To or not to resign

In this piece, the subject is not resignation from life and living, but from an organisation, or an entity; here the government is included as a non-corporate entity.

In everyday work life, most forget and disregard the following words of wisdom, says an 11th Century, quote from ‘The Instructions of Amenemope’, which reads, “keep your tongue from answering your supervisor, and take care not to insult him. Let him not cast his speech to catch you. Nor give free rein to your answer. Converse with a man of your own measure, take care not to offend him”. Doing anything against this sagacious advice leads to breakdown of relationship at the workplace. Ruptured relationships heal, but the scars do not go away; it is only rarely they do disappear too. The problems at office, if you can solve, do it, without causing worry and anxiety to yourself; and if you can’t, why worry? You can decide to quit.

Both the senior most and the junior most executives and officers go through hellish dilemma, of whether to resign or not to resign; for whatever good or not-so good reasons. They are tentative and apprehensive. This is true of most politicians too. For public-office holders, resignation should be an honourable thing to do, in the event of any mishap, in the ministry or portfolio, they handle. Here, we have had Railway minister(s), who in spite of repeated train crashes and loss of human lives, blatantly stick to their office and some being reminded of the honourable thing to do, retort, “why should I resign? I wasn’t managing the gates or the tracks!”

Only yesterday, Javed Jabbar, popularly known as JJ, resigned, having heard in the press, that objections were being raised on his nomination as NFC Award Member from Balochistan, because he is a resident of Karachi/ Sindh. An honourable thing to do! But, there is only one JJ! Unique and different; a reluctant politician owing to his standards of grace and dignity.

Before even imaginarily writing the letter of resignation, it is best to have a brief conversation with the supervisor. In doing so, the attempt should only be to drop a hint of what’s going on in the mind. Such an action helps clarification of personal objectives and also alerts on a limited basis, the supervisor.

Why do employees/colleagues choose to resign? The reason can be a plethora of both positives and negatives that prompt such thought and action.

Colleagues usually will cite, “better prospects” as a major motivator to throw in the towel. The term, better prospect, in my view is a very widely inclusive expression. It may mean, any or more than one of the following reasons; enhanced compensation package, upward movement on the corporate ladder, more growth opportunities, diversification of skills, movement across the same industry, in different segment, or movement to completely new economic segment of business, say from financial industry to anchoring TV talk shows, etc. The negative reasons too can be aplenty! Colleagues decide to leave mostly their supervisor(s) and rarely the organisation. The obnoxious behaviour of either the supervisor or generally the colleagues is a major prompt for jumping the ship.

Managers/supervisors pride in making remarks like, I believe in old Greek medieval methods of torture and punishment! They act beastly; roar like a lion with the reports and bleat like a timid sheep with their own seniors/supervisors.

Many colleagues leave because of their dislike for the prevalent organisation culture. The words and deeds of senior management may be out of step. The behaviour of people is in contrast to the self-imposed, self-selected “values” that remain only, as enshrined tablets, framed and displayed on corporate walls. Not meant for practice, these subscribe with zero commitment to universal principles of respect, integrity, trust, etc.

The motivation to leave could be the presence of a conceited deceitful and suspicious manager, possessed of a harassing attitude, both gender and work related harassment; is nagging, over bearing, continuously breathes down the neck, etc. A major put off for younger colleagues is to have a manager, who takes credit for all the good that happens, but is quick to place responsibility at their doorstep; should anything go awry. The manager keeps to himself all authority sans responsibility; just refuses to delegate; does not believe in training and development for new skill set or for grooming colleagues to take up senior responsibilities. Then, also present in organisations are manager(s), who are so secretive that they can put to shame CIA, FBI and MI5, moulded together; such refuse to share not just critical but basic information that may be necessary for performance.

The other extreme negative reasons could be, readers please note, these are not a figment of this scribes fertile imagination; I have heard them on the shop floor, remarks like, “I like this XYZ officer because he is dark and bold, like me”. Contrary to this, “I completely dislike my manager because he is unbearably bald- the painful reflection of light from his moon-surfaced bald scalp is most irritating!”

There can be other negative reasons - at meetings, the manager burps loudly like an infant, before and after a meal. He (manager/supervisor) sips his tea, with sounds of a poisonously hissing snake that scurries speedily through his moustache laden upper lip (this comment was made by a female staff member in an exit interview). Other possible reasons could be non-availability of flexible timings or absence of day care centres, for the new moms, etc.

