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Before You Quit Your Job
Face it. You will eventually quit your job. It may be this year. It may be next. It may be ten years from now. But it’s inevitable. It’s only a matter of time. The only real question is how to do it in a way that doesn’t burn your bridges. You never know. You may want to come back.
Unfortunately, many people don’t always end their tenure at a company as well as they begin. The key, in my opinion, is to begin with the end in mind.
What is your goal? Here’s how I would define it:
You want your employer and fellow employees to celebrate your contributions, grieve your departure, and eagerly welcome you back if ever given the chance.
Before you turn in your resignation—or even begin looking for another job—let me suggest that you consider the following seven items:
Determine to exit with dignity and honor. This is where it starts. It really is all about a decision. You really can leave on a good note. Take the moral high ground. Don’t speak ill of your supervisor, your co-workers, or the company. It will only make you look small and petty. It’s amazing how negative comments have a way of spreading—and moving up the org chart. It’s a small world. And the industry you are working in is smaller still. You never know when you may be working for someone you’re working with now. You never know when you may want to come back. Leave the door open.
Count the cost of leaving your present job. Someone once said, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. But sometimes we forget: it still has to be mowed!†How true. Every job has it’s pluses and minuses. Even for me, there are days that I would give anything to go back to being an acquisitions editor. And then I remember what it was like. I had bad days there, too. The key is to be realistic. To me, it’s more important to be going toward something rather than moving away from something.
Give your employer a chance to address your issues. You need to carefully identify what the real issues are. Is the problem your current job, your boss, a co-worker, the system, the whole company, what? If you don’t tell your supervisor, he or she can’t fix it. Of course, they might not be able to fix it even if they know what it is. But unless you give them a chance, you’ll never know. You might just be surprised at how different your experience can be once your key issues are addressed. If you can’t work it out, then make sure you give your employer ample time to find a replacement and plan for a smooth transition.
Honor your commitments to your current employer. Whether you have an employment contract or not, you have a “duty of loyalty.†This means that you are expected to provide an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Don’t grow slack in your work or let things fall through the cracks. You want to turn your position over to your successor in tip-top shape. You don’t want your successor to say, “No wonder she left. It’s a miracle she wasn’t fired. She left us with a mess.†Like it or not, your successor will be the primary steward of your reputation at the company. You want her to say, “Wow! She left some big shoes to fill. If I can do the job half as well as she did, I will be a success!†or “She left everything in great shape. The files were well-organized and I knew the status of every project. The transition was seamless.â€
Don’t look for another job on company time or with company email. In essence, this is stealing. Your employer is paying you to work for him. Your time—at least during work hours—belongs to him. He provides you with an email account to use for company business. It doesn’t belong to you. Worse, everything you ever send or receive via company email is retained for years—even if you delete it locally. This includes complaints about your boss or co-workers, discussions with prospective employers (or competitors), fights with your spouse. Everything. And believe me, it can come back to bite you.
Don’t share proprietary information with prospective employers. This is a simple matter of honesty. Company data, reports, contacts, etc. are assets of the company. Using them for your own benefit is no different than stealing physical property. Providing them to a prospective employer is worse than theft; it’s treason. As an employer myself, I would instantly break off discussions with any prospective employee if they volunteered to give me information from their present employer. They may think they are enticing me to hire them. What they are really doing is revealing that they have no moral compass whatsoever. These are not the kind of people I want infecting my corporate culture.
Don’t conspire with others to leave the company. In 1986, Robert Wolgemuth and I left Thomas Nelson. We ended up starting a new publishing company called Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers. We left the company within weeks of one another, but we did not discuss going into business prior to our departure. We wanted to be able to say with integrity that we had not left with plans to start something else together. But I have seen others take a different path and usually with disastrous consequences. You want your current employer rooting for you. You want to be able to use him or her as a reference. If you are any good at your job, your employer will hate losing you. If you attempt to take other employees with you—especially good employees—it will only add insult to injury. More than likely, it will burn a bridge that you may well need later.
Count the cost of leaving your present job. Someone once said, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. But sometimes we forget: it still has to be mowed!†How true. Every job has it’s pluses and minuses. Even for me, there are days that I would give anything to go back to being an acquisitions editor. And then I remember what it was like. I had bad days there, too. The key is to be realistic. To me, it’s more important to be going toward something rather than moving away from something.
