How to leave your job wanting more.
Every performer knows the saying “leave the crowd wanting more.” And while most of us rarely experience applause as we finish our work for the day, this adage is an able guide for saying goodbye to a job.
The first 90 days of any job are make or break for a new employee. While HR traditionally calls it “probation,” I help my coaching clients frame their first three months as a time to build the foundation for their entire tenure. The first 90 days allow new employees to get clear on goals, curious about the culture, and actively connect with new colleagues, building the trust essential to a successful working relationship. This same framing also offers a template for your last 90 days.
How can your last 90 (or 30, or ten) days at a job reflect your first?
While there are many reasons to leave on good terms – ensuring references in the future, continuing work friendships, or perhaps a return to another job within the organization – think of leaving as intentionally as you arrived as your encore, a gift to colleagues and to yourself. Leave appreciated, connected and valued for not just the work you have done but the person you are.
This is why I always recommend a 90-day departure checklist to ensure your final days at your job are good days. Key items to include:
A conversation BEFORE a formal resignation - It's important, and typically required, to proffer a letter of resignation, giving (preferably) at least two weeks notice. If your manager is not a dragon (and most are not!), then give them the benefit of a heads up conversation prior by having the conversation about leaving before you initiate the formal process.
Questions to consider for that initial conversation include:
How much advance notice can you give to your manager?
How can you be a good partner to your manager as they figure out how to transition your work responsibilities?
What kind of training or other kind of support can you provide when transferring your work to others?
What feedback - and gratitude- can you offer your manager?
A transition plan - Just as you created a 90-day plan when you first arrived, create a plan for your remaining tenure. While there are templates out there for transition planning, be sure you prioritize your work and identify both the short- and long-term transition needed for each task. Questions to consider when creating the plan:
What are the most important parts of your work and how are they prioritized in the plan?
Who needs to know about and further inform the plan?
What else can you do to minimize the disruption of work and ensure a smooth transition?
Feedback - Prepare for your exit meeting with HR by bringing an agenda for a constructive meeting. It should include what you appreciate about your role, your colleagues and the organization while also identifying concrete improvements.
Questions to consider when creating the agenda:
What do you specifically appreciate about the job – opportunity, people, culture, manager, team – that you can publicly thank people for? How you you meaningfully communicate this gratitude to colleagues, clients and others?
What areas of satisfaction and constructive feedback can you share with HR that will help them make improvements?
What feedback can you solicit from HR that will help you in your next role?
Reflection and repair - This step is often skipped but may be the most important to resolving negative or ambiguous emotions about leaving. To ensure a successful pivot from one opportunity to another, it’s essential to resolve what is usually unaddressed: disappointment, frustration, or anger. Ensure a clean start at your new job by getting clear on your old job.
Some questions to consider before your last day:
What do you appreciate and value about your time?
What was hard? Why?
Are there any repairs to work relationships you need to make before you go? If so, what is the goal and plan for each conversation?
What kind of celebration would you like to have? How will you communicate that with your manager and team?
What, in your new job, will you share with people about your last job?
Sometimes leaving is easy. But often, it takes time to get clarity on whether the time is right to go, and if so, how to say goodbye.
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