My warning to candidates! "Are you gambling with your career?"

To all you candidates, here is my warning advice: accepting a counteroffer is gambling with your career. You see, today's corporate environment has made the counteroffer an important weapon in the war for talent. Many companies on purpose keep salary costs down until they absolutely have to pay their best talent.

Your boss is going to be shocked that you have accepted another position and that you are leaving. The first thing that will go through their mind is how your resignation will have an impact on them. They may have to work more hours until a replacement is found; your leaving will lower the morale of the rest of the staff, and your boss may have an extremely difficult time finding someone with your qualifications to replace you. They are also thinking about what their own boss is going to say when a senior person is leaving the company. Honestly, this is not about you but how they get themselves out of the mess when you leave. End of the day it is much easier and cheaper for your company and boss to try to keep you rather than losing you (especially if it's to a competitor).

But ask yourself, why it is that on the day you suddenly give notice your opinions are so important to the boss. Why have the boss and company only now become concerned about your future or why the company only now is ready to talk about compensation when they are face to face with losing you? Why weren't you worth that much to them yesterday? Does it take your leaving to get something you should have been getting anyway? If so, is that the type of company you want to work for?

"Statistically more than 75% of people who accept a counter offer from their employer leave or are marginalised to leave within the following 12-18 months of acceptance."

By resigning you are essentially breaking a trust that you had with your employer. If you take the counteroffer and stay, your company may feel that it owns you. You will be known as the one who caused your employer grief by threatening to quit. You'll no longer be known as a loyal employee. Will this cause your boss to pass you over on the next possible promotion? There are stories where companies only counter to get the employee to stay until they find a replacement and then let the employee go. Some companies feel that it's better for people to leave on their terms instead of their employees' terms. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot.

Decent and well managed companies never make counteroffers. Ever. Period.