I Quit My Job

Recently, I gave my notice.

I have been here for just over a year and, overall, the last year was a good experience: I learned a lot and the company was generous with me in some ways that other companies would not be.

But this is not the right fit for me.

And in the day and age of “quiet quitting”, ghosting employers, and even just the traditional coasting that happens at the end of a season, I am doing this differently. And I feel very strongly about this. I think our culture has normalized things that lower the overall character of the individuals choosing to do these things, things that damage the workplace and leave a careless wake, things that are not beneficial.

Our society is continuously inventing ways to leave a job other than just finishing the job well.

Personally, I made a commitment to myself years ago, that anytime I leave a job, I will finish well.

Quiet Quitting

This is a resignation tactic that is popular amongst Generation Z. It is the idea that I would disengage from the workplace and lower my overall productivity and performance when I recognize that I am ready to move on.

I think this movement is a result of a few factors: managers have led people poorly; people have been raised without adversity and without a clear picture of excellence; people do not know how to engage in crucial conversations. And each specific situation has its own unique factors. I get that.

I personally disagree with quiet quitting due to my own values and principles, but I also objectively think it is unwise.

My approach to work is that I want to offer value to my workplace through excellence. I have had this approach at all my jobs, currently in trucking and in the warehouse, dating back to my part-time Dominos days in 2017. It is not about aspirations; it is about integrity. My boss knows what they can expect from me. I will engage and offer the best version of myself, whatever I have to offer, each day chasing excellence relentlessly. Quiet quitting goes against this, permitting me to just check in and out for a paycheck.

The workplace is transactional in nature: I get paid to do my job. I have a level of expectation for myself that I do my job well. Doing it poorly or in a disengaged manner does not align with my value system and is not who I want to be.

Beyond my own convictions, it is simply unwise to leave on a poor note. People remember how you started and how you finished. So much is unknown about life. Can those people give you a recommendation or referral? Do they have a connection that might be beneficial down the road? Do they deserve your half-ass efforts? What if in a weird turn of events you end up back at that place?

With all this unknown, it is absurdly arrogant for me to just disengage from my place of work and deliver less than desirable results.

Ghosting

As much as I disagree with quiet quitting, ghosting is worse. This is common amongst millennials, but is found throughout the generations. It is simply where someone stops all contact.

I have had it happen to me twice.

Listen, I know people who have ghosted an employer. Good people. So what I am about to say is not an indictment of their character or value, rather it is a challenge to our society to do better. This cannot be acceptable behavior.

Ghosting an employer is disrespectful and just wrong.

I believe it stems out of unmet expectations and, again, avoiding hard conversations. I think people do not realize that it eliminates the humanity from a scenario. A few months ago, I had a new hire ghost me and the other co-workers. This was abnormal behavior from our short time together, so I was a bit concerned. He had a reputation of communicating well and being on time.

On Monday, he did not show. After an hour, I called. Then sent a follow up text. Mid-afternoon, I called again. I left a voicemail.

On Tuesday, I called again. And texted again. I started to get nervous. That afternoon, I called again. Then I called his emergency contact and left a voicemail.

On Wednesday, I was prepared to call the police for a wellness check. I prayerfully decided to ride it out a little longer, and sure enough he sent a text late that afternoon. He wanted to meet in person to retrieve his belongings.

I still go back and forth: should I have gone ahead and done a wellness check sooner? Turns out he was okay; he just found another job that was paying better. This time I was right to wait. Next time, will waiting be the wrong answer?

He ghosted us so he could lock down his other job and he was avoiding a hard conversation with me. He did not have the grit to ride it out while he worked on his other option, and he did not have the confidence to have the hard conversation about his unmet expectations. He quit on people that were relying on him, but he said nothing.

In my head, this decision comes from shame and fear. It is not integrity and leadership that leads people to ghost a workplace. This has no place in my own workplace expectations, and should have no place in societal norms.

Coasting

Out of the things mentioned, this is the most tolerable, though not desirable.

Coasting is a matter of default. It is an unconscious effort. It is tolerable because it is not disrespectful or necessarily harmful, but it is not beneficial and therefore is not desirable.

People default to a place of comfort and ease. So when the resignation is submitted, I allow myself to get comfortable. What is the worst that can happen? They fire me? Okay. In some scenarios that would be a welcome result!

The issue is that coasting is neither excellent nor wise. It is unintentional in its efforts and it leaves a poor taste in the mouth of those observing. Coasting lacks purpose and integrity, and still leaves a careless wake.

Simply because something is culturally accepted does not mean it is good and right. Those operating with excellence will guard against this with great fervor, and they will stand out because of it.

Finish Well

People will remember how you started and how you finished, so finish well.

For me, this means I gave my notice more than 2 weeks in advance, in person, with a hard conversation. And then I engaged in hard conversations after that. I actually increased my time in the office. I have projects I am working to leave in a good spot. I have built up enough trust to assist in the hiring of my own replacement, so I put all my energy into that.

I did this at my last job as well, compiling a binder of material and training new staff members for the last month of my time.

I want my departure to leave a positive impact on the people I interact with. I firmly believe that this is something our society is missing the mark on. We get comfortable and coast. Or we sit there avoiding hard conversations and quiet quit. But in the process we make life hard on the people around us.

Finishing well means I am leaving on my terms and controlling what I can control. I am not going to let my circumstances or other people dictate to me the quality of my work.

I am going to lead in how I leave.

By not finishing a job well, we leave a wake of disappointment and frustration. Life is already frustrating enough. Work is already hard enough. Transition and change is a challenge already. We can avoid making it harder by finishing well.

When I look back, I want to know without a doubt that I did what I could to equip those around me and those following me. That workplace will absolutely survive without me; they will replace me with someone new, and then they will replace that person with someone else one day, and so on.

That is life.

But I want to do life well.

And I want to live a life of impact.

So, no matter the mistakes I made or the successes I had, I will not quit quietly, or ghost, or coast.

I will finish well.