Should You Tell Your Boss You’re Thinking About Leaving?
Heather Huhman
Ask me how I can help your employees navigate the complicated world of fertility treatments & other paths to parenthood
Thinking about leaving your job? You’re not alone. According to recent research, 87.2 percent of job seekers want to leave their jobs in 2014. Regardless of the reasons, this percentage is alarmingly high.
Whether you’re on the fence about your future with the company or committed to leaving but don’t have a new position lined up yet, the question becomes: Should I tell my boss?
To help you decide, here are some questions to ask yourself:
Why am I unhappy?
Make a list of the pros and cons about your job. Think about what makes you happy or unhappy about your position.
Is there potential for my situation to improve?
If the reason you’re unhappy is something such as your workload or your desire to be promoted, there’s at least a potential for improvement -- and thus a conversation with your boss before resigning might actually make a difference.
However, if you've determined your unhappiness is caused by lack of respect or recognition at work, intense hours, or negative relationships with coworkers, there’s likely little room for improvement.
How understanding is my boss?
If you have an understanding boss, he or she likely will want to help fix your unhappiness rather than be caught off guard by your resignation. In this case, you might discover a simple conversation solves all the problems you've had with work.
On the other hand, if your boss isn't understanding, he or she may begin planning your termination immediately or move you to a different department. If you’re worried you might get fired on the spot, the best thing to do is tell your boss about your departure when you have a new job lined up.
Is the timing of the conversation right?
One of the biggest dangers of telling your boss you're thinking about leaving is betraying their trust or damaging your loyalty. If you decide to tell your boss you're in the process of looking for a new job, he or she may take it personally.
Put yourself in your boss' shoes. If your boss is really busy or overwhelmed with a project, can you wait to have this discussion? Timing is everything when talking to your boss about your potential resignation. This conversation will likely catch your boss off guard, so don't break the news when they're already stressed or overwhelmed.
Remember, you're not obligated to tell anyone.
At the end of the day, it's your personal decision to tell your boss you're thinking about leaving your job. If you want to prevent damaging relationships or adding more stress at work, it’s a good idea to speak up to your boss as soon as possible. Although you’re not obligated to share your feelings about your job with your boss, keep in mind your situation could potentially be improved by talking with your employer.
Telling your boss you're thinking about leaving your job is a touchy subject. Depending on your situation, it could help or hurt your career. Hopefully, you'll have the opportunity to share your feelings with your boss and try to find a solution to the problem.
Would you tell your boss you're thinking about leaving? Why or why not?
Image Courtesy of Kate Haskell; Flickr
Correction: The original piece had the statistic in the first paragraph listed as 87.2 percent of employees want to leave their jobs in 2014.
About Heather R. Huhman:
Heather R. Huhman is a career expert, experienced hiring manager, and founder & president of Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for job search and human resources technologies. She is also the instructor of Find Me A Job: How To Score A Job Before Your Friends, author of Lies, Damned Lies & Internships (2011) and #ENTRYLEVELtweet: Taking Your Career from Classroom to Cubicle (2010), and writes career and recruiting advice for numerous outlets. Follow Heather below to receive all her articles!
Mechanical Engineer at Enercon
1yI think for almost everyone, the answer is no. If your reason is due to lack of promotion or pay, have that conversation independently without even talking about other jobs If it goes nowhere, you threatening to quit won’t help you. Your boss will perceive it as you being money motivated and disloyal. You now have a target on your back. If it is management, industry, or job related, trying to relocate to new role or job within should absolutely be talked about openly. If that is shot down, find another job and don’t say anything. Remember, if they wanted to axe you, they will happily cut you loose and release you immediately (unless you live in Montana).
Sales Representative: Working with K-12 schools to bring the library back to the centre of learning again.
2yI work for a company who, during my interview, promoted themselves as a company that seeks to provide opportunities to existing staff. Three years in and I have not yet seen this happen once (at least not outside of management). Multiple opportunities and roles have been filled by external applicants since I had expressed my interest in them, so I informed the management of my intention to leave to see how valued I was (and also because I did intend on leaving), but was just thanked for the heads up and told that they would start preparing to replace me. Absolutely appalling leadership skills.
Senior Paralegal
6yIt seems that articles like this are almost always written like it came straight from the boss, to benefit the boss, to protect the boss and to make the change easier on the boss. As a few others said they don't warn you, so why warn them? I wholeheartedly agree that it's an accumulation of things; no one incident and I for one address an issue once. If you can't make the commitment to improve or touch base to see how things are going, next time all you will see is my resignation. It's not a romantic relationship so I don't see why you have to invest so much emotion in it. They are using you to build their dreams anyway!
Good article. I always appreciate when an employee tells me they are thinking of leaving. If there is an issue (work, pay, personal issue, employee problem) I want to have an opportunity to fix it, if I can. Once an employee has found a job, it is often too late to try to retain a good employee. As always, handle professionally and without emotion.