A counter-offer is what your employer puts on the table to keep you after you've resigned. Usually it's more money. Sometimes it's a new title or a promise about the next promotion. Whether you should take it depends almost entirely on why you started looking in the first place.
January is a common time for them. People come back from Christmas, look at the year ahead and decide it's time to move. Then they resign, and their manager asks for a coffee.
Why employers make counter-offers
Replacing a good manager is slow and expensive. A store without its manager loses momentum while the business recruits and waits out a notice period, and then the new person needs time to learn the job. Matching a pay rise is often the cheapest way to avoid that, at least in the short term.
That doesn't make a counter-offer cynical. Sometimes it's a manager finally recognising what you're worth. Notice the timing, though: the money appeared on the day you handed in your notice.
Go back to the reason you started looking
Before you answer, write down the reasons you went looking. Be honest. Then check each one against what's being offered.
- If it was money, and the counter-offer fixes the money, it might be the right answer. Ask yourself why it took a resignation to get there, and whether the next pay review will be the same story.
- If it was your manager, more money doesn't change who you report to on Monday.
- If it was progression, a new title only counts if the job changes with it. Ask what you'll be doing differently and who decided.
- If it was the business itself, its direction or its culture, nothing in a counter-offer touches it.
Most people who start looking have more than one reason. If the counter-offer only answers one of them, the others will still be there in six months.
What changes after you've resigned
Even when everyone handles it well, resigning changes how the business sees you. Your manager now knows you were looking. Plans that had you in them may have been quietly redrawn the moment you resigned. That's no reason to turn the offer down on its own. Go in knowing it.
If you do accept, get everything in writing: the new salary, the new title, the start date for both, and anything that was promised about the next step. Verbal promises made in the heat of a resignation are easy to forget once the pressure's off.
If you decide to go
Resign well. You'll work with these people again, especially in retail and hospitality, where everyone knows everyone.
- Tell your manager in person first, then confirm it in writing.
- Keep the reason simple and positive. You're going to something, and that's enough.
- Say thank you, and mean it.
- Work your notice properly. Hand over cleanly and leave the store or the team in good shape.
If they make a counter-offer anyway, thank them and tell them your decision stands. You don't owe anyone a debate.
For employers
If you're on the other side of this, the best time to make the offer is before anyone resigns. The managers who leave are rarely surprised by their own decision. They've usually been thinking about it for months. A pay review that lands on time and an honest conversation about progression will keep more people than a counter-offer made at the door.
Talk to us
If you're weighing up a move, or you've had a counter-offer and want a straight second opinion, book a call with one of us. We'll tell you what we honestly think, even if that means staying where you are. You can also see the roles we're working on now on our vacancies page, or register as a candidate.