I read an interesting article on e-Week about how to quit your job with bridges intact.  While I agree with the article entirely from an employee standpoint, what about how that bridge handles your resignation?  There are right ways and wrong ways to quit your job and there right ways and wrong ways the company should handle you quitting.

Everyone has their own reasons for leaving a job whether it be for financial or personal growth reasons or it may just be simply time for a new environment.   I’ve heard some great positive stories from colleagues and friends and have experienced varied scenarios from the jobs I’ve resigned from in the past so I figured I’d share 1 positive story and 1 not-so-positive story.

First off, I don’t believe in the un-written rule of 2 week notice.  I believe in a minimum of 2 weeks notice with an extra week being added on based on your length of employment and job function.   I’ve given 1 month notice when leaving 2 of my last 3 jobs and the reason being that even though I was leaving because I simply wanted to move on, I felt the need to ensure a smooth transition and to make sure all my loose ends were tightly tied up with a little bow.

First the not-so-good.

Keeping with my belief that 2 weeks notice isn’t sufficient, I gave 1 month notice and the first person I told was my boss.  A little background, taking this job was the absolute worst decision I have ever made in my career.  When it takes a company 6 months to call you back with an offer or you accidentally get a copy of an email from a VP that calls your coworkers incompetent TO A CUSTOMER, run.  It seemed like the right thing to do at the time but shortly after I started I knew I made a wrong decision but figured I’d try and stick it out.

Fast-forward 3 weeks into my resignation and NO ONE in the company outside my team had said one word to me even though the rumours had spread like wildfire.  My boss had no transition plan and didn’t even speak to me for those same 3 weeks.  I documented all my activities and contacted each customer personally to fill them in. (sidenote: my customers gave me more support than anyone in the company.  One went so far as to say I was the only sane person they have ever dealt with and they were deeply disappointed I was leaving.  Fluff?  Maybe.  Knowing what the environment was like, not likely.)

On my 2nd last day, my boss finally starts talking to me again and asks if I can give them an extra week since they weren’t prepared.  Are you kidding me?  On my last day my boss left the office and didn’t even say goodbye to me, he simply pronounced to the office “I gotta go…” and ran out.  There was no goodbye, no party, no exit interview, no “so, where are you going?” conversations.  I simply logged off and went home.   Well, one of my team members did approach me on the way out to support me and disclose his displeasure working there as well.  When 25% of your staff quits within 2 months, there must be some type of morale issue.

While the e-Week article is correct in saying you should keep the bridge in tact, I can proudly say I strapped a significant amount of dynamite under that bridge.  I had no issue telling my boss on my 2nd last day that he had some nerve ignoring me for 3 weeks and waiting until my 2nd last day to do anything about it.

Now the good.

I guess I’m just such a great employee that after my car accident when I wasn’t able to drive or do much, I didn’t take any time off for the sake of the team and just sat on the couch working on my wireless for a month.  60 hour weeks with an all-nighter or close-to-all-nighter on a weekly basis took a serious toll on my mental state and it was time to move on or literally break down.  By the way, that 60 week had been going on for almost 3 years solid.  Damn startups.

I had contacted a higher-up in the company that I had established a relationship with 2 months before I actually left to discuss how I felt and I appreciated how he handled the situation.  There were no rampant rumours and no change in my day-to-day treatment by other employees since no one was the wiser.   Shortly afterwards I went to my boss and had the same conversation.  Obviously they wanted me to stay as the role I had would have been painful to replace since I was there from the very beginning and regardless of my title I was still doing lots of other “legacy” stuff just because I knew how.

In all honesty, looking back I must have been a complete pain in the ass to deal with over my last few months.  I was stressed out, angry, in pain and just not that pleasant to be around but my decision was supported and the management was great in how they handled it regardless of how emotional and immature I was.

There was a proper exit interview, there was a final day lunch party involving the whole team and there were the inevitable “you can always come back” conversations.  All in all, it was a very positive experience and I was sad to go, but for my own sanity it was the best decision.

I’ve had employees quit on me and I’ve always taken the approach that regardless of WHY they are leaving, it is important to make them feel valued and show that their decision is supported.  The individual leaving isn’t the only party responsible for making sure the bridge stays intact.

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