Give your employer a chance to address your issues. You need to carefully identify what the real issues are. Is the problem your current job, your boss, a co-worker, the system, the whole company, what? If you don’t tell your supervisor, he or she can’t fix it. Of course, they might not be able to fix it even if they know what it is. But unless you give them a chance, you’ll never know. You might just be surprised at how different your experience can be once your key issues are addressed. If you can’t work it out, then make sure you give your employer ample time to find a replacement and plan for a smooth transition.
Honor your commitments to your current employer. Whether you have an employment contract or not, you have a “duty of loyalty.†This means that you are expected to provide an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Don’t grow slack in your work or let things fall through the cracks. You want to turn your position over to your successor in tip-top shape. You don’t want your successor to say, “No wonder she left. It’s a miracle she wasn’t fired. She left us with a mess.†Like it or not, your successor will be the primary steward of your reputation at the company. You want her to say, “Wow! She left some big shoes to fill. If I can do the job half as well as she did, I will be a success!†or “She left everything in great shape. The files were well-organized and I knew the status of every project. The transition was seamless.â€
Don’t look for another job on company time or with company email. In essence, this is stealing. Your employer is paying you to work for him. Your time—at least during work hours—belongs to him. He provides you with an email account to use for company business. It doesn’t belong to you. Worse, everything you ever send or receive via company email is retained for years—even if you delete it locally. This includes complaints about your boss or co-workers, discussions with prospective employers (or competitors), fights with your spouse. Everything. And believe me, it can come back to bite you.
Don’t share proprietary information with prospective employers. This is a simple matter of honesty. Company data, reports, contacts, etc. are assets of the company. Using them for your own benefit is no different than stealing physical property. Providing them to a prospective employer is worse than theft; it’s treason. As an employer myself, I would instantly break off discussions with any prospective employee if they volunteered to give me information from their present employer. They may think they are enticing me to hire them. What they are really doing is revealing that they have no moral compass whatsoever. These are not the kind of people I want infecting my corporate culture.
Don’t conspire with others to leave the company. In 1986, Robert Wolgemuth and I left Thomas Nelson. We ended up starting a new publishing company called Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers. We left the company within weeks of one another, but we did not discuss going into business prior to our departure. We wanted to be able to say with integrity that we had not left with plans to start something else together. But I have seen others take a different path and usually with disastrous consequences. You want your current employer rooting for you. You want to be able to use him or her as a reference. If you are any good at your job, your employer will hate losing you. If you attempt to take other employees with you—especially good employees—it will only add insult to injury. More than likely, it will burn a bridge that you may well need later.
Finally, if you are determined to quit, then don’t discuss your decision with other employees until you have discussed it with your supervisor. This is a simple matter of respect. The last thing you want is for him or her to “hear it through the grapevine.â€
With a little planning, anyone can make a graceful exit. Life is short. The world is small—and cold. You don’t need to create any unnecessary enemies. You’ve already made an investment in your job. Now make one in your career. Think of the future and keep the end in mind.
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FMF says:
Good post, and I agree with most of your points. A few thoughts:
1. One other I would add is "If your income is needed, don't quit until you have a new job." No matter how bad your current job is, it's not worse than not eating. Don't think you can easily find another job -- I've seen numerous people quit without a job (thinking it would be easy to find another one) and been months without work. It happens fairly frequently.
2. I agree with #3 but want to add (just to be clear) that this should be done BEFORE you announce you're leaving. Give them a chance to make it right. If they don't, find another job and announce you're leaving. If, at this point, they decide to make it right, don't listen to them -- go to the new job. Why? 1. You told the new people you accepted their offer -- which you thought through in detail before you accepted it (I assume.) 2. Your current company is playing games with you. You can't trust them. They had the chance to make it right and blew it.
3. A lot of this post is about what the employee should do for the company, and, as I said, I agree with it. However, it's a two-way street. How about a post on what companies should do to honor, respect and retain their employees on Monday?
Friday, January 05, 2007 at 08:16 AM
bex says:
You don't directly address compensation related issues. I feel strongly that it is a duty of the employer to always compensate an employee to the maximum level they are willing too.
As an employee I have adopted a rule of never approaching over compensation issues when they have risen to the level that I am going to resign. I don't accept counter offers either.
