CAREER BUILDER - ON CRI
When you get an offer letter from a promising company, don’t be too excited even if you are desperate to join them. Some people are so impulsive that they cannot help sending unprepared resignation letters to the HR department at the very moment of an offer from someone else. People think that they are doing the right thing by finishing their current job immediately because they hope to join the new company as soon as possible. However, during the hasty resignation process, people sometimes make mistakes that might ruin everything they have worked on in their original company. This may mean that when it is time to check newcomers’ references, it might be difficult for old colleagues and managers to speak in their favor.
It is incredibly important to deal with the resignation process carefully. There are two key aspects of resigning properly and without doing damage. Firstly, before making the resignation decision, are you clear about the motivation? Secondly, once you decide to quit, what should you pay attention to in the resignation process? So let’s begin with the first part with two questions.
What brought about the resignation? 1. Does the resignation decision involve impulsiveness?Resignation with negative feelings and emotions can be misleading. Imagine you have just had a fight with your manager, Tom, about a future campaign. You have worked very hard on it for one month with your team members. However, after spending ten minutes reading the plan, Tom has insisted that part of the plan must be changed. He did not give you any specific reason. You were full of anger and you argued for the work you had done. Tom was very impatient and unhappy at listening to your explanation. You lost your temper, and shouted that you are done with the company.
Now let’s examine this scenario. Are you really looking forward to resigning in this embarrassing way? Most people learn to control their emotions and feelings so that they do not lose their temper. However, young employees of around 25 years old tend to lose their temper easily. Impulsiveness swamps their behavior and reasonableness. They feel comfortable in the process of arguing for themselves. However, what they do not know is that they might copy and repeat themselves in this way afterwards. Resignation with either anger or passion is unwise. Before that impulsive moment comes, it is a good idea to let things calm down. Only with cool minds can people think seriously about whether they want to resign or not.
2. What factors affect the job changing decision?In the field of recruitment it is the headhunters’ responsibility to imagine what might happen during the resignation process. Headhunters usually have a list of questions prepared for candidates. A highly sensitive question is about taking counter-offers from old employers. People can leave companies because they are not well paid or not recognized for what they do. These people are in a weak position. Once the old employer has them by the weakness, they tend to reconsider the resignation decision. Their decisions can easily be reconsidered if the current employer promises a salary increase or promotion. However, counteroffers can be dangerous. The moment when someone talks about resigning, his/ her loyalty to the company will be in doubt- even if counteroffers are made and accepted. This will be damaging to their future with the company. So, people have to be clear about factors that make them think about resigning.
How to resign properly 1. Tell your line manager before sending the resignation letter to the HR department.Staying in China for years has changed my view of connections and relationships. Chinese regard the concept of “guanxi” as something very important in their lives. Without proper “guanxi”, one can hardly get things to work properly. It makes sense in the resignation process, too. I often see the common resignation dilemma whereby staff members struggle to explain reasons for resigning to line managers. In order to avoid the embarrassment, some employees choose to go above their line managers. They send the formal resignation letter to the HR department without giving any hint to their immediate managers. They believe that they can resolve the “guanxi” crisis in this way. However, they forget about the trust-bond with managers.
2. Sending the resignation letter does not mean leaving right away. In the labor contract it is usually stated that employees who resign can leave the company after a one month notice period has been served. In some cases, employees can leave companies the day they get the confirmation of their resignation. However, this does not necessarily work the same way for every position. Do not push the HR department or line managers in the process of leaving a company. 3. Don’t be sluggish at work during the resignation period.After sending the resignation letter, some people automatically enter “quit mode”. People who used to be early birds do not mind coming to the office a quarter of an hour late. Those who used to work very hard take two-hour lunch breaks. People who used to stay at work late don’t mind leaving the office half an hour early. All these details matter to colleagues and the management. Imagine that you have worked hard in the company for five years. You have built a solid relationship with colleagues and managers. Sluggish behavior in one week can be enough to destroy the good reputation you had built up. The world seems quite big, but it never is. In particular, people who work in the same industry might become colleagues in different companies again in the future. My advice is not to forget the old contact. Otherwise, some day when you meet again in a new company, it might be your turn to suffer!