How to resign from your job gracefully

Resigning from your job requires a combination of confidence, assertion, tact and professionalism. By approaching it correctly, you can guarantee your reputation as a stellar worker and trustworthy employee stays immaculate. It will also guarantee strong references that will help you along your new job path.

Here are some important steps you can take to make sure you resign the right way.

The first step to resigning, before all others, is to make sure you have made your mind up and that your decision is final.

Make sure that you know exactly how much notice you need to give to your current employer and unless you are leaving the workforce indefinitely, get any new job offers in crystal clear documentation form first.

Rehearse, with a friend if possible, exactly what you are going to say to your manager before you even set foot in the door.

With ample notice time available, ask your manager for time to speak with them privately. Once they have allocated a time, find a quiet space for a one-on-one meeting and explain to your manager your decision to resign, giving brief but solid reasons. Let him or her know you understand your notice period and will finish your current tasks and allow adequate time for a handover to a colleague or newcomer. Once this has been done, supply them with a copy of your letter of resignation in hard copy as well as soft copy, so that they can forward it to the relevant sectors, such as HR or payroll.

Part of resigning from a role involves preparing a succinct letter of resignation so that the relevant departments have this for confirmation. If you don’t know how to write a letter of resignation, get in touch with Page Personnel for advice. 

Indicate the date you met with your manager to give notice, the length of notice you are required to give, as well as the final date of employment within the company.  Make it short, succinct and professional, but also courteous.

In the time between giving notice and your final day of employment, make sure to finalise as much of your own workload as possible, to take the pressure off your colleagues until a replacement is organised.

Advise your existing clients or contacts, if relevant within your role, that you are leaving your position and thank them for their loyalty. A bulk email send out can save time on this, just make sure to personalise each with the name of the client and perhaps one or two personal notes about the work you’ve done together.

As you have given ample notice and tied up any loose ends with your own workload, unless there are serious issues involved in your performance, your managers should be more than happy to provide you with a positive reference for future roles. Be sure to thank them for any support they have offered you in your time at the company and confirm with them first that they are happy to act as references.