I recently had a situation whereby a Fee Earner making a career move in Birmingham was counter-offered by their current Legal Practice.
In this instance, my candidate was caught up in two minds.
Do I stay with my current firm and take the ‘secure’ offer?
Or do I go with my gut instinct and take the next step in my legal career?
The Advice I Offered my Candidate Was:
• Ask yourself, why did you want to move in the first place? Really, what set the wheels in motion for you to start looking for a new role and do you still feel the same?
• Will things change? If there was a reason for you wanting to leave, will this all change when you go back to your current firm or will this be another unfulfilled promise?
• If things were to change, how long would these changes last? Would they be long term? 12 months? Or just six months?
• Why have your current practice decided to counter-offer now? Do they really value your skillset and experience or is this a desperate move to act as damage limitation?
In my experience, current employers tend to hit the panic button when they realise they’re going to be short in a particular department. Some of the thoughts that might be going through your boss’s mind when you inform them of your offer might be:
• “We can’t afford to lose him/her”
• “I haven’t got time to recruit anyone new for this role”
• “We have way too much work to be able to let him/her go at the moment”
• “We don’t have the budget to recruit for this role right now”
With good quality legal candidates also harder to come by these days, losing you as a key member of staff will in some cases, force a knee-jerk reaction.
This is where you have to be careful. Make sure you weigh up all of your options and decide on what’s best for you.
Statistics published nationally show that nine out of ten people who accept counter offers leave within six months of re-entering employment under these new ‘conditions’
We regularly deal with counter offer situations and we want to make sure the move is suitable for all parties concerned.
If you are thinking of making the next move in your legal career, you can call me on: 02920 388100 or email me via sarahw@tsr-legal.co.uk to discuss the options that suit you best.
