What would you do if you were DH?

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DH is an over thinker and getting in a muddle about a job offer. He works in a profession and is currently on £61k. His current work have been stringing him along for almost a year saying he will be promoted ‘soon’ and he’s been doing a number of the senior positions tasks already. He has been approached by another (good!) company and following interview offered a job. Which would you choose:

Job A- new company, next jump on professional ladder, good salary £70k + 8% yearly bonus. He would be a senior role in a smaller team so could move up the ladder faster, also offices abroad to potential for working abroad. Potentially longer hours as more senior.

Job B- current job. Been there 6 years and likes it, nice company which promotes wellbeing. When he informed them of job offer seemed very keen to keep him, said ‘would try to come close’ to offer. Sounds like won’t offer quite the same role (director) but a pared back version of that. DH is worried he’s only finally getting this promotion in a sense due to having a better offer rather than them actually wanting to give it. Financially it’ll be around £67k he thinks. No bonus.

I think Job A- his current work have taken advantage of him imo and are doing the bare minimum to keep him, it’s a good professional opportunity which I think he’d be gutted if he misses. He’s not one for change so I’m hoping others opinions might encourage him!

So they’re STILL stringing him along? Why do they need an entire week to decide whether they want to at least attempt to keep him or not? I hope there’s no chance of the position being filled by someone else while they’re still dicking him around

Yes, because it's not just about the money, it's how valued you are. If Job B are having to struggle to find more money to keep him, there's no further room for growth. And a year or two down the line he'll be frustrated again because what he wants is recognition offered by that more senior promotion / title.

Companies should reward their good people as a matter of course, not wait until they've handed in their notice.

Wanted to add - I understand his anxiety around starting somewhere new. Most of us if we get comfortable in a job - it ticks the boxes, we get paid enough to meet our needs, we like our colleagues - would hesitate about heading into the unknown. But it's learning and growing which is good for us. He'll feel like a fish out of water for a little while, but give it 6 months and I bet he'll be happy he made the change.

Too loyal or too afraid to move? If he’s a natural ditherer getting ‘in a muddle’, it’s likely the latter.

I was always advised in my career to never to look back and never to take a counter offer, as they’re made essentially under duress, and if they truly valued you, they’d have offered it in the first place.

So take the new job, add it to the CV, climb the ranks, get all you can out of it.

Job A - complete no brainer. Well done to DH.

I was there in sept, i begged for promotions from my company, they ignored them and even said i didnt have experience enough but wouldn’t give me the experience.
I went and look for jobs, and resigned and never looked back, i didnt do it for the money but for the chance of feeling valued, feeling that i was good at what i was doing and someone trusted me for that role.

If i was your DH I’d def change roles.wont be easy at the beginning but he’ll be happy after

Job A.

Because the employer(s) in job B have been, and still are, having a laugh, and if he stays they'll assume they can always underpay and get away with it.

The only reason I can see to stay in job B is the fear of change.

he should grab A with both hands and kick his heels in the air as he leaves.

I agree with you OP - go for Company A.

The 8% bonus is £5,600 so you're comparing £67k to £75.6k - not a small difference.

If I was an employee and I was offered less than an alternative job I'd just be thinking "well they're not that desperate to keep me then".

Likelihood is he'd start getting resentful and look to change jobs another year down the line anyway, so better to make the jump now while someone is very keen to have him.

My old work offered me a counter offer when I left, as they really wanted to keep me. It was an exact like for like offer so financially I'd have been on an even footing, but at that point I think I'd already detached myself from the existing job and didn't want to stay anyway.

I always look at things like this with one question in mind:

"Which choice will I regret most?"

Job A.

Job B are just offering what they need to keep him, unless they have some kind of written plan for his future progression they will just go back to doing the bare minimum once they have him secured.

Take it. His current company are under-paying him for the responsibilities he's taken on.

Job A.

I work somewhere that often counter offers when people leave. A huge majority of them end up leaving anyway within 6 months or so.
I personally would not take a counter offer, or return to somewhere I had left unless there had been considerable changes (either them or me). He probably knows he should take A but as you’ve said he’s loyal, feels guilty about it. He really shouldn’t, it’s business. They wouldn’t agonise over it this much if it were the other way around.

Def the new job, his current place is just effectively using him

72k isn't equal to the job A offer as doesn't cover bonus, it also, by the sounds of it, won't offer the same title/level of responsibility.

Andthere are 2 more reasons he should move if he's generally interested in career progression -

1. Current job are doing this under duress and he can expect his progression to be just as slow after negotiating as it has been for the last few years, possibly even slower as they were reluctant to give him this. Whereas with new job, they have a shiny new employee they have invested heavily in whom they will be wanting to have step up and are, therefore, likely to be more inclined to see and invest in his potential.

2. He will get a broader range of experience by working for another company. When you spend all your time in one company you tend to get stuck in a rut in terms of seeing how your job can be. When you have a good range of experience you have far more diversity to bring to your role and can mix and match the best from the different setups you've been in in the past. Constant job hopping is a worry on a resume, but very long stints in the same place - especially if they aren't progressing him - can be too.

No over thinking needed Job A

Job B’s attitude is dreadful.

They will have to spend more replacing him than they are even offering. The pathetic try and match the new offer rhetoric would have me running for the hills. It gives them a way out of actually paying anything more than he is getting atm as the excuse will be they really can’t afford it . But will only announce that once Job A is off the table.

If Job B thought that much of him and wanted to keep him they would have made it that he wouldn’t have looked twice at the head hunter when he was approached.

I have worked for some quite well known companies and have seen this sort of thing happen before

I don't know why he'd waver - in his shoes I'd be biting arms off for job A!

B has shown him over the years how things will be for the future. Also, it seems more common now for people to change job frequently to move up the ladder.

I turned down a better offer many years ago because I liked where I was, and I've always regretted it. Huge, huge mistake!

They’ve asked if they can have until next week

I'll bet they have - possibly in the hope the new people will offer it to someone else so they can "forget" about the raise, or at best announce they "can't get as near as they hoped"

Notable too that they were quite happy to use their "over loyal" employee and are only blasting on about how much they value him now he has another option

Job A all the way ...

Hmm they will ‘try ‘ to match it ,, not exactly falling over themselves are they ?

job A without a doubt

Accept the offer on the basis of more responsibility and more respect = better career progression. His company may be stalling in the hope he loses the other offer. It also reflects badly on an individual if they sit on an offer. Dependent on a number of factors you can expect on average 5-10% when you change roles. How much over this you can get over this depends on a number of factors.

They are paying him what they think they can get away with. So now all they are really doing is giving him what they should have given him 12 months ago and likely a lot less than they would have to pay if they have to recruit someone externally. What happens the next time he is due a pay rise? Will he have to fight for that too?

Has he accepted the new job offer, OP?

He should accept it before they assume he's not interested and offer it to the next best candidate.

If his current employer really wanted to keep him they would be bending over backwards to offer him a promotion and a pay rise he couldn't say no to, with a better package than the other employer is offering, not saying they'll "try" to get close to it.

It's not a budget issue. It'll cost them more to replace him than it would to beat the new job offer.

Job A 💯

Tell him to take a deep breath, have some courage and accept Job A.

Now he has declared his hand he is basically a deadman walking in his current job - they will see him as a flight risk and are probably already looking for a successor. Take the new job and don’t look back.

Another voice here for the chorus urging him to go for A.
It's not just about the money. It's about being appreciated and respected - and the opportunity for future advancement.