Do exit interviews help in identifying the correct reason for a colleague’s departure? Those leaving, do they speak the whole truth, or engage in diplomacy at its best? Those who do speak but with venom in attendance, should be ignored, as the tales from the disinterested must be put to the bin. It is known to all that an ounce of practice is worth a pound of the precept.

Colleagues who genuinely mean well for the institution would do so with great tact and skill. Avoid angering the listener, contrive facts passively. If you have to be candid, no harm, but be candid with grace. Do not praise or blame totally out of season. Convey your message of goodwill for the organisation without making the organisation your eternal enemy. Be wiser today, madness must always be deferred.

To those who have “letter of offer” in their possession, should an organisation tempt him/her to stay back, by matching the terms of new offer? Is it a good practice?

No. It is a indeed a very unbecoming practice. Those colleagues, who are not searching and fishing in the market would feel short changed. And from an employee’s perspective, should one, after having tendered resignation or even indicated such an intention, accept and stay back, on being assured of “matching terms”?

My opinion is never do that - a Waterloo is your definite destination over time, if not almost immediately. Think before you leap, to resign. Retaliation is never foreign as a trait to the vicious manager. Once submitted, never take back the resignation. It shows poor resolve, shoddy behaviour, less than proper judgment, opportunistic attitude and above all lack of commitment; however cheap this corporate truth be about “commitment”.

What should the letter of resignation state? The truth… “I am leaving because of that… manager” or “ I am moving to a better organisation”. These are suicidal statements. So, should the resignation letter be passive and misleading, like “personal re

To or not to resign

By Sirajuddin Aziz

In this piece, the subject is not resignation from life and living, but from an organisation, or an entity; here the government is included as a non-corporate entity.

In everyday work life, most forget and disregard the following words of wisdom, says an 11th Century, quote from ‘The Instructions of Amenemope’, which reads, “keep your tongue from answering your supervisor, and take care not to insult him. Let him not cast his speech to catch you. Nor give free rein to your answer. Converse with a man of your own measure, take care not to offend him”. Doing anything against this sagacious advice leads to breakdown of relationship at the workplace. Ruptured relationships heal, but the scars do not go away; it is only rarely they do disappear too. The problems at office, if you can solve, do it, without causing worry and anxiety to yourself; and if you can’t, why worry? You can decide to quit.

Both the senior most and the junior most executives and officers go through hellish dilemma, of whether to resign or not to resign; for whatever good or not-so good reasons. They are tentative and apprehensive. This is true of most politicians too. For public-office holders, resignation should be an honourable thing to do, in the event of any mishap, in the ministry or portfolio, they handle. Here, we have had Railway minister(s), who in spite of repeated train crashes and loss of human lives, blatantly stick to their office and some being reminded of the honourable thing to do, retort, “why should I resign? I wasn’t managing the gates or the tracks!”

Only yesterday, Javed Jabbar, popularly known as JJ, resigned, having heard in the press, that objections were being raised on his nomination as NFC Award Member from Balochistan, because he is a resident of Karachi/ Sindh. An honourable thing to do! But, there is only one JJ! Unique and different; a reluctant politician owing to his standards of grace and dignity.

Before even imaginarily writing the letter of resignation, it is best to have a brief conversation with the supervisor. In doing so, the attempt should only be to drop a hint of what’s going on in the mind. Such an action helps clarification of personal objectives and also alerts on a limited basis, the supervisor.

Why do employees/colleagues choose to resign? The reason can be a plethora of both positives and negatives that prompt such thought and action.

Colleagues usually will cite, “better prospects” as a major motivator to throw in the towel. The term, better prospect, in my view is a very widely inclusive expression. It may mean, any or more than one of the following reasons; enhanced compensation package, upward movement on the corporate ladder, more growth opportunities, diversification of skills, movement across the same industry, in different segment, or movement to completely new economic segment of business, say from financial industry to anchoring TV talk shows, etc. The negative reasons too can be aplenty! Colleagues decide to leave mostly their supervisor(s) and rarely the organisation. The obnoxious behaviour of either the supervisor or generally the colleagues is a major prompt for jumping the ship.

Managers/supervisors pride in making remarks like, I believe in old Greek medieval methods of torture and punishment! They act beastly; roar like a lion with the reports and bleat like a timid sheep with their own seniors/supervisors.

Many colleagues leave because of their dislike for the prevalent organisation culture. The words and deeds of senior management may be out of step. The behaviour of people is in contrast to the self-imposed, self-selected “values” that remain only, as enshrined tablets, framed and displayed on corporate walls. Not meant for practice, these subscribe with zero commitment to universal principles of respect, integrity, trust, etc.

