How to Quit Your Job Gracefully

The Great Resignation is coming.

A wave of employees looking for promotions, better pay and more flexible working arrangements say in surveys that they’ll be seeking new jobs in the coming months. About 26% of workers said they would search for a new gig when the threat of the pandemic decreases, according to Prudential’s Pulse of the American Worker Survey conducted in March.

Workers around the globe are sending similar signals. More than 40% of those who responded to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, a global survey of over 30,000 people in 31 countries conducted in January, said they were considering leaving their employer this year.

Whether you’re entry-level or experienced, there are right and wrong ways to make your exit. It’s important to leave a job gracefully. Play it wrong now, and you might lose out on a positive reference or even job opportunities later. Career coaches and former human resource experts say you should follow these tips before you put your resignation in writing.

Don’t blindside your manager

While it can be tempting to leave a bad job as quickly as possible, it’s important to resign professionally. Schedule a meeting with your boss before you put anything in writing. When you schedule the meeting, tell your boss you have something important to discuss, but don’t explicitly say you’re quitting, says Christy Noel, a career coach and co-author of “Your Personal Career Coach.” The meeting should take place face-to-face or over a video call as a professional courtesy.

Your boss should be the first to know about the departure. While it might be tempting to tell your work friends, some of whom might know you interviewed elsewhere, this can backfire, says Melody Wilding, an executive coach and author of “Trust Yourself: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work.” Ms. Wilding has had clients whose work friends spread the news of their departure, which has resulted in their boss finding out about the new position through the rumour mill. This not only strains the friendship, it can be embarrassing for the manager, who then has to scramble to respond. “It’s really a gesture of respect to your boss,” she says.

Prepare for a range of reactions, Ms. Noel says. “They may have suspected something or they may be totally caught off-guard,” she says.

Keep your resignation letter simple

Your resignation letter is primarily meant to serve as proof in your HR file that you left the company, Ms. Noel says. Because it serves as a follow-up to the conversation you have with your boss, less is more. Most resignation letters run only a few sentences, and are addressed directly to your direct supervisor, not to their boss or the HR manager.

Make sure you’re locked into your decision to resign before hitting send. Once it’s sent, the company will begin its offboarding process. “The resignation letter is irrefutable,” says Cara Heilmann, chief executive of the career coaching firm Ready Reset Go, based in Walnut Creek, Calif., and a former HR professional.

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say much

In her many years of reading resignation letters, Ms. Heilmann says she’s seen three approaches. Some people spell out every reason they’re leaving, others concisely state when their last day will be and some take the time to cheerfully reflect on their time with the company. “Those that are straightforward or cheerful are seen in a more positive light than someone who feels like they want to help the organization as they leave,” she says.

You don’t have to tell your employer what you’re doing after you leave the company or why you’re moving on if you don’t feel comfortable. “Don’t air your grievances,” Ms. Noel says. “Just say, ‘I really appreciate the opportunity you’ve given me.’ ”

If you can’t muster the energy to write a positive resignation letter, then Ms. Heilmann suggests using what she calls a “Just the facts, ma’am” resignation. It can be one sentence that says you are resigning, followed by your intended last day.

Give two weeks’ notice—at least

Even if you feel like you can’t spend another minute at your workplace, experts say the age-old adage holds true. The customary thing to do is give at least two weeks’ notice, but those in executive positions often give more time to allow the company the chance to find a replacement.

Many of Ms. Wilding’s clients give three to four weeks’ notice to help manage their transition. But even if you give two weeks, she suggests you offer to help put together a transition plan. It can include your current projects, as well as next steps. Include as much detail as you have time for.

“Having that one source of truth that’s a transition document for your successor demonstrates that you’re being proactive, you care about the organization and will help leave everything on a good note,” she says.

Express gratitude

Your resignation letter is the last impression you leave with the company. Ms. Heilmann has known people who have been terminated for cause, but have left in such a positive manner that they have been rehired in the future. “If you can muster the energy to give a more positive one, it does help you out,” she says.

Ms. Heilmann recalled a resignation letter that started with, “It’s been an amazing ride,” then went on to thank the manager for the opportunity and for all he had learned.

Let go of your baggage

After you send off your resignation letter, take some time to reflect. Sometimes taking a break between jobs can help you reset. But even if you can’t take time off, it’s important to let go of any negative feelings you may have about your former job so you don’t carry that baggage with you into a new position, Ms. Heilmann says.

