Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

I had hoped that my employment saga would be over by now. By all rights it should be, but things seldom turn out as planned.

I have a new job which I have now formally accepted. As I write this, I am less than two weeks away from my start date. Everything is great on that front – I am very happy with the offer I accepted and the people there are eager to see me start.

It’s my current employer where things are not going quite how I had planned. I had a meeting booked to speak with the owner on Thursday afternoon.  At that point, I had signed my new offer of employment. I was expecting the following things would happen:

1. I would meet with the owner. We would chat about the things that I had concerns about.


2. I would deliver the signed acceptance papers to my new employer on the way home.


3. I would arrive Friday morning and promptly resign.


4. I would be asked to leave and my notice paid since I am going to a direct competitor.


5. I would get a couple of weeks off work (during the paid notice) and start my new job.


6. I would have a clean break and leave this job behind.

Pretty simple, eh? But alas, the fickle finger of fate had something much different in mind. Here’s how it actually went:

1. I met with the owner Thursday. I had an hour booked with him. I got 15 minutes. He suggested booking something for late Friday afternoon to continue. Fearing a long day on Friday, I asked for an 8:00am meeting to get it over with quickly.


2. My co-worker, (a close friend who we will call X) called the owner and two of the managers (not our direct manager, mind you) and told them that he was afraid I would resign the following morning. He did this with my full knowledge, in part to offset any criticisms that he would have faced if I just went in and resigned.


3. I met with the owner on Friday. He told me about the call he received, and we chatted. I told him about the problems I had with my existing manager – the lies, the lack of leadership and, most importantly, the integrity issues. I kept my personal opinions to a minimum and concentrated on the facts and the resulting business issues. The owner appeared concerned with what I had told him.


4. At the end of the conversation I formally resigned. I told him that I was prepared to be walked out and I would understand. He told me to work it out with X, and that he knew I would not put myself in a conflict of interest. He also told me in no uncertain terms that I could come back at any time and a position would be there for me. So my dreams of two weeks off now disappeared.


5. I talked to X, he wanted me to work the two weeks because he really does not want to see me leave (separation anxiety). I told him I would stay until Thursday (new Harry Potter movie opens Friday and we are seeing it in IMAX).


6. The owner called my direct manager and told him I resigned. My manager was on vacation last week, and he lives in another province. When the owner found out he was on vacation in town, he told him to come in for a meeting on Saturday morning.


7. Our manager kept calling X every five minutes. When X actually answered the call, our manager lied to him. He told X that he had not heard anything – yet he knew that I had resigned and where I was going. He also told X that he had not heard from the owner – he knew that X had talked to the owner and then confessed that the owner had called him.


8. Our manager called X again on Friday evening. He said that we were trying to stage a coup and that he would get everyone back.


9. Now there is a lot of political maneuvering going on.


10. I want to get out of there. Thursday cannot come fast enough.

It’s amazing the way your perspective changes the minute you resign from a company. I’m still there only for X so I can transition the few things I had left.

One good thing that did happen today is that I bumped into the VP of sales. He expressed regret that I was leaving but he fully understood my position. He told me that he too had left several years ago because he was fed up and the resulting repercussions and changes after he left allowed him to come back to a better company and a better position. He told me that he would be more than happy to provide a reference at any time and that he would make sure a position was there if I ever wanted to come back.

At least I’m leaving on good terms. The bridges that matter are still intact. I haven't burned a single one.