Is It Time To Resign?

Today the days of staying with a company for your entire career are really gone! In fact, many companies consider it an asset if you have had different experiences by working in different environments.

You are making a change now because your position isn't giving you what you feel that you need to succeed- whether that is more $$$, more growth potential, better benefits-whatever it is, it is motivating you to make a change and you have decided to resign.

Nevertheless, your company has helped get you where you are today- Confident to make a change to better yourself, but feeling a little uncomfortable about resigning. After all, leaving a job is a problem for your present employer. Now they have to try to find someone as good as you have been for them, and get them to be productive in a relatively short time , so they do not have any impact financially.

You may also have made friends at this company and that makes it even more difficult to resign, but you have to think about you-#1- because they certainly will be thinking about themselves at this point too!

Undoubtedly, they will be sorry to lose you. If you were your boss, what would you be inclined to do if someone you valued resigned? You would probably try to keep them! It is going to be inconvenient for you to replace them. They are probably contributing to the companies sales/profits and possibly are involved in projects that could become delayed due to their resignation….so, You make them a Counter Offer.

Counter offers are made in a variety of ways:

1. "We were just planning on giving you a raise. I guess I should have told you sooner!"

2. "We will match your new offer- We don't want to lose you!"

3. "Let's not move too quickly- let me talk to the owners and see if we can do something to keep you"

4. "How can you do this? We have done so much for you and we really need you now!"

As you can imagine, this can be very flattering, and it is proven that it is a natural instinct to resist change, so your emotions can really start fluctuating at this point. Remember though, something made you go on other job interviews and even get to the point that you accepted another offer. What were the main reasons that you got to that point? Will that really change if you decide to stay?

Ask yourself these questions?

1. Do I really want to work for a company that will only give me what I want if I threaten to quit? Am I going to have to do this again down the road when things go back to normal?

2. If I do decide to stay, will they trust me after I have gone out on other interviews and expressed unhappiness with my current position?

3. If they have to lay someone off in the future, will they think of me first?

4. Is this really my next raise? When review time comes up later in the year, will I be eligible or not?

5. Since they have to give me more $$to stay, are they just pacifying me and will replace me with someone who would be happy with my current salary package? Then they can let me go when they have found that person!

I could go on and on, and let me tell you I have heard many different stories over the years. The bottom line is that accepting a Counter Offer is almost 99% always a MISTAKE!

I remember one case where my candidate had been interviewing due to a lack of growth potential at his current company. He secured an excellent opportunity at more $$, and also moved up one level and had at least 2 more steps that were possible for growth over the next ten or so years.

When he resigned, they hit him with about every possible thing they could to keep him, and he let his emotions rule his decision and accepted their Counter Offer. It took about 9 months, and I finally heard that he had been let go due to reorganization in the department. After we talked, he admitted that they told him that they chose to lay him off since he had expressed unhappiness with them earlier in the year.

Luckily for him, he really had much to offer other companies and we were able to secure him an offer almost as good as the one he had rejected. The only real issue was that he was unemployed for about 9 months and that was a hardship that he and his family had to endure. He told me that he would never be "lazy enough to stay where he was and accept a counter offer again!" He really had to learn the hard way, so try to learn from his mistake!

You need to end your relationship with your current company as professionally as you started it. You should resign with a resignation letter in hand- stating your two weeks notice and your commitment to accepting your new position. Hopefully, your company will be professional as well and let you move ahead to your new job…and retain the relationships that you had with them.

The counter offer lets you know that you did a good, possibly even great job for them. Accept it as a compliment and move ahead with the goal of being just as successful in your new job!