Importance of Quitting Professionally
As a professional, a time will come in your career when you have decided to move on from your current role, and 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 career move and how you handle this can impact your professional image and even future opportunities for you. It is important to plan your leaving carefully and ensure that you are maintaining a positive reputation and relationship with your soon-to-be former employer, so you leave your job on good terms without burning any bridges, because 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 in how your next experiences go.
Why People Quit Their Jobs
There are many reasons why people choose to quit their jobs, these are the most common reasons:
Lack of Growth:
Many people feel as though they have reached a stagnant point in their current role and there is no room for any more advancement or professional development within their current role. They may be feeling stuck in their role and cannot see a path for promotions or any more advancement of their skills.
Compensation:
Often an employee 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 is 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 is 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 a 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, so 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, and try to book a meeting if you need to set a time.
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 quitting.
-DON’T get too emotional, don’t allow your emotions to get the better of you remember you want to leave the job on good terms.
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 all to try and convince to you stay in your current role.
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?