'Hello, I must be going'

Leaving well: How to wave goodbye to a job

With Ann Humphries ETICON

(CNN) -- Your project ends and you're a contract IT worker -- time for another gig. Or you're laid off and looking -- really time for another gig. Or you've reached retirement -- not time for another gig.

One way or another, let's say you've come to the end of your time in a given job. It's time to go.

Now, we've heard as many mad-departure tales as you have. You'll find no sympathy here for the pranksters who practice mild sabotage and unprofessional rudeness as they dash to the parking lot for the last time.

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	How good are you at leaving? Excellent. I always leave them laughing in case I want to come back. So-so. I've been better at it in some cases than in others. Terrible. I'm always too glad to get out to keep it together. View Results

CNN: But surely there must be some legitimate issues of good career etiquette involved in exiting gracefully. We stopped Ann Humphries, president of business-manners consultants ETICON, Inc., as she bolted for the door and put the whole business to her.

Ann Humphries: Let's look at some real basic rules of thumb.

•  Work right up to the time you leave. As tempting as the countdown is, don't do it. Thirty-one days, 30 days, 29 ... it's funny for just two days. Then it's old and it irritates everybody within a few yards of your calendar.

•  Don't waste people's time doing a lot of goodbye visiting with co-workers. Their duties aren't tapering off like yours.

•  Don't criticize the company. Maybe you're leaving in disgust, but your friends aren't going anywhere. And bad-mouthing the place you're leaving just doesn't look good on you.

•  Don't poor-mouth everybody. You're running down yourself, not the company.

•  Some collective commiseration isn't all that unusual or even inappropriate, if it's carefully restricted to your cadre. But remember to distinguish what's only for private conversation and what's for public expression.

•  Think of leaving everything in inheritable condition. Clean up your mess.

•  Alert your former customers and/or clients so they know you're leaving. Introduce your replacement if you can. Assure co-workers and clients that their needs will all be adequately served. If you don't know this -- maybe no replacement has been named -- say that you'll do everything you can to be sure a client will be looked after properly.

•  I had a staffer who once gave me three weeks' notice that she'd be leaving. She did it in a positive, professional way, let me know she'd be staying in the area and watching our work. That's how it's done. Be gracious, be thoughtful. What goes around comes around.

'SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE'
	If there's anything as important in business as a warm welcome it might be a happy departure. And before you get away, tell us what's on your mind -- we'd like to consider covering it here in Corporate Class. And it's easy. Just ... click here to use our handy submission form to talk to us.

•  Resignation letters should be neutral or positive, not sermons. If you need to mention a problem, do it tactfully. "I did enjoy the initial mission of the company but recent changes have made things different and I find I need to move on."

•  Be sure to honor all agreements on the way out -- a non-compete clause, maybe. Don't take proprietary information with you. Confidential things should remain confidential.

•  Are you conducting a job search on the way out? Don't do it publicly. Don't leave your resumé in the copier. Don't say, "I can get a job anywhere else -- why do a I need to work here?" People will usually have a hint about what you're doing but that's as far as you want it to go.

The bottom line: Leave a good impression. Even if you're moving to Taiwan, you're going to get there and find somebody from Gaffney, South Carolina. So go out looking good.

Ann Humphries, founder and president of ETICON, Inc. and a Certified Professional Consultant to Management, includes several Fortune 500 companies among her clients. She's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Money, and on CNN, CBS and Lifetime TV. You can contact her at www.eticon.com.

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ETICON

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