How to resign

I wanted to leave Monzo on the best possible terms. Here are the steps I took and why I think they were important.

I recently resigned from Monzo having worked here for nearly four and a half years. I say here — I am still here! I have loved my Monzo journey and wanted to find a way to leave that maintained my relationships and didn’t end in me sneaking off to interviews, rushing in late to meetings and taking secret phone calls in the stairwell. I spoke to a friend who has experience running startups, and we came up with a plan for how I could resign in the best possible way. These are the steps I took, and why I think they are important.

1. Speak to your manager, and other people you trust and respect at your company, before handing in your notice
2. Talk openly about notice periods and make it work for both sides
3. Ask for opinions on what you should do next
4. Ask for introductions
5. If needed, try to hire your replacement
6. Start the handover before you leave
7. Work out what you want from the time you have left

Speak to your manager, and other people you trust and respect at your company, before handing in your notice

Oftentimes, things that are causing you unhappiness or frustration at work are eminently solvable. It might be that you want more context, more clarity, a different role, more (or less) responsibility, or more money. And probably, your manager or other people in the company don’t know you want these things. So as a first step, speak to your manager, and other people that you trust and respect, to find out if changes can be made to make your work life happier.

When I was thinking about leaving Monzo I had long conversations with my manager and with the CEO. I told them both the reasons I was thinking about leaving, what frustrated me, what I adored about Monzo, and what some of the things I thought I could do next were. We talked about all the possible roles within the company that I could do and whether more money or less responsibility would entice me to stay.

Having these conversations meant that I knew what I could be doing within Monzo, and also had confidence in some of the things that I could go and do elsewhere. I also knew that I would be able to maintain the relationships with some of the people I respected most if I did leave. But most importantly, I knew that neither more money nor a different role would make me want to stay.

So before you make that final decision, talk to the people you trust within the company. Understand all of your options and be honest with yourself and them about what it really is that is driving the change.

Talk openly about notice periods and make it work for both sides

You’ll probably have a contracted notice period of 1 or 3 months, but, like everything, you can negotiate it if it works for both sides. If you are committed to continuing to work hard, then it’s unlikely your company would say no to you working 4 months rather than 3, or alternatively, if you have been open with your manager about why you are leaving, they are likely to be supportive if you want to leave after only 2.

Either way, work out what it is you want and ask for it.

My contracted notice period was 3 months but at the time of handing my notice in I didn’t have a job to go to. I also wanted to try to hire my replacement so that the team wouldn’t be without a leader for any prolonged period of time. After being totally upfront about this with my manager, we agreed that I would work at least 3 months, but likely longer, and that as soon as I had a job we would agree my last day. As it turns out, I will end up working 4 months and have hired my replacement who will start a month and a half after I leave. This set up was much better for me — it gave me the headspace to find a new job I really wanted, rather than scrambling for something to pay the bills — and it worked out better for Monzo too — the team won’t be without a leader for very long at all.

Ask for opinions on what you should do next

It’s likely that those you work closest with know what you are, and are not, good at. They will know how much stress you can handle comfortably, whether you thrived in a smaller or larger company, whether you were good at building something from zero to one, or later on in the development cycle, and whether you get excited about B2C or B2B products. So I recommend that you speak to people about what might come next. Ask their opinion, talk through potential roles, and be open to new ideas.

When I was looking for new roles I did this with my manager, some peers I work closely with, and some team members. It definitely helped me realise that going to work at another Fintech of a similar size to Monzo would not be the right step for me now. I was better when Monzo was smaller, and I have learnt so much about building something from scratch that I want to put into practice.

Ask for introductions

It’s likely that the most valuable things you’ll take away from a startup experience like Monzo are relationships. And if the people you work with know that you are looking for something new, it’s likely they will want to, our at least be willing to, introduce you to their contacts.

Introductions can lead anywhere — you might learn something new or discover a new career path. This might not be where your next role will come from, but it’ll certainly help you narrow your options.

I knew of a couple of interesting startups which I asked our CEO to introduce me to. Some lead to coffees and some lead nowhere, but if nothing else it was a sign of his faith in me that he’d make those introductions in the first place. I also got a really interesting introduction from an engineer in my team which I was pretty sceptical about to begin with, but which turned out to be highly valuable.

In the end, my new role didn’t come from these introductions, but they definitely helped me work out what I wanted to do next, and as a bonus I made 5 or 10 good contacts that I’m sure I’ll speak to again.

If needed, try to hire your replacement

If your company is going to hire a direct replacement for your role, then no one knows what’s required in the role more than you do! I’m going to write an essay about how I approach hiring at some point, but the short version is — try to hire someone you’d want to work for.

I wrote the job description, reviewed the applications, and then had an initial coffee with people who I thought would be a good fit for the role. I also suggested the interview set up and the people who should be involved. We managed to get down to two excellent candidates within a few months, and made an offer soon after. Despite a long notice period, because we kicked this off as soon as I handed in my notice, there will only be a month and a half between me leaving and my replacement starting.

Start the handover before you leave

Depending on what your role is and how long you are working, it can be helpful to begin your handover well before you actually leave. It can be really difficult to work out what knowledge you have that no one else has, or even what conversations you have been in that other people need to know about. The quickest way to find out is to let other people start doing parts of your role; any knowledge gaps will become apparent pretty quickly.

At the time of writing, I have three weeks left at Monzo. As of last week I have split my main responsibilities between two members of the team. I am still going to the same meetings and keeping on top of the work, but I am trying to let them chair meetings, set agendas and answer questions. If they need to ask me something, I’ll still be here, but we will hopefully work out what the most important knowledge gaps are before my last day.

Work out what you want from the time you have left

Something that I have been really struggling with is working out how much to still be involved in direction setting. If I were staying at Monzo, there are some things I’d really fight for, but given I am leaving soon, is there any point? Of course I am still working hard and doing what’s right for the team, but other people will be running things soon enough, and my opinion just won’t matter any more.

I worked out before I handed in my notice that one of the main reasons for leaving when I am leaving is that I want to maintain the relationships I have with my colleagues. For other people in different roles it might be that you want to optimise for releasing one last product, getting a project finished, making a cost saving, or learning a new skill. For me, these last four months are all about relationships.

And so as I work my notice that is what I keep reminding myself about. The most important thing is to maintain those relationships. I am trying to do what is right and keep the ship moving, but if it will damage a relationship, I am trying to step back quickly and remember what it is I want from the time I have left.