10 things to do before you resign: the Leaving Well edition
In this article in The Cut, 10 Things You Need to Do Before You Resign, Alison Green provides ten recommendations on what to do before you resign. I took a few of those and added a Leaving Well twist. Four of those recommendations from The Cut are provided here, and I’ve shared my Leaving Well take as a follow-up set of suggestions.
1. Make sure you know how your company typically handles notice periods.
News flash - MOST employers don’t handle notice periods or leaving …well. Whether it’s a security measure or pettiness (as the article states), organizations and companies have solely prioritized hiring and onboarding for so long (while completely avoided offboarding and leaving), that you should expect that the experience will feel, not so great (on a good day) and pretty terrible (most likely).
Equipping yourself to better understand the components of the organization’s policies will indeed provide context and clarification. Going one step beyond simply knowing about those policies means you can take back some of the control during the process. The old adage of “the more you know” definitely applies to the resignation process.
Exit interviews are primarily for risk mitigation. They are conducted generally to give the organization an opportunity to understand if there are any lingering issues that you may be taking with you as you walk out the door (grievances, complaints, etc.).
And also: If you are resigning, consider being intentional about the way you prepare yourself, leading up to giving notice. Don't miss the opportunity to check in with your own values as you make plans to exit. Clients who work with me to leaving well are provided support to complete a knowledge transfer document that can be given to their manager, which supports those who wish to close out projects and their work in a thoughtful way.
2. Take home copies of your performance reviews and work samples.
Using the Leaving Well framework, I recommend that you work on bolstering your portfolio and “worthy work” along the way, not just as you’re preparing to give your notice. I love Alison’s recommendation in this article to copy/paste email text that “recognizes an accomplishment of yours or give kudos on your work. These can be helpful when you’re prepping for interviews in the future … you’ll be able to answer the interview question, “What would a former manager say about you?” truthfully.”
3. Take home contact information for anyone you want to make sure you stay in touch with.
I appreciate this recommendation the most out of Alison’s ten suggestions. It happens every time someone leaves, they intend to reach out to someone and realize their contact information is on the work laptop that they’ve just turned in to HR. I typically suggest my clients go back through a few weeks (up to a few months) of emails in their sent folder. It can be a quick scan, with a word document open to transfer over email signatures for the people they most want to stay in touch with, post-departure.
Additionally, intentionally carving out some moments for the people you’ve most connected with will make your leaving well experience so much richer. Make plans to also connect with those who may be helpful to your future networking / connection needs.
4. Clean out your email.
Alison recommends this for the purpose of covering your tracks, and to ensure you don’t have a trail of email communication you wouldn’t want anyone to see. From the Leaving Well vantage point, consider instead cleaning out your “to do” email folder or your drafts, to ensure you’re not leaving anything incomplete.
Use this opportunity (perhaps in tandem with your manager) to hand over unfinished projects to another team member. This review of your to do folder and drafts will provide helpful reminders of unfinished business.
Not only does this support a more successful handoff of duties, it also supports team members (the “stayers”) as you depart, and you can leave knowing you didn’t leave anyone hanging.
Close out communication loops with any external partners where needed, and also take this opportunity to introduce those partners with other team members to expand the network.
Recommendations 5-10
(*the final six recommendations are not a direct response to the article in The Cut)
5. If you’ve been fired, made redundant, or the response to your notice is an immediate separation, read this article on navigating job loss.
6. If you’re in the nonprofit space, caretaking professions, or social services, consider reading Jaiya John’s Your Caring Heart book.
7. If you are able to, plan as much time as possible before starting your new project or job. Far too many people go from one to the next, without building in any rest time. If the economics of your situation require you to start immediately, consider small ways that you can decompress in the time allotted to you.
8. If you do have some time before starting your next thing, build in items and activities that you are most prone to avoid or postpone, because of work. Maybe that’s an art museum, or a leisurely lunch. Perhaps you choose to turn off your alarm clocks, or spend an entire day catching up on a streaming show. Whatever you choose, let yourself fully enjoy some time or rest and relaxation.
9. Journal, journal, journal. Even if the concept of journaling is not typically something you do on a regular basis, the cathartic value of jotting down your thoughts as you navigate your departure can be extremely beneficial. You can choose whether to revisit your notes at a later date, or otherwise destroy the captured reflections.
10. Anticipate some grief and loss. Even in circumstances where the departure means you are heading somewhere really exciting, there will likely be some waves of grief as you process the end of your time at the old job or project.
In Closing
Whether you take one piece of advice from this article, or several recommendations, know that your leaving well practices will not be perfect on the first use. Implementing leaving well into the way you say goodbye to a project, role, job, or title is not a quick fix or necessarily simple. However you can choose small, incremental components that will add up to a more pleasant, humane, and dare I say joyful goodbye.
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