We Need To Change How Employees Leave Companies. Here's a Blueprint

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So much about the way we work has changed, but people in all industries and at all levels of their organizations exit jobs the same way: a secretive job search, an awkward conversation with a supervisor, and two weeks’ notice or less in many countries. A years-long professional relationship can dissolve in less than 14 days.

Why do we accept this system? What if we threw out the antiquated employee departure model and replaced it with something more transparent, empathetic and mutually beneficial?

At our company, Acceleration Partners (AP), we realized the old system was broken and replaced it with our Mindful Transition program. Here’s why our concept works:

1. Sudden notice damages professional relationships.

Picture this: You’re in a long-term relationship, and after several happy years, your partner tells you he or she is marrying someone else and moving to a new city in just a few weeks. How would you react?

This is an imperfect analogy, but comparing personal and professional relationships illustrates how drastic the differences can be. Leaving a romantic relationship so quickly, with no prior discussion of unhappiness, is something no humane person would do. Nevertheless, it’s normal for everyone to do this to their managers and colleagues. Isn’t it time we considered a better option? Here's why.

2. A new generation of workers is taking over.

Business leaders make every effort to cater to new generations of customers, but they are often less aware of how to serve employees from younger generations. Nevertheless, the future of your team is made up of two new groups: Millennials and Gen Z.

These younger employees aren’t looking for decades of career stability. They want meaningful work and purpose, and they’re willing to hop from job to job to get it. That’s why it’s so vital to manage employee transitions in the best possible way.

3. This is a bigger problem than you think.

It’s easy to underestimate the negative impact of this issue. You may think most employees are happy, and the ones who aren’t will just quit. But that’s completely wrong: 51 percent of employees are looking for new jobs, and employee disengagement costs businesses $550 billion every year.

People aren’t empowered to be honest about their job satisfaction--they’re afraid that if they voice unhappiness, they’ll be walked out the door. Imagine if disengaged employees could speak up when they are unhappy and find managers willing to work to solve problems before they become unfixable. You’d see a huge boost in productivity that would otherwise be lost to disengagement. And you might help them find a new job at your company or even a job that is a better fit elsewhere.

4. Honesty and transparency is better for everybody.

The backbone of AP’s Mindful Transition program is psychological safety and mutual trust between employees and leaders. We believe people want and can handle the truth and that it’s vital to get issues into the open before they grow into disengagement and past the point of no return.

This goes in both directions. At AP, our managers don’t wait around for quarterly check-ins or annual reviews to give feedback; they identify performance issues as they occur, and seek solutions. They are honest with employees when they don't think it will work out, giving them the time and support to look elsewhere. In return, employees provide direct feedback to their managers and our executive team. We regularly ask employees if they’re happy, what we should start doing and, most importantly, what we need to stop doing.

Beyond that, we make it OK to leave Acceleration Partners. If a person is unhappy, believes their job is no longer fulfilling, or just wants something new, we respect that. We’ll even help the person find a new job.

5. How we do anything is how we do everything.

This goes beyond the workplace. We live in a world where people dump each other via text messages, where candidates interview for a job and never hear from the company again. Two weeks’ notice started as a workplace problem, but it has spilled over into the rest of our lives. We owe it to each other to do better and to be more respectful.

Instead of sticking to the old way of exiting jobs just because it’s easier, let’s build a better way. If we bring empathy and humanity into the workplace, these principles might just make a comeback in the outside world as well. If you agree, learn more by watching my TEDx Talk below or on the TEDx YouTube channel. You can also read about the Mindful Transition program at AP.

It’s time to end two weeks’ notice.

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Robert Glazer is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, an award-winning performance marketing agency ranked #4 on Glassdoor’s best places to work. Robert was also named twice to Glassdoor’s list of Top CEO of Small and Medium Companies in the US, ranking #2. 

His newest book, Elevate: Push Beyond Your Limits and Unlock Success in Yourself and Others is now available for pre-order and has been endorsed by Adam Grant, Dan Pink, Marshall Goldsmith, Kim Scott, Dr. Oz and more.