Imagine you are travelling in Pallavan express to Chennai from Trichy for some work. You occupy your seat 45 (in S3) and train starts moving at 6.30 am. The neighboring seat 46 get occupied at Srirangam and a gentleman of similar age comes and sits there.
After few mints of settling down, you say hello and he also says hello and you both strike the usual ‘train-journey’ conversation – are you from Trichy, what are you doing etc. He says he is Mohan from Trichy and working as a lecturer in an engineering college. Over next 2 hrs. you did not realize you have talked with Mohan everything under sun – weather, work, movies and politics. At Vilupuram, an hour from Chengalpattu, Mohan informs you he is going to get down in Chengalpattu where he is going for a seminar at Karpaga Vinayagar Institute.
Mohan could have got down at Chengalpattu without informing you or could have hurriedly informs you at the time of getting down at Chengalpattu. But after few hours of talking and exchanging thoughts, it will not be nice to do that – hurriedly informing you at the time of getting down. Right?
So, as a part of basic courtesy and manners, Mohan informs you well in advance about his exit from the train. Such an ‘advance notice of exit’ is given by someone, a stranger, whom you did not know so far and whom you will not possibly meet again at all, in your life.
Imagine if such a basic courtesy and manner is expected from a stranger in a 6 hrs of train journey, what about your years of journey in an organisation?
Doesn’t your journey in an organisation require such an advance notice, when you want to get down? It does.
You do not give just one week or two weeks of notice to your family or kids, when you move abroad for work or say joining army on the boarders to protect the country. You prepare them well and tell them four or six months in advance. Organisation is a kind of another family, which can benefit from such an ‘advance notice’.
If you provide the required and enough time during your exit, the team, the organisation and the customers benefit and your exit can be smooth and friction free. On the other hand hurried exits create turbulences in the flight and it does affect all co-travellers.
As leader of my team, I get ‘upset’ when people leave the organisation after holding key responsibilities, which is expected. I get ‘angry’ when people leave without giving enough notice or exit in a hurry, which is not expected. Getting upset is OK, but getting angry is not.
All organisations do tell all incoming candidates, at the time of hiring, clearly what is the ‘notice period’. Notice period means you need to intimate the organisation in advance about you leaving the job. This is required because, you need to complete all pending tasks at hand and the company needs to identify an additional resource to take over the activities that you are performing and plan the transition.
Notice period is a contractual agreement. We take up a job agreeing to follow all the terms including the notice period at the time of joining. And if some one can not provide such agreed notice period and quit in a hurry, it becomes unprofessional and shows least respect for such contractual agreement agreed earlier. It is as unprofessional as – if company does not pay agreed salary or does not pay them in agreed time.
Notice period is a contract binding the company and individuals. Notice period need to be provided by the company as well as the individuals when they want to say good bye to each other. For companies notice period gives time for planning transition and a smooth handover. For individuals it gives time for planning the change.
You worked well in the organisation for years. You have gone extra mile in meeting client dead lines or worked over the week ends to meet urgent delivery schedules. This in no way means, you should exit hurriedly or such a good work earlier can compensate for such a short or hurried exit.
Imagine you are conducting marriage function and invited all your relatives and friends. You have made great arrangements and a tasty lunch menu. The lunch menu includes biryani, followed by saambar, rasam, payasam and many more great south Indian items. The lunch ends with an incredible ice cream as well.
The lunch was great. But for some reason one of the first set of people who had ice cream felt it was bitter. But did not want to make noise about this they quietly ate some and discarded rest and went away. So you did not know the ice cream was bitter. All people who attended the marriage function did the same – ate half and discarded remaining after discovering it was bitter.
When they returned home and were asked how was the function and how was the food, the first thing they said was the ice cream was bitter. Though biryani, saambar, rasam, payasam were great, the bitterness of ice cream stood out. The reason was, that is what they had last before leaving the marriage function.
Similar is the notice period stuff. However great was your work over the years, if you do not give enough notice period and do not manage the relationship well during exit, it is going to be bitter irrespective of all the biryani and payasam that was served with good amount of efforts.
Moral of the ‘marriage function’ – make sure you give good ice creams, in addition to good biryani. AT work, hurried exits hurt every one, organisational productivity and leaves a bad taste in the mouth.Much before you plan on quitting or even plan on attending any interviews be aware of your company’s notice period policy. During interviews and negotiations, make it clear to the HR of the recruiting company what is the current company’s notice period or service agreement period and terms.
If the next company says, we have an urgent project and asks to join in a week, and promises a moon, have the guts, courage and clarity to ask them, if you leave this next new company, after working for few years, within one week, if that will be OK. The fact is no organization will be OK with hurried exit, including the one you are joining.
When you start a business on your own, which I wish you do at some time, and find a person handling key responsibilities leaves you and your team hurriedly with one week notice, how would you feel as a founder or person managing the show? Have some kindness in your heart and ask yourself.
Many originations do understand the concept of notice period and respects it. If they do not, check if you are joining the right company! If they hurriedly hire you, it is also possible they can hurriedly dump you at some time, citing some reason.
At times, the new organization that you are trying to join may pressurize its new recruits to come on board as early as possible. On the other hand, the individuals who are leaving need to respect the notice period of the current organization.
So, if you are caught in this catch 22 situation, you have to negotiate your way, either by serving the entire notice period / service agreement period or by spoiling the relationship with current company and your boss. Without proper planning on your part, this can be really stressful and financially damaging at times. So do plan well!
In cases where you are being pressurized to join immediately or quickly at the new organization, discuss with the HR of your new company (or with your new manager) of what are your current open responsibilities including tasks that you need to complete and training a replacement employee.
At most companies, these days, you gain more respect when you say I need to fulfil notice period and service agreement in the current organization. If you do not get that respect, then it may not be the right company. This is a quality test for the new company!
So to sum it up, the organization you work for is like your family. You do not leave a family in a hurry. You also do not serve bitter ice creams at your family function. Do remember to part on good terms with everyone at the exiting organization. It’s a small world after all. They may need to your support again or you may need their help. Nothing is permanent.
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