How to Quit: meltmedia Edition PT II
Posted by Dave Woodruff and Anthony Garone
Part one of our series took a look at how quitting a job isn’t easy, especially one you love, but leaving can be easier when the employee and the employer have an open and honest relationship. Like if your boss has spinach stuck in their teeth, you should totally tell them. Same with if you’re not happy at work, you should totally tell them. Everyone feels better when they tell the truth. It’s exhausting to hide things.
Over the years we’ve learned a few things about moving on here at melt, now we get to share them with you. Here is the second part of our series on How to Quit.
Forget the Past
Employees and employers have historically believed the best approach to employee contentment was to keep everything close to the vest. This meant the opportunity for true dialogue only happened when problems were big enough to lead to a separation. That’s old-school thinking.
The way to create a better, more cooperative and powerful process between the two is simple. For employers, it means treating employees like human beings with the mentality that they probably won’t retire at your company. For employees, it’s treating your employer like they’re giving you a special opportunity to get paid to do good work.
How it Went Down at melt
Recently we had two employees approach us about life changes they were making.
One was married with her husband moving to California for a job opportunity, and she wanted to be near him. Crazy, right? Another employee had a wife with a wonderful career offer in California. While meltmedia was sad to lose these employees, the way they communicated their plans made the transition agreeable for everyone.
In both cases, the employees approached management/ownership early enough to create an organized plan where both sides were able to participate and give vital input. Additionally, long lead times were agreed to before the employee departure, allowing for new hires and even the potential for training from the person exiting the position.
How to Quit meltmedia (Or Not)
We had the opportunity this winter to have one of our employees talk about how “She Quit meltmedia.” Andrea took a few minutes in front of the company to explain how with meltmedia’s help she was able to transition easily and with a minimum amount of stress and anxiety. Moreover, without a good relationship with Andrea we definitely wouldn’t have been able to post a backfill for her position without frantically trying to hire someone out of desperation.
This whole good relationship thing works both ways. We’ve also had employees talk to their supervisors who’ve felt like quitting, and they’re still here and we’ve worked to provide new opportunities without anyone leaving. The candid, meaningful relationships we’ve built have retained these employees and kept them happy. Plus we got to keep those awesome people on board.
We Don’t Want People to Quit…
Change is inevitable. The best way to make the difficult, sometimes painful decision to quit is through up-front, honest communication. Have ongoing check-ins about how employees are advancing their careers, and stay aligned on opportunities for advancement and career growth.
It helps to have regular “risk assessment” talks with your management teams. We ask at every 1–1 (a weekly meeting for our employees to meet with their supervisors) how they’re feeling about their jobs and we take no offense to negative answers. It makes life a lot easier for everyone. If someone decides to leave, we’re all on good terms and that person goes on to the next position with good things to say about meltmedia. Everyone wins!
Leaving a job or even thinking about quitting a job can be full of pressure and weirdness, but if you have a good relationship with your company, it can be a lot easier to transition to new phases of your career (and stay happy).