If you bring these negative feelings to your new job, it will affect your relationships with your co-workers, as well as anyone who reminds you of your old boss. “If I could give any words of wisdom, especially to those who are early-career, it’s to figure out a way to manage that transition so you start completely baggage-free,” she says.

First, the good news for office landlords: A post-Labor Day bump nudged return-to-office rates in mid-September to their highest level since the onset of the pandemic.

Now the bad: Office attendance in big cities is still barely half of what it was in 2019, and company get-tough measures are proving largely ineffective at boosting that rate much higher.

Indeed, a number of forces—from the prospect of more Covid-19 cases in the fall to a weakening economy—could push the return rate into reverse, property owners and city officials say.

More than before, chief executives at blue-chip companies are stepping up efforts to fill their workspace. Facebook parent Meta Platforms, Amazon and JPMorgan Chase are among the companies that have recently vowed to get tougher on employees who don’t show up. In August, Meta told employees they could face disciplinary action if they regularly violate new workplace rules.

But these actions haven’t yet moved the national return rate needle much, and a majority of companies remain content to allow employees to work at least part-time remotely despite the tough talk.

Most employees go into offices during the middle of the week, but floors are sparsely populated on Mondays and Fridays. In Chicago, some September days had a return rate of over 66%. But it was below 30% on Fridays. In New York, it ranges from about 25% to 65%, according to Kastle Systems, which tracks security-card swipes.

Overall, the average return rate in the 10 U.S. cities tracked by Kastle Systems matched the recent high of 50.4% of 2019 levels for the week ended Sept. 20, though it slid a little below half the following week.

The disappointing return rates are another blow to office owners who are struggling with vacancy rates near record highs. The national office average vacancy rose to 19.2% last quarter, just below the historical peak of 19.3% in 1991, according to Moody’s Analytics preliminary third-quarter data.

Business leaders in New York, Detroit, Seattle, Atlanta and Houston interviewed by The Wall Street Journal said they have seen only slight improvements in sidewalk activity and attendance in office buildings since Labor Day.

“It feels a little fuller but at the margins,” said Sandy Baruah, chief executive of the Detroit Regional Chamber, a business group.

Lax enforcement of return-to-office rules is one reason employees feel they can still work from home. At a roundtable business discussion in Houston last week, only one of the 12 companies that attended said it would enforce a return-to-office policy in performance reviews.

“It was clearly a minority opinion that the others shook their heads at,” said Kris Larson, chief executive of Central Houston Inc., a group that promotes business in the city and sponsored the meeting.

Making matters worse, business leaders and city officials say they see more forces at work that could slow the return to office than those that could accelerate it.

Covid-19 cases are up and will likely increase further in the fall and winter months. “If we have to go back to distancing and mask protocols, that really breaks the office culture,” said Kathryn Wylde, head of the business group Partnership for New York City.

Many cities are contending with an increase in homelessness and crime. San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., which are struggling with these problems, are among the lowest return-to-office cities in the Kastle System index.

About 90% of members surveyed by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce said that the city couldn’t recover until homelessness and public safety problems were addressed, said Rachel Smith, chief executive. That is taken into account as companies make decisions about returning to the office and how much space they need, she added.

Cuts in government services and transportation are also taking a toll. Wait times for buses run by Houston’s Park & Ride system, one of the most widely used commuter services, have increased partly because of labor shortages, according to Larson of Central Houston.

The commute “is the remaining most significant barrier” to improving return to office, Larson said.

Some landlords say that businesses will have more leverage in enforcing return-to-office mandates if the economy weakens. There are already signs of such a shift in cities that depend heavily on the technology sector, which has been seeing slowing growth and layoffs.

But a full-fledged recession could hurt office returns if it results in widespread layoffs. “Maybe you get some relief in more employees coming back,” said Dylan Burzinski, an analyst with real-estate analytics firm Green Street. “But if there are fewer of those employees, it’s still a net negative for office.”

The sluggish return-to-office rate is leading many city and business leaders to ask the federal government for help. A group from the Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition recently met with elected officials in Washington, D.C., lobbying for incentives for businesses that make commitments to U.S. downtowns.

Baruah, from the Detroit chamber, was among the group. He said the chances of such legislation being passed were low. “We might have to reach crisis proportions first,” he said. “But we’re trying to lay the groundwork now.”