“Quitting with class” means separating yourself from your current employer in such a way that you leave your professional reputation intact, keep those bridges unburnt, and even set yourself up for glowing recommendations (or even another future job offer?) from your employer.
“Quitting with class” means separating yourself from your current employer in such a way that you leave your professional reputation intact, keep those bridges unburnt, and set yourself up for glowing recommendations (or even another future job offer?) from your employer.
Even if you’re leaving a toxic work environment and dislike your current job so much that you find yourself running, not walking, out the door, it’s always wise to maintain the high road and act with as much integrity and forthrightness as you can. In many cases, you may feel that your employer deserves some of these treatments, but acting on impulse or out of spite or revenge can come back to you and have a negative impact on your own reputation.
You never know what the future holds, and you may find yourself working with old colleagues or bosses at some point, so you don’t want to make a negative impression in these crucial moments. People remember the actions and attitudes of colleagues during times of change or tumult, and, what’s more, people talk. If you storm out of your job in a flurry of expletives or insults, word could quickly get around that you’re a liability in the workplace and that could affect your future job offers.
No matter how much you dislike your job, if you want to maintain a good professional reputation and quit with class, you should not...
1. Throw your colleagues under the bus
Perhaps you feel like this is your moment of revenge against a coworker who has wronged you in the past. While you may find a tactful way to let your employer know there are some issues that need to be addressed, avoid unleashing a torrent of complaints and insults about your coworkers. This could just come across as petty, vengeful, and wholly unnecessary at this point.
2. Bash the organization
Being honest about why you’re leaving or some of the things in the company or organization that have been less than ideal for you isn’t the same as “bashing” the employer. When you’re announcing your leave to your boss, if you make a clear effort to insult your employer and point out everything you hate about working there, it turns the conversation into something more combative and negative.
3. Call out your boss in public
Disclosing your concerns over your boss in private or with HR is one thing… doing it in front of the entire team or in a public forum is quite another. This kind of “calling out” will very likely not be taken well and interpreted as aggressive and instigatory. While it might feel good in the moment to think you’re giving a bad boss their “comeuppance” in front of everyone, you could very quickly turn into the villain in this scenario. Is it worth it?
4. Complain about your pay
If you’ve already made the decision to leave, the time to negotiate for more pay has passed, and that’s exactly where the conversation belongs, in the past. If you’re asked to give an exit interview, you might express that this was ultimately a dealbreaker for you, but if you’re being paid a competitive rate for your role, your complaints may not hold much weight. Just think… if you run into this employer in one year, two years, even five years and wind up sitting across from them in the interview room again, would they have any reason to hesitate hiring you again based on the way you quit?
5. Leave without notice
This is just a slap in the face to any employer. If you can at all help it, at least give a week or two’s notice before leaving so that you can do a proper hand-off. Simply walking out the door with zero notice and zero preparation is certainly something an employer would remember, and it would very likely prevent you from getting any kind of a good recommendation from them in the future.
6. Break the news over email
If you work remotely and can’t meet face to face to announce your departure, at least schedule a video conference or a phone call. Quitting by email, text, or instant messaging is just lazy and even a bit cowardly. Learning how to have difficult conversations in the workplace is an essential professional skill, and the way you handle yourself in these crucial moments reveals a lot about your character.
7. Tell your coworkers first
Your boss should not be the last person to know you’re leaving the company. Confiding in coworkers about your plans to leave before telling your boss is risky business, and you risk looking very unprofessional if your company’s leadership finds out you’re quitting through someone else.
8. Be too negative
Even if you’re highly dissatisfied with your employer, you must have learned something of value in your tenure. When you announce your plans to leave to your boss, it always reflects well on you as a professional to show gratitude for the opportunity and to highlight the most valuable things you’ll take away from the job.
9. Disappear on your colleagues or boss
You’ve given proper notice, you’ve undergone a thorough hand-off to a coworker or new replacement hire, and now you’re just counting down the few days or hours until you leave. Once the business-end of your departure is taken care of, don’t forget about the social aspect of leaving. Don’t just slink out without saying goodbye to anyone, but allow your colleagues and boss to express their goodbyes and give you the standard send-off.
10. Take anything that doesn’t belong to you
Defrauding your employer in any way, even for the smallest items, can land you in real hot water and certainly do long-lasting damage to your reputation. Don’t, just don’t.
11. In general, make a scene
If you’re quitting amid workplace drama where emotions are running high, do your best to keep your cool and leave with class. Stay focused on what you’re moving toward in your future (which hopefully includes a better job and healthy work environment), rather than what you’re leaving behind.
12. Make negative posts on social media
This type of social bashing is dangerous because it lives on and runs the risk of being circulated to anyone, including a future employer who will almost certainly view this as inappropriate professional behavior.
13. Give a poor handoff
If you make the transition difficult for the person or people who will be taking over your responsibilities once you leave, they’ll never forget the tight corner you put them in. Anytime they hear your name come up, run into you, see you on social media, or get asked about you, they’ll surely think of the difficult spot you put them in when you left.
