Why I Declined An 18 Percent Compensation Increase Offer From A Forbes-Listed Organization
By: Dennis De Silva
Tags: Work, Careers, Self, Self Improvement, Money

Why I Declined An 18 Percent Compensation Increase Offer From A Forbes-Listed Organization

I realized this time that more is not always better.

Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash

Honestly, if this company offer came in four years earlier, I would sign-up the contract immediately.

People like me who have kept jobs for the year during Covid-19 must be grateful since we still have the means to finance our needs.

The economic turmoil led us to experience pay cuts because of the pandemic. Some of us who still have jobs are blessed — saving us from the stress of thinking about where to get the money to pay our current obligations and sustain our day-to-day living needs.

I am very grateful for my current job. Despite the cuts in our bonuses and having no salary increase — our company has been working on alternative programs to support the rest of its employees.

While most of us are working from home for the past nine months or so, there were material adjustments that I need to undergo during the early stages of the lockdown period.

Our work deadlines were unmet due to the changes in our work process.

We initially came up with alternative procedures to follow — but our efficiency rate slowed down and impacted our previous timely output.

Customer complaints seemed like non-ending pressure — and it resulted in numerous unhealthy discussions. There was a point where I can no longer withstand the stress anymore — and the feeling made me want to jump to another boat.

Whenever I feel the tensions at work, I would resort to — jogging and spending my time on LinkedIn, my favorite social media network.

Whenever I tune in to the platform, I would explore jobs that call my attention.

As I browse over my existing network, I came across a senior leader that I knew a couple of years ago. I sent him a random message then asked if there were open finance roles he needs support.

To my surprise, he responded favorably and said to me that I was on the right timing. He mentioned that he has been looking for someone to fill in a significant position.

After a few exchanges — I was introduced to key people in the company that he is leading then I went through a series of discussions about the role and objectives.

They told me that their Finance department is undergoing reformation during that period — so I needed to be patient as they arrive with a new organizational design and structure.

The three-month period involved several screenings and interviews until they got back to me finally with an offer.

The human resource person called me to verbalize the offer — but I did not felt any excitement at all.

Maybe the money that I was expecting was not aligned with my expectations — but the incentives have covered it if I look at it on a macro level.

I honestly told the human resource person that I am not moved by the offer but checked on negotiating the same if possible.

So I got a call two-days after as they made an effort to work on my request to revise the remuneration offered.

But I still declined it despite the effort to revisit the updated compensation package and said that she can now search to find another person to fill in the role.

What I did after walking away from the offer — I immediately sent a message to all key people who were part of the discussion about my final decision and thanked them for their time and effort.

Although the revised version was already a decent proposition, I just felt something was not right if I have accepted it after undergoing careful consideration.

Here are my reasons why I did not accept the offer.