Quit Your Job Without Creating Enemies

​My father once shared some sage advice with me: “never burn a bridge”.

​I’ve been consistently amazed at how small a world it can be as I often times run into former colleagues, clients and friends who I shared a past relationship with to varying degrees from a past life.  When I bump into these past connections its uncanny how often I find out the person I knew prior now has a direct ability to impact my current life, professional and personal.  This is the prime reason I firmly believe one should never burn a ‘relationship’ bridge.

What about when we have to quit our job?  

January and February represent the highest attrition months of the year, meaning the largest percentage of resignations and terminations occur within these two months.  Why does this happen?  Companies and employees alike are looking at the New Year and wanting to start fresh which typically means getting rid of employees that aren’t cutting the muster or employees themselves who leave jobs that have lost their luster.

When we’re the one to make the decision to quit our job it can be fun to think about the moment you deliver the news, after which you imagine yourself singing and dancing through the office like you’ve just won the lottery while your colleagues look at you like you’ve lost your damn mind.  We experience our very own Jerry Maguire moment and we’re all too thrilled to ask everyone around us “who’s coming with me”.

In these moments are we thinking about how our actions will impact our future?

Some of us do, however there is a rising majority of people that seem to forget that the way we handle our resignation may or may not pay dividends in the future.  If you plan to quit your job in the near term use these steps to deliver the news to your employer while leaving gracefully.

Step 1: Quit before things get bad
Often times we wait too long to quit a job that we know isn’t right for us.  If you wait too long you risk your reputation suffering as often times our productivity begins to lessen as we aren’t as passionate about the job as we once were.

Step 2: Don’t tell anyone
It’s a big mistake telling colleagues you’re quitting before you’ve actually delivered the goods.  The last thing you need is your boss to find out you’re quitting before you’ve actually confronted them with the news.

Step 3: Be professional but save the novella
It’s a good idea to inform your employer about why you’re leaving and perhaps even some small detail on where you’ll be going.  Anything after that and you’re just wasting time and energy.  This is not the time to spill the beans on all of the crap you hated about your job, the company or your boss, creating a drama tornado in the process.  If you work for any sizable company HR will typically ask for this information however it does nothing to serve you for the future, it only serves their interests and that isn’t your problem anymore.  The time to give feedback was when you were fully employed, not when you’re exiting.

Step 4: Make it official
Your resignation should be given to your direct boss and no one else.  Be sure to provide him or her with a formal, typed out resignation.  Google ‘resignation templates’ and you’ll have all the options to your hearts’ content.

Step 5: Respect & professionalism at all times
What’s most important to remember while you’re going through the resignation process is your professionalism will be noted by almost everyone involved.  If you plan to continue working in the same industry or similar industry you’re current job is in more than likely you’ll run across your company’s employees in the future.  For this reason and many others it’s important to be respectful to whoever is involved, which also means providing at least a two week notice to your employer. Also, you should never gossiping or talk ill about your boss or company after you’ve left.  All that does is make you look bad in the process, which includes going online to rant about how thrilled you are to not work there any longer.

Step 6:  Keep it classy
I once had an employee of mine who had quit send me a letter several weeks after the fact thanking me for the time she spent on my team while also sharing what she learned.  I was really impressed by this because it signaled that while the job wasn’t for her any longer she did appreciate the opportunity while she was here.

​In the end, we all will be judged by our actions so it’s best to remember these sage words…

“Never burn a bridge!”