There was a time when I looked out of my current company for another job. That job would have given me the promotion to business unit manager and the salary increase which I sought. Although I liked my job very much, I couldn't see how I could be promoted in the near future and therefore had to look out, after 6 years of being in the same position.
When the offer came, I really felt very uncomfortable as my bosses were very good people to work with. Before receiving the offer letter which was supposed to be ready the next day, I spoke to my manager about leaving, about how difficult that decision had been for me, and what opportunity awaited me outside.
She said it was such a good thing that I came to her first, before signing on the offer letter. That was because I was showing consideration to my company by giving them a chance to hear me out on what I wanted, and see if they could something about it. If I had just signed the letter and threw in my resignation, that would have been totally heartless and untactful, even in this dog-eat-dog corporate world, especially when I had very supportive bosses who had invested time in grooming me. Since I had such a good reason to leave - promotion - I certainly had no qualms about sharing my plans with them. To my surprise, they said I didn't have to leave at all. A new position similar to what I was seeking had opened up and they were going to announce that for internal applicants! And they would be supportive of my application since they had that career plan for me anyway.
At that time, I still considered to leave as I had given the outside company so much hope about joining them. My big boss intervened and asked me to stay. I remember saying, "Just let me go, I'm just a brand manager, you can find someone to replace me in a month or 2." But he said he would never find another me, and I was very touched.
I stayed back. And there are unspoken ethics about the way to reject the other company as well, which I would share in my next blog. The gist of it was, if I could get to where I want to be in my current company with a supportive environment that I already know, there was really no need to leave and to reestablish my performance, stature and level of trust in a new environment. Even if it meant forgoing that high salary jump, for the time being.
Its not easy to find a boss that's as supportive as yours. People always forget that when they look for greener pastures. Sometimes its still okay to leave if its clearly a dead-end job but ultimately the choice of money or happiness is the employee's.
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