"HELLO, I MUST BE GOING"
Leaving well: How to wave goodbye to a job |
(CNN) -- Your project ends and
you're a contract IT worker -- time for another gig. Or you're
laid off and looking -- really time for another gig. Or you've
reached retirement -- not time for another gig.
One way or another, let's say you've come to the end of your
time in a given job. It's time to go.
Now, we've heard as many mad-departure tales as you have. You'll
find no sympathy here for the pranksters who practice mild
sabotage and unprofessional rudeness as they dash to the parking
lot for the last time.
CNN: But surely there must be some legitimate issues of good
career etiquette involved in exiting gracefully. We stopped Ann
Humphries, president of business-manners consultants ETICON, Inc.,
as she bolted for the door and put the whole business to her.
Ann Humphries: Let's look at some real basic rules of thumb.
• Work right up to the time you leave. As tempting as the
countdown is, don't do it. Thirty-one days, 30 days, 29 ... it's
funny for just two days. Then it's old and it irritates
everybody within a few yards of your calendar.
• Don't waste people's time doing a lot of goodbye visiting with
co-workers. Their duties aren't tapering off like yours.
• Don't criticize the company. Maybe you're leaving in disgust,
but your friends aren't going anywhere. And bad-mouthing the
place you're leaving just doesn't look good on you.
• Don't poor-mouth everybody. You're running down yourself, not
the company.
• Some collective commiseration isn't all that unusual or even
inappropriate, if it's carefully restricted to your cadre. But
remember to distinguish what's only for private conversation and
what's for public expression.
• Think of leaving everything in inheritable condition. Clean up
your mess.
• Alert your former customers and/or clients so they know you're
leaving. Introduce your replacement if you can. Assure co-workers
and clients that their needs will all be adequately served. If
you don't know this -- maybe no replacement has been named --
say that you'll do everything you can to be sure a client will
be looked after properly.
• I had a staffer who once gave me three weeks' notice that
she'd be leaving. She did it in a positive, professional way,
let me know she'd be staying in the area and watching our work.
That's how it's done. Be gracious, be thoughtful. What goes
around comes around.
• Resignation letters should be neutral or positive, not sermons.
If you need to mention a problem, do it tactfully. "I did enjoy
the initial mission of the company but recent changes have made
things different and I find I need to move on."
• Be sure to honor all agreements on the way out -- a
non-compete clause, maybe. Don't take proprietary information
with you. Confidential things should remain confidential.
• Are you conducting a job search on the way out? Don't do it
publicly. Don't leave your resumé in the copier. Don't say, "I
can get a job anywhere else -- why do a I need to work here?"
People will usually have a hint about what you're doing but
that's as far as you want it to go.
The bottom line: Leave a good impression. Even if you're moving
to Taiwan, you're going to get there and find somebody from
Gaffney, South Carolina. So go out looking good. |
|
ANN HUMPHRIES /
www.Cnn.com,
April 2001 |
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