The motivation to leave could be the presence of a conceited deceitful and suspicious manager, possessed of a harassing attitude, both gender and work related harassment; is nagging, over bearing, continuously breathes down the neck, etc. A major put off for younger colleagues is to have a manager, who takes credit for all the good that happens, but is quick to place responsibility at their doorstep; should anything go awry. The manager keeps to himself all authority sans responsibility; just refuses to delegate; does not believe in training and development for new skill set or for grooming colleagues to take up senior responsibilities. Then, also present in organisations are manager(s), who are so secretive that they can put to shame CIA, FBI and MI5, moulded together; such refuse to share not just critical but basic information that may be necessary for performance.

The other extreme negative reasons could be, readers please note, these are not a figment of this scribes fertile imagination; I have heard them on the shop floor, remarks like, “I like this XYZ officer because he is dark and bold, like me”. Contrary to this, “I completely dislike my manager because he is unbearably bald- the painful reflection of light from his moon-surfaced bald scalp is most irritating!”

There can be other negative reasons - at meetings, the manager burps loudly like an infant, before and after a meal. He (manager/supervisor) sips his tea, with sounds of a poisonously hissing snake that scurries speedily through his moustache laden upper lip (this comment was made by a female staff member in an exit interview). Other possible reasons could be non-availability of flexible timings or absence of day care centres, for the new moms, etc.

Do exit interviews help in identifying the correct reason for a colleague’s departure? Those leaving, do they speak the whole truth, or engage in diplomacy at its best? Those who do speak but with venom in attendance, should be ignored, as the tales from the disinterested must be put to the bin. It is known to all that an ounce of practice is worth a pound of the precept.

Colleagues who genuinely mean well for the institution would do so with great tact and skill. Avoid angering the listener, contrive facts passively. If you have to be candid, no harm, but be candid with grace. Do not praise or blame totally out of season. Convey your message of goodwill for the organisation without making the organisation your eternal enemy. Be wiser today, madness must always be deferred.

To those who have “letter of offer” in their possession, should an organisation tempt him/her to stay back, by matching the terms of new offer? Is it a good practice?

No. It is a indeed a very unbecoming practice. Those colleagues, who are not searching and fishing in the market would feel short changed. And from an employee’s perspective, should one, after having tendered resignation or even indicated such an intention, accept and stay back, on being assured of “matching terms”?

My opinion is never do that - a Waterloo is your definite destination over time, if not almost immediately. Think before you leap, to resign. Retaliation is never foreign as a trait to the vicious manager. Once submitted, never take back the resignation. It shows poor resolve, shoddy behaviour, less than proper judgment, opportunistic attitude and above all lack of commitment; however cheap this corporate truth be about “commitment”.

What should the letter of resignation state? The truth… “I am leaving because of that… manager” or “ I am moving to a better organisation”. These are suicidal statements. So, should the resignation letter be passive and misleading, like “personal reasons”?

Nay, be truthful and precise; what one may say at the exit interview, need not, in fact must not ,become body of the letter.

When, where to whom, should the resignation be submitted, and how? The worst I have seen is colleagues submitting their resignation at 4:59 pm to either the HR Head or quietly leave it with the secretary of the CEO. Painfully regretful behaviour in my assessment! Some choose to communicate the decision of resignation by an e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp and some are so lethal, they actually post it on Linkedin and at other social sites- their game is let HR discover! Pathetic.

The resignation letter must be addressed to the direct supervisor and must be delivered in person across the table. That’s Bold. That’s Noble.

In closing , resign only once, from an organisation - repeatedly done, one becomes a corporate jester!

The writer is a senior banker and freelance contributor

asons”?

Nay, be truthful and precise; what one may say at the exit interview, need not, in fact must not ,become body of the letter.

When, where to whom, should the resignation be submitted, and how? The worst I have seen is colleagues submitting their resignation at 4:59 pm to either the HR Head or quietly leave it with the secretary of the CEO. Painfully regretful behaviour in my assessment! Some choose to communicate the decision of resignation by an e-mail, SMS, WhatsApp and some are so lethal, they actually post it on Linkedin and at other social sites- their game is let HR discover! Pathetic.

The resignation letter must be addressed to the direct supervisor and must be delivered in person across the table. That’s Bold. That’s Noble.

In closing , resign only once, from an organisation - repeatedly done, one becomes a corporate jester!

The writer is a senior banker and freelance contributor