Give Proper Notice – Even If the Company Doesn’t Deserve It
How many times have we heard the phrase “take the high road”? And, I’m very aware that there are plenty of times when taking the high road stinks. Especially when people don’t deserve to be the beneficiary of our gracious behavior. Today’s reader story is one I can empathize with:
I’ve been at my job for almost 5 years. My relationship with my direct supervisor has been challenging. It’s been a game of chess for me; trying to figure out her mood and doing a lot of CYA. She has a pretty bad reputation within the company. She’s been caught in many lies and has continuously tried to sabotage me and my coworkers. Why she is still with the company I’m honestly not sure. I, as well as many of my co-workers, have complained about her. The reason I have survived for this long is because I have some awesome co-workers that make this place easier.
However in the past 3 months, we’ve managed to lose 2 entire teams with no replacements. This has greatly affected the company morale, making it even harder to work with my boss. I have been communicating with another company on a very promising job lead and needless to say, I fantasize on a daily basis about resigning.
I honestly do not want to give my company 2 weeks’ notice. I don’t feel they deserve it. They do absolutely nothing for the employees so why should I do anything considerate for them. In this case, would it be okay to give a 1 weeks’ notice?
I’ll be blunt here. If the company policy is two-weeks, then give the company two-weeks’ notice. I hate reciting old clichés but in this case two wrongs don’t make it right.
I completely understand that, in your eyes, the company has done you and your co-workers wrong. But if you don’t give proper notice, the people you’re really hurting are the co-workers you’ve said are so terrific. They will still work there even after you’re gone. And they will have to pick up the slack for you if you don’t work out your proper notice.
Now that being said, when you give your two-weeks’ notice, you can let the company know you’re cool with not working a full notice period if they are. Some companies will say, “Just wrap up projects A and B and that’s fine. You don’t need to work the entire time.” But just in case, be prepared to work out the full two-weeks.
Let me also flip this conversation to the employer angle. If your organization is experiencing a lot of “no notice” resignations, you need to find out why. And no company should ask an employee to “not give proper notice”. They wouldn’t want it to happen to them. So they shouldn’t do it to someone else.
Companies also should clearly set expectations when there are jobs that will permit working out their notice. Sales positions are an example. I’ve worked several places that, when a sales person gave notice, that was also their last day. Everyone knew it. It wasn’t handled in a mean-spirited way. And the employee was paid for their notice period. Granted, this doesn’t happen in every organization but where it does happen, the practice was well-known.
Lastly, companies shouldn’t force an employee to stay during a notice period when there’s no work for them to do. It just creates hostility. I’ve seen managers make employees come in for two solid weeks when the employee wrapped up their projects in a few days. It looks vengeful and everyone notices.
Creating a notice period has a business purpose. Turning it into an emotional decision doesn’t do the company or the employee any good.
Image courtesy of Robert Smith
0