Importance of Quitting Professionally
When you have decided it is time for you to move on from your current role, you will have to hand in your notice.
When handing in your notice, leaving on good terms with your employer is one of the most important aspects of the resignation process.
Leaving a role is a significant change and the way you handle resigning can impact your professional image and even future opportunities. It's important to plan your resignation carefully. Ensure you maintain a positive reputation and relationship with your soon-to-be former employer, so you leave on good terms without burning any bridges. Employers will remember how you handled the situation in the future when you require a job reference. Quitting a job professionally and with courtesy goes a long way.
Why People Quit Their Jobs
There are many reasons why people choose to quit their jobs, these are the most common:
Lack of Growth:
Many people feel as though they have reached a stagnant point and there is no room for advancement or professional development. They may be feeling stuck in their role and cannot see a path for promotions or any more skill advancement.
Compensation:
Employees may feel as though their salary or benefits package is not aligned with their skills, efforts, or industry standards. They feel as if they need to seek a better-paying, better-benefited opportunity elsewhere.
Work-life Balance:
When the demands of a role begin to hinder and affect an employee’s personal life, causing burnout, stress, and unhappy feelings they may decide that it's time to quit and search for a new role that offers a better balance.
Low Job Satisfaction:
If an employee is finding their work unfulfilling, unchallenging or it doesn’t feel as though it's aligned with their interests and values, they may choose to quit.
Conflict:
In the workplace, there can sometimes be toxic work relationships, poor leadership, and clashes with supervisors or co-workers that can make the working environment unbearable, leading employees to quit.
Change:
Some employees may decide that they are looking for a change of career paths or industries, or they seek to take a break from working to pursue other interests.
Handing in Your Resignation
Several steps should be taken when handing in your resignation to ensure that it is a smooth process for everyone involved.
Give the Right Notice:
Your notice period should be found in your contract of employment, make sure to check this before writing your resignation letter and use this to calculate the correct date. In most cases, you will be expected to work your full notice period, so make sure these dates align with starting your new role.
Timing:
Try to time your resignation to a time that will cause the least disruption to your employer. Choose your moment to tell them carefully, avoid stressful times, before big meetings or deadlines, not at 9 am on a Monday or 5 pm on a Friday.
Writing your Resignation Letter:
Prepare a brief but professional resignation letter that outlines your last day.
Make sure to:
-DO list the position you are resigning from and the company’s name in the letter.
-DO thank the company for the opportunities that we offered to you and the valuable experience you gained.
-DO maintain a positive attitude and offer to help with the transition.
-DO explain that you will work the entirety of your notice period and make sure to include the date of your last day of work.
-DON’T list all the reasons why you are resigning
-DON’T allow your emotions to get the better of you.
Counteroffers
Sometimes when you are in the process of changing roles, your current employers will make a counteroffer, they up your salary, and give you a few more benefits to convince to you stay.
Prepare yourself for this situation, because if it happens you will need to be able to offer up an answer. There are a few things to consider before you decide:
Will anything change? If you’re unhappy enough to resign, the chances are that the counteroffer won't change this in the long run.
Why are you now worth more than you were yesterday? A counteroffer with a pay raise may seem like a good thing, but it's important to remember that your employer is only doing this so they don't have to go through the hassle of hiring someone new.
Your new potential employer sees a potential in you that your current employer does not see. Taking on a new hire is a risk, for both the employer and employee. If your future employer is willing to take the risk to help your potential grow, then why not seize the opportunity?