How to Resign Gracefully: Our Step-by-Step Guide

Beginning a new role is a pivotal moment in your career, but how do you communicate this development with your current employer? 

While you prepare for new opportunities ahead, the terms on which you leave your role can have a significant impact on your career going forward. Resigning gracefully and executing a peaceful departure is crucial for maintaining professional networks and ensuring operational continuity, making it an essential part of any career transition. 

In this guide, we examine the essential elements of a professional resignation, from timing and considerations to transition protocols that will set both you and your employer up for success.

What’s Involved in a Resignation

A proper resignation follows a multi-step process with three key elements; meeting with your manager, handing in written notice, and conducting an exit interview.

Informing your employer

The initial step in following professional resignation procedures is to inform your manager of your decision. While many office-based roles now operate a hybrid working model where Zoom and phone calls are common, where possible, a face-to-face meeting is the best place to communicate your decision. When you are ready to inform your manager of your intent to resign, schedule a formal discussion with them at their earliest convenience.

Enter into the meeting with positivity, focusing on the exciting new role that awaits you. Be prepared for your employer to ask you about your decision and any factors that may have led to it. Remember that although you no longer intend to work for your employer, maintaining your network can be invaluable in the future. While you are free to share as much information as you want, a large part of a graceful resignation is based on your handling of the situation, so be thoughtful in how any feedback is conveyed. 

Providing written notice

Once you have verbally informed your employer of your intention to move on from your role, you will also need to provide them with written notice of your resignation. From the employer’s perspective, this will act as legal documentation, and you can retain a copy for your own records.

Your written notice of resignation needs to only share details pertaining to the end of employment, such as the date you are submitting it and your intended termination date. You may choose to include an additional message thanking the employer for what you have gained during your time working with the company, but you are not obligated to do so. 

Closer to your scheduled end date, there will be an opportunity to speak with your manager in more detail about your time with the company and your decision to leave.

Download our free Resignation Letter Template

Conducting an exit interview

The final step of the resignation process is the exit interview, which will likely take place during the final few days of your employment. During the course of this meeting, your manager or the HR representative conducting it will ask questions pertaining to a number of aspects of your experience, including:

• Primary reason for leaving: This may cover career advancement opportunities, compensation and benefits, and company culture.

• Role feedback: this presents an opportunity to discuss your role in greater detail, including your workload and responsibilities, resourcing, training and development, clarity, and expectations.

• Company assessment: This will be a broader assessment of company policies and protocol, communication, leadership effectiveness, and the workplace environment.

• Constructive feedback and suggestions: Now, you can share your thoughts and suggestions on process improvements, management practices, resource allocation, and team structure recommendations.

• Personal experience: At this point, you can detail your personal and professional highlights and achievements of your role, challenges you have faced, your relationship with leadership, and your perspective on organisational collaboration.

• Administrative matters: At the end of your exit interview, there will be arrangements made for return of company property and details on your final pay cheque.

Your transparency is paramount for this meeting to have a beneficial impact on the company you are leaving. The level of grace at which you approach this transparency can also dictate the future of your relationship with the business and its employees, which is why avoiding negativity is essential. Constructive comments should be raised from a neutral perspective, taking a purely pragmatic approach to suggesting change.

Timing Your Resignation

Contracts of employment include notice periods required for an employee to leave the company – commonly two or four week periods, increasing for more senior roles. This will dictate the length of notice you must give your employer between informing them of your intention to leave and your final working day. Generally speaking though, the more notice you can give, the better, as it equips your employer with ample time to recruit, hire, and onboard your replacement. With this in mind, it can be good practice to offer to extend your notice period to help facilitate a smooth transition for all parties.

Another way to cement your professionalism and commitment to the business until its end is to time your resignation to accommodate business interests. An example of this could be aligning your notice period or termination date with the end of a project or business quarter.

Working Out Your Notice Period

After submitting your resignation and while waiting for your end date, it can be easy to allow productivity to decline, however this could adversely affect your reputation in the company. Instead, demonstrate your commitment to the role by maximising your remaining time, completing tasks and creating comprehensive handover and training documents to assist the team. 

This is also the time to inform any clients who may be impacted about the upcoming change, introducing them to their new contact, and providing them with reassurance that their service will continue as normal.

After Employment has Ended

Your agreement with your employer does not necessarily cease at the same time as your employment. Your original contract may include non-competes that could impact future employment opportunities, as well as confidentiality clauses that extend beyond the period of employment. If this is the case, these should be noted and honoured, showcasing your ongoing grace and professionalism.

Following the end of your employment, you may also like to update your social media accounts to reflect your most recent milestone, which presents yet another opportunity to display positive employment behaviours. If doing so, avoid making negative comments about your past employer online, and opt to emphasise the excitement of a new chapter, instead. 

Professional Career Transition Support

When you are ready to find your next role, Miller Leith provides bespoke career transition services that can help you find the right fit. Our experts understand the complexities of the employment landscape, and can engage with you and prospective employers to identify new opportunities. Simply contact us to speak with our team today.