The only acceptable time for an employee to prompt an employer on compensation is when reviews are late or job duties have changed significantly in an ad-hoc manner. These situations can often be symptoms of larger problems however.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
Friday, January 05, 2007 at 08:43 AM
Michael Hyatt says:
FMF,
Great input. Rats. I meant to include your first point. It’s very important. I have seen numerous, otherwise smart people, “jump out of the plane without a parachute.†Usually with disasterous consequences.
I also agree with your second point, too. I once had an employer who didn’t take me seriously when I met with him privately. I then announced that I was quitting. He called me in and tried everything in the toolbox: guilt, shame, bribery, flattery. I was gracious, but in my heart I resolved that I would not work for him no matter what.
I also like your suggestion about blogging on what the company can do. I’ll have to give this some thought. The Executive Leadership Team has spent a good deal of time on this over the last two years. We are still a long way from where we want to be, but we are making progress. We have cut our avoidable turnover in half.
Thanks for your input,
Mike
Friday, January 05, 2007 at 09:07 AM
Michael Hyatt says:
Bex,
I agree with most of what you have said on compensation. I have never asked for a raise that I can remember. I have sometimes had to remind a busy boss to submit the paperwork for the raise they promised. (And, frankly, I have had to be reminded of this on occasion, too.)
I’m not quite sure what you mean by “it is a duty of the employer to always compensate an employee to the maximum level they are willing too.†Personally, I think the free market is the best corrective to this. If a company doesn’t pay people competitively, they won’t retain their people. On the other hand, the employee is always free to try and find another employer who will pay him what he thinks he is worth. At Thomas Nelson, we try to do formal job pricing, so that we truly know what a job is worth. Our goal is to be at the mid-point of the range.
Also, I have never seen a job satisfaction study in which compensation was the #1 factor. I don’t think I have ever seen where it is even in the top three! Obviously, the less I enjoy my job, the more you will have to pay me to do it. But, I think we have to consider the total package when looking at the benefits we receive from our work.
Thanks for taking time to comment.
Mike
Friday, January 05, 2007 at 09:15 AM
Bryan says:
Mike,
On your comment that you try to be at the midpoint of the compensation range for a position, do you find yourself losing your stronger performers because, by definition, they are making only average compensation for their jobs (and now, by virtue of this post, they know that's how your organization values them)?
Thanks,
Bryan
Saturday, January 06, 2007 at 02:24 PM
Bryan says:
Oops..should've added that I did catch your point about total package being important. I agree! I'm still interested whether what a cynic might call an "average pay for what we hope is above average people" policy has created turnover issues? Thanks!
Saturday, January 06, 2007 at 02:29 PM
Michael Hyatt says:
Bryan,
Great questions. Actually, aiming for the midpoint is a general rule. If someone is an outstanding performer, then they will likely be in the high-end of the range. In addition, variable compensation (e.g., bonuses) is another way to reward high performers.
Turnover is something we watch very closely. However, we have cut it in half in the last few years.
Thanks,
Mike
Saturday, January 06, 2007 at 03:40 PM
Bill says:
Excellent post! I followed a link from Mark Copeland's blog. He observed, and I agree, that your advice translates well to ministers. Thanks for passing these thoughts along. -bill
Sunday, January 07, 2007 at 11:25 PM
bex says:
Mike I appreciate your follow up. I should clarify myself a bit. I use compensation to mean the whole package, not just salary. What I am trying to convey is the belief that employers should not set themselves up to make counter offers or beg employees to stay.
I have had the misfortune of working for too many employers who felt that their job was to minimize compensation and only reward those who quit with adjustments.
Compensation is never the number one item on job satisfaction surveys, however it is important that employers constantly monitor all factors related to job satisfaction. If you like your employees tell them and show them.
That said, I have strayed quite a bit from the intent of your original post, which I appreciated.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 at 04:35 PM
Michael Hyatt says:
Bex,
I agree with your points. Sometimes employers can be penny-wise and pound-foolish. I've seen managers who wouldn't give a guy a $1,500 raise that was justified, only to spend more than that in lost opportunity costs and paying the former employee's replacement enough to attract them to the company.
Thanks,
Mike
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 at 05:20 PM
Dave Anthold says:
Michael,
I really liked this post, because I think we often forget that our discontent or dissatisfaction with our jobs can be traced back to a lull in the business or a lack of opportunities or questions not answered. Thanks for the perspective on keeping our jobs at the forefront and working to create opportunities that support the best possible partnership between employer and employee.
Saturday, January 13, 2007 at 11:46 AM