Leave nothing on the table — part two

Talk with any hiring manager or human resources professional and you’ll soon hear the same story: In the current economy, retaining good workers is paramount. Not only is it expensive to hire and train new employees, the disruption to other team members can be significant. Making matters worse, it’s not unusual for more people to leave once the first member of a team has departed.

If you’ve been thinking of leaving your job, hang on a minute. As an incumbent worker (someone currently in the company) you might have more power now than when you first negotiated your position, simply because your boss might want to keep you.

In last week’s column, I provided four examples of actual workers who had decided to delay exiting a job while using the interim time to meet personal goals. As a refresher, one worker opted to stay while completing a company-paid master’s degree, another decided to strengthen the contacts she makes in her work as a way to shorten her eventual job search, a third will use her longevity in the job to help qualify for a better mortgage, and the fourth person has created an internal apprenticeship to learn business practices before he revisits the question of leaving.

Tell the boss?

It’s interesting that none of these workers needed to involve the boss in the stayor-go decision. In each case, the individual made a personal calculation based on already-existing benefits to weigh the advantages of staying longer, without raising the subject of leaving.

If you’re considering a job change, not telling the boss may be a good strategy initially, as it lets you experiment without having to elevate things too quickly. Whether your boss is touchy or terrific about awkward conversations, you can’t un-ring the bell once you’ve brought up the issue of leaving.

On the other hand, sometimes you have no choice but to work out your plan in public. This can be especially true in smaller companies, or situations where some aspect of the job impacts nearly every plan you could make – being on the hook for constant travel comes to mind as an example.

Start with your goals

Before you can make a strategic decision about staying, you need to know what you could gain by doing so. You also need to assess what made you consider leaving. The answers to these two questions might be one and the same (“I want to leave so I can pursue a different career”), or it might be that two separate things are influencing your thinking at once: “I’m tired of this commute and I want to pursue a different career.” It helps to telescope out a bit in your perspective. What do you want your life to look like in 5 or 10 years? In that scenario, are you employed at a certain level or in a certain kind of work? Do you live in the same place? Are you raising a family, or downsizing your lifestyle?

By considering these points, you can gain a foothold on the next, most critical question: How can my current workplace help me in achieving those goals?

Make a plan

If you were going to pursue your goals but also keep your job, would you need a different schedule or reduced hours? Different duties? Access to additional training? Maybe a sabbatical while you take an outside internship? Or perhaps all you need is something already available, such as tuition reimbursement.

Don’t censor yourself in this imagining stage; just figure it out and then you can ask the crucial question: How would I propose this to my boss? If the answer is, “I can’t imagine ever having this conversation,” you might need an outside perspective. Bring the question to a career strategist or trusted advisor; together, you may be able to work out a compelling argument for your boss.

Don’t get stuck

Remember that the point to this entire process isn’t to blindly stay in your job as long as possible, but to slow your exit long enough to make a good plan.

That said, there’s a difference between watchfully biding your time and inertia. For example, simply making your situation more comfortable by implementing work-from-home days isn’t the same as maximizing work-based opportunities. That’s a formula for getting stuck rather than moving forward. On a similar note, if your boss makes promises that don’t materialize, or if the work culture deteriorates, it’s time to move forward with your original intent to leave. In the long run, the question isn’t whether to leave – because you’ll definitely go at some point – but how and when to make that exit. I vote for doing it with a plan.

Working Strategies