3 ms·
> Hand in a competing offer Unless (even if?) the counter-offer is significantly higher, I'd say just take the competing offer. Chances are HR will put a targ
by femto 3y ago
> Hand in a competing offer
Unless (even if?) the counter-offer is significantly higher, I'd say just take the competing offer. Chances are HR will put a target on your back for being "disloyal".
- kamikaz1k 3y agoWhy would “HR” put a target? Your manager wants to retain you. If you don’t think your manager has your interests in mind, then why stick around? HR DGAF IMHO.
- jliptzin 3y agoI think they mean that now that you’ve outed yourself as someone who shops around, the next time you try to do it they’ll already have your replacement prepared.
- dartharva 3y agoYou are severely overestimating HR's willingness to engage. If they are tardy enough to not be competent in managing basic employee expectations, they sure as hell are not going to maintain a grudge ledger against every candidate to target them.
- giantg2 3y agoMy company used to blacklist employees that left. If you left the company they would never hire you back. They stopped doing that around 4-5 years ago.
- shermantanktop 3y agoI got that speech on the way out the door. I laughed and laughed, right in the cubicle where the HR lady (nice enough) was going through the process with me. I was already in the mindset that the bridge had been burnt—by them, not me. Between the stress of quitting, the relief of having another job lined up, and now this bizarre empty threat to be blackballed from a place I’d never want to work for again…I just had to laugh.
- fbdab103 3y agoMeanwhile, my F500 company fired a guy with cause. Two years later he was re-hired in an entirely different role. When discovered, my director was flabbergasted that HR had not permanently blacklisted him.
- dartharva 3y agoIs this not a standard practice?
- giantg2 3y agoI don't think so. I think about half of places blacklist if you leave on good terms and the other half only blacklist if it was for cause.
- ta_1138 3y agoIn my very long career, I have yet to hear a good story of someone taking said counter offer and staying very long, for one reason or another. I think it's a bad idea to offer it at all, as it sends a very clear message of what behavior is rewarded. When other employees learn that you will offer raises to counter offers, expect everyone to start interviewing. Every manager knows which team members are key to the team's performance. They have to get raises or bonuses to match.
- depereo 3y agoCounteroffers are 'stem the skills bleed' at best. People who take counteroffers were annoyed enough to look in the first place, and know they're valued enough elsewhere to get a market rate. I've heard that even if someone accepts a counteroffer and stays they're very unlikely to still be there 12 months later. The company can use that time to figure out what that person does and make sure when they leave it's not as painful and abrupt.
- valenterry 3y agoOr they interview regularly to stay in the game and know their value.
- Aeolun 3y agoI took the counter offer and stayed for (so far) 3 more years. To be fair, the problem was less the money and more the nature of the work, but even that was adjusted to be more accommodating.
- loeg 3y agoI took a counter offer and stayed for another 6-7 years. It worked out well for both parties. I knew they wanted to keep me but were stingy so it was useful to interview elsewhere to give myself some leverage.
- atq2119 3y agoI specifically interviewed and got an offer elsewhere precisely because, while I like my job and am very good at it, this dance of offer and counter offer is the only way to get substantial raises or bonuses. So I took the counter offer and am pretty happy about it two years later.
- ahepp 3y agoIf you walk into your boss's office and say "match this or I'm gone", you might be earning yourself a reputation (maybe a deserved one?) as a hardball negotiator, and you're probably better off just taking the offer. I think there's a way to pull it off that doesn't leave anyone feeling taken advantage of or bushwhacked. It probably starts by talking at your annual review about how you're concerned the market rate for your position is higher than what you earn. Then go get an offer and say "gee boss I really love working for this company but X% is a lot of money to leave on the table, is there anything you can do to close this gap". They need to be convinced that there's an urgent and valid reason to pay you more, but they also need to be convinced that the juice is worth the squeeze. If they think you're just going to go pull the same stunt again in 6 months, or if they think that you're already low morale, they will just call it attrition.
- nerdponx 3y agoI think the idea of having a competing offer is to have a credible threat of leaving. Another strategy, if you can pull it off, is to have a different kind of credible threat. Maybe you know that you're a high performer and/or have a good professional network and would have no trouble finding a new job. Maybe you have 6 months of savings set aside specifically so you can quit a job if needed. Maybe your spouse also earns good money (or maybe your spouse is the high earner) and you live far enough below your means that you can float for a while with half income. You don't necessarily need to show firm evidence that these things exist, you just need to make it clear that keeping your salary in line with the market is necessary to keep you from leaving. The trick is that you have to actually leave if it doesn't go your way, otherwise you'll have no credible threat and they won't take you seriously the next time. A competing offer is like going to a mattress store and asking them to price match. A purchase is a one-time relationship, but employment is onging. It's not really the same thing.