While this won’t resonate with anyone under the age of 38 I suspect, Joni Mitchell was incredible and so was the song. More on point though is that she was absolutely right and no one knows it better than your Manager, their management and most of all the Talent Acquisition staff in your present firm.

What am I talking about? The cost of attrition and the importance of retention. Over the last 2 years the job market has heated up significantly. Yes, much has been outsourced or, more accurately off-shored but the fact remains that hiring is still up and unemployment still low. With record low numbers of college graduates with Computer Science degrees and Congress simply not willing to increase the number of H1B Visa’s it distributes, the reality is that the risk of losing I.T. talent and the cost of replacing that talent has increased considerably. Especially in the last 6 months.

The bottom line for you is both good and bad. The good is that wise managers and leaders are investing time with their best employees (most at risk) to strategize and plan their career growth. This means if you’re valued by your present firm they’re probably talking to you more than ever before about what you want/ need and how they can provide for that growth within their firm they’re also giving raises and/or bonuses that weren’t offered in the past.

Bad news…so once you go in to resign they are more desperate to keep people, and consequently some managers looking to save their own skin are making promises that can’t be kept (mouth writing check their ass can’t cash). Don’t get me wrong. Counter Offers aren’t inherently bad or wrong they also aren’t always 100% accurate/real. SO THE KEY – make sure you review the “Counter Offer” carefully to insure it eliminates all the reasons for leaving. If it doesn’t – let it go…you’ll be glad you did.