer: I’m a recruiter/headhunter/search consultant so this is a issue I’ve been dealing with and having candidates experience for 24+ yrs. I also like to give back so feel to ask any questions.