The Power of “almost” Quitting

I was chatting with a friend. She is an individual contributor and very frustrated with her job. Her workload has grown to the point where she is working every evening to keep up with demands while at the same time, the headcount on her team is shrinking. She said that she is ready to quit but also asked, how does she get her leadership to listen and understand there is a problem.

In talking to her, I do believe there is a problem related to the company not matching resources to expectations and not one of prioritization, skills or work ethic. It seems to be a case of “trying to cram 10 pounds into a 5-pound bag”. ?

My off-the-cuff answer was that maybe she needs to start missing some critical deadlines to expose the workload issue and introduce some pain into the organization caused by the ramifications of missed deliverables. Generally, this would not be my advice because of the potential career consequences, but if she is already at the point of quitting, what does she have to lose?

In my humble opinion, betting your job is the most powerful way to communicate a serious issue. It is the equivalent of the “nuclear option” and it is also one that you cannot use as a bluff.

A former colleague was once faced with a similar situation. During the integration of a major acquisition, his company was looking for immediate value from the new company. Their expectations were unrealistic. His choice was to accept his new annual objectives, knowing that he would fail, or push back with an ultimatum. He said he could not succeed with the objectives he had been given so they either needed to change the plan or change him out. He was fired and left with a severance package. The company then hired a successor who agreed to the plan, spent the next year failing and was then fired. In this case, the ultimatum approach didn’t work, but the outcome of getting fired with a package was a better outcome than trying, enduring the pain and reputational damage of failing for a year and then getting fired anyways.

In my experience, when faced with the possible resignation of someone who is thought to be competent and good performer, most companies will listen to the concerns more sincerely when they see a person “willing to bet their job” for what they believe in.

So, what do you do if you are faced with situations like described above?

First, take a critical look at your situation and assess how bad is it? Is the situation temporary or systemically bad and getting worse? Every job and employer have good and bad elements associated with them. Take a balanced approach to weighing these. How does your current employment compare to other opportunities potentially available to you? Remember when considering a move to a new employer, the grass is not always greener. Consider the value in being “invested” in your current job versus the benefits and risks of moving to a new one. In other words, are you truly ready to resign or are you bluffing?

If you are ready to quit, it is said that “a dangerous person is one for whom there is no tomorrow”. You have nothing to lose because the outcome is the same whether you quit or get fired. In both circumstances, you are unemployed. By quitting, you have more control over the timeline but if fired, you likely receive a severance package. Having nothing left to lose can give great courage to bluntly speak your mind. Provided “speaking your mind” is done professionally, supported by logical arguments and evidence, and not made to feel like you are “holding a gun to your employers head”, the courage to bet your job can be powerful tool to sway a decision. ?

Consider the scenario at the top of the article. If you are a leader and one of your staff comes to you saying they plan to resign because they don’t feel they have a way to succeed without killing themselves with work, how would you react? Would you be confident that you will be able to find a backfill who can succeed if someone who is trained and experienced is telling you that they can’t? The likely answer is “No”. If so, why would the boss allow a proven performer who has a demonstrated record of success to be replaced with an unknown performer.

If you, the employee, are faced with an impossible situation, but still value and enjoy the company you work for, learn to advocate for yourself, not just with your boss (whose hands may be tied), but with their boss and those above. Consider others who can also advocate for you such as HR or those in the company who are your internal customers. After all, if you quit, it is likely those internal customers who will suffer as much disruption as your boss and your immediate team.

Advocating for yourself doesn’t mean “whining” or “poisoning the well”. Advocating professionally often means showing how “what is good for you” to improve your situation is also good for the company. Think about what you are asking for? What are the benefits for the company of doing this? What are the consequences (what bad things will happen) if they don’t do it??Present your “ask” using a business case approach with a well thought out plan with options, pros & cons and benefits & risks. In my experience, using this approach will get attention, and even if unsuccessful, will not burn bridges or damage relationships in the way that a “take this job and shove it” approach can.

Dealing with a seeming impossible situation is not easy and takes courage. Hopefully this post gives you some thoughts on how to approach it.?