Jay Goltz is one of those lucky business owners who hasn’t experienced much employee turnover. But the president of The Goltz Group, a Chicago company that includes Artists’ Frame Service, Chicago Art Source and Jayson Home & Garden, remembers all too well employees who left on a bad note.
“Three years ago, I had a manager who ran a contract-framing division of Artists’ Frame Service. He’d been here about four years. Not only did he run the division–he also had the relationship with the vendors. I’d treated him well, given him regular raises. Then one day he walked in and said, `I’m giving you two weeks notice,” Goltz recalls. “I asked if there was something wrong and he said there were no problems. But when I talked to my production people they said, `You didn’t know? He’s been looking for a job for months, using the phones here. We thought you knew.’ It ended up he went to work for one of my customers.” The experience left Goltz feeling angry, betrayed and unwilling to provide a positive reference for his former employee. “It goes beyond burning bridges,” the business owner and author of “The Street-Smart Entrepreneur” explains. “If your leaving is a positive, a nice experience, I can’t wait to give a referral. But if it’s bad, I can’t wait until a (prospective) employer calls so I can tell them nothing.” Goltz’s story illustrates the importance of making a smart exit before making a fresh start. And that holds true no matter the job, the company or the boss you’re leaving, human resource experts say.
“How you leave speaks volumes about how you feel about your work, your colleagues, your own reputation. And employers tend to remember the people who left poorly,” said Ray Baumruk, an employee research practice leader at Hewitt Associates, a management consulting firm in Lincolnshire. “You should be respectful and professional. By not separating professionally you create potential problems in the future. Leaving poorly could limit your future opportunities if you leave in a way that doesn’t leave a professional contact and a way to relate back.”
Thirty-five-year-old computer consultant Matthew Stelter has maintained a relationship with his former employer ever since he launched his Oak Park-based business just over a year ago. He’s been able to do so because he resigned so professionally from Whittman-Hart, a computer consulting firm in Chicago that recently merged with USWeb/CKS.
“I’d been working there for about five months when I got a call from a company whose ad for a part-time programmer I’d answered eight months prior to that,” Stelter said. “I worked it out (with Whittman-Hart) that I would do it on the side, which I did for about a month. About a month later, the CFO of another company called and asked what it would take for me to work for him.”
The offer was so good Stelter couldn’t turn it down. “I was working at a client site. I knew my boss was going to be at the site, so I met with her and explained that I had this great opportunity to strike out on my own,” Stelter said. “She said she was disappointed, but told me that any time I wanted to come back I could.” He also wrote a formal letter of resignation.
Stelter ended up consulting for Whittman-Hart for five months after he’d officially left. “I still get calls from them from time to time to see if I have time to do a project,” he said.
But not all resignations go so smoothly. Situations may sometimes arise where emotions can take over.
“Danielle” (not her real name) said she wasn’t concerned about quitting the right way when she abruptly exited the downtown Chicago marketing research firm she worked for in the summer of 1997. “An issue came up concerning time off. I was arguing my case and the boss told me to go home and think about it, and then slammed the door in my face. I told him it was bull—- and left. I’ve never regretted it. I was ready to leave (anyway). It was a very liberating experience,” she said. “I never felt guilty and the next day I went and lay in the sun.”
Danielle, who now works as a health inspector in the suburbs, landed on her feet, but experts don’t recommend that anyone quit in a fit of anger.
Exiting well is especially essential in today’s acquisition-happy marketplace, said Baumruk. “The economy has created many different alliances and partnerships. You never know who you’ll need to work with or for,” he said.
Kathryn Bresich, a 37-year-old account development executive with Dow Jones Interactive Publishing in Chicago, for example, now counts her former boss as a customer. Bresich came to Dow Jones in October 1998 following a three-and-a-half-year stint as an account manager in Standard & Poor’s Chicago offices. “A friend called to tell me about the job opening at Dow Jones,” said Bresich. “I’d interviewed there the year before, but I wasn’t really looking to leave then. This time, I went back, interviewed and got the job.”
Bresich says leaving well was no problem, given the “pretty comfortable relationship” she had with her supervisor, who now works for one of the accounts she manages. “I gave two weeks’ notice,” said the Dow Jones employee, who has maintained a friendly and professional rapport with her former employer. “I could use him as a reference if I needed to.”
In addition to giving enough notice, there are other steps you should take to make a professional departure, the experts say.
– Make a transition plan. “Don’t leave the organization hanging,” said Baumruk. “Decide how you’re going to transition your workload when you say you’ve decided to take another job.”
“Leave your new work and home phone numbers, and tell your boss to call if he finds any loose ends,” added Goltz. “Ask if there’s anything you can do to make the transition easier. That will leave your employer feeling good so he can be enthusiastic when reference calls come.”
– Be open and honest about your reasons for leaving. “That’s one of the characteristics of leaving professionally, but for some people that’s difficult,” said Baumruk. “If you can’t tell your boss, go to the human resources department. Most companies have exit interviews where you can be very honest with the human resources person. You can say things like, `I’d rather my manager didn’t know this, but I think it’s important for you to know so you can act upon it.’ “
– Quit to your manager before you tell anyone else. “If a manager hears from somebody else, he might not hear the story right,” Baumruk said. “It’s better to hear it from you than through the grapevine.”
– Don’t talk behind the boss’ back. “Many people give their notice and say things have been great. Then they go to lunch with their friends and tell them how bad it’s been, how they’re going to work (somewhere else) for twice the money,” Goltz said. “That gets back to the boss in 45 minutes. Think how that makes others who are still working there feel–they’re motivated to say something. Your employer probably isn’t going to call you on it, but when reference calls come, he’ll remember. He might not trash you but he won’t say anything good either.”
– Know when it’s time to leave. If you’re having trouble on the job and have been called on the carpet a number of times, quit before you’re fired. “You should realize if you’ve been talked to more than a couple times, there’s probably something (negative) going on,” said Goltz. “It’s better to take the hint and quit (rather than be fired). Pick yourself up and look for a new job.”
