My blog post about a resignation letter in which you share future plans prompted this exchange with a reader. Your thoughts are welcome, too. Please join the discussion.
Reader Question About a Resignation Letter
"I'm curious as to your feedback about not including a paragraph such as the one you suggested:Answer:'I will miss working with you very much as you have provided me with many opportunities to both learn and contribute. Your coaching and support have been invaluable to my progress. I will also miss many of my coworkers and customers and take many positive memories with me to my new employment.
'Again, best wishes for a positive future. Please call on me if there is anything I can do to help ease the transfer of my work to other employees or to help train your new employee.
'Again, I am excited about my new opportunity, but sad to leave.'
"What if the reason a person is leaving (people leave people, not places of employment) is due to the fact that the boss was absolutely horrible to work for and the company, in general, had no leadership or direction? When does one tell the truth so that after leaving the company, some one is put on alert that there are inherent problems that are causing people to leave.
"Isn't a paragraph of this nature perpetuating the lie and enabling the boss and organization to continue the same behaviors?"
I was actually being sincere in my example and assuming the boss had been decent. I have worked with and known many decent bosses over the years.
At the same time, to answer your question, yes, people leave bosses more often than they leave jobs, but this individual was leaving for a much better opportunity.
I don't recommend that a manager or a company is critiqued in an exit or resignation letter. They develop a life of their own, they live forever, and you never know who is reading or interpreting them, even many years later. And, they all reflect on you.
I like to see companies do exit interviews during which you may express your concerns. But, again, understand that companies are not without understanding. The HR person doing the interview rarely has power to change things and they have probably heard most of what you have to offer before.
Your best bet to change your company is while you are a valued employee. You do this by approaching your hierarchy with solutions and suggestions after developing a positive relationship. This is really the only time you have for impact and making a statement as you exit the door is not effective. Unless you were the most important employee in the company because of skills or contribution, your exit words should bridge to a positive memory in the future.
That said, if you had a rotten boss, don't say nice things in the resignation letter about him or her. I'm not an advocate of lying. Use the simple resignation letter I've also provided.
Reader Responded:
"In essence, I ascribe to your alternative tact of writing a simple, factual message of resignation and leaving it at that when circumstances don't warrant anything more positive. Certainly, a letter of that nature is not the place to 'exit-vent' or to advise about all that's wrong with the organization. So, I concur with your thought process there.
"What's amazing to me, and perhaps it's my own naivety or wishful thinking, is that there is so much writing, curriculum, business theorists, proven methodologies and information that is accessible to companies today to help them perform better; yet, so many of those companies either refuse to acknowledge their developmental need or they are 'unconsciously incompetent' when it comes to connecting with their employees, and therefore don't know that any needs exist."As an OD/Training professional, I've experienced a lot of disconnectedness among corporate leaders, middle managers and rank and file employees to the extent that turnover is largely based on the fact that people felt that they weren't appreciated. I've been in situations when I have tried to effect change by building relationships with senior management--I call it my personal value stream/proposition--and yet, I feel that I'm looked upon as some kind of 3-headed alien.
"When the brick walls get higher and stronger and company leaders simply don't buy in, it can be pretty demoralizing to a facilitator of learning who has the tools to bridge those kinds of gaps. I've always believed that Training pros struggle the most when empathizing with employees who really want to learn and grow and being frustrated when there is no care or support from the top. What a ping pong match that is!
"Well, this has been long-winded enough. Thanks--Really! for listening."
Your thoughts, please.
More About Resignation Letters
- Resignation Letter: Spouse Relocation
- Resignation Letter: Returning to School
- Resignation Letter: No Reason
- Resignation Letter: New Job
Image Copyright Martin Novak
I couldn’t agree more with this person. I am in the process of leaving a job where I have just been offered a big promotion, that I turned down, to go work for less money elsewhere. I have spent over 3 years with my current employer trying to improve the draconian way that they treat the front line people; I have been patronized, tolerated, and flat out lied to, but it has been made painfully evident to me in the recent past that those three years of effort were wasted – things are no better now than when I started, and there was no hope of doing any better at improving things from the position I would have been promoted into. I have completely failed to communicate my vision of a better workplace to anyone here, and now I am moving on to something else that admittedly may be just as bad, but will hopefully be better. Hope springs eternal.
To comment about your bad boss in a resignation letter does one thing very well: it will prevent you from working at that company in the future, at any level. Your old company will not fire the bad boss because of your letter. They will just have him/her go through additional leadership training. If your bad boss is meeting his/her targets, and you are leaving, who is the more important employee to them right now? Unless they are planning to pay you as a consultant to tell them how to improve that department, there is no reason to let upper management know what a jerk they are. Finally, you never know who your next boss will be, so be nice to everybody. Who knows if your new boss won’t be moving to your new company and hey, guess what, the boss remembers the kind words you said about them. Trashing your boss in your final letter will only mark you as a difficult employee which doesn’t help you. Let the company grapevine pass along all of the kind traits of your supervisor. Your goals have already been reached by finding a new job. If that new job doesnt work out, at least you could go back since you haven’t burnt any bridges.
To work for a company that has allowed the sytem to fail through seeing the true leaders is probably the most difficult of things to stand by and watch. Using the phrase “if it is to be it is up to me” is how many leaders try and change the cutlure if it is heading in the wrong direction. Again, it is perception of what is a “good” place to work and who is a good boss to work for. Middle management roles are sometimes very difficult to make change in the essence of betterment of the company.
I reflect upon the stork trying to gobble down the frog, yet the frog continues to have his hands arouind the neck of the stork no allwing the frog to be gobbled up. To those last two writers I say “Never give up”.
I support honesty in the resignation letter. However, honesty does not mean stating negative things about the company. I would leave that for the exit interview – or request an exit interview if one is not offered. The time to effect a change is when one is with the company. I would be sincere in my letter about what is said and verbalize the constructive criticism.