CAREER STRATEGIES - HANDLING THE COUNTEROFFER

If you are perplexed over a counteroffer given by your company, please go over the
resignation drill and counteroffer checklist before the eleventh hour!

Accept the counteroffer only if you can answer "no" to all of the following 6 questions:

1. Did I make the right decision to seek other employment because I felt a new environment would provide me with the opportunity to enhance my career?
2. If I decide to stay after giving notice, will my loyalty be suspect and will this affect my chance for advancement in the future?
3. If my loyalty is questioned, is there the possibility that I will be an early layoff or be terminated if business slows down?
4. Is the raise they're offering me to stay just my annual review come early?
5. The raise I was offered is above the guidelines for my job. Does this mean they are "buying time" until a replacement can be found within the acceptable compensation guidelines for my job?
6. I got the counteroffer because I resigned. Will I always have to threaten to quit each time I want to advance?

COUNTEROFFER NEGATIVES

• Your present employer could be merely "buying time" with this raise until they can locate a replacement. Usually the reason you are made the counteroffer is because they need you now. When this vulnerability is rectified (and they will see that it is done as fast as possible), your position within the company will not be very strong.
• Realize that you now are a marked person. The likelihood of further promotion is extremely limited for someone once they've "given notice!" You have already indicated your consideration of leaving, so even if you actually stay on, it is only natural that you would probably be one of the first to be laid off in a slack period.
• It is interesting to note that the National Employer Association reports that of all the people who accepted buybacks from their employers, 80% were not on the job six months later.

With these tools that Emerson Personnel Group has provided, the road to attaining a new job should be a smooth one. This valuable information, along with the assistance of your Emerson Personnel Group coordinator, will properly prepare you for each step along the way.