Forget giving at least two weeks notice, finessing an exit interview, and tactfully networking your way out the door. Some people are in too big a hurry for any of that.
Others have come up with some, um, creative ways to say sayonara. When staffing firm OfficeTeam asked about 600 U.S. Human resources managers to describe the weirdest ways they’ve seen or heard people resign lately, here’s what they said:
“An employee baked a cake with her resignation letter written on top.”
“One guy hired a marching band to accompany his announcement.”
“The worker threw a brick through the window with the words ‘I quit’ written on it.”
“An employee left a sticky note saying that he was quitting.”
“The individual sent an email blast to the entire staff.”
“One employee threw a cup of coffee and walked out.”
“An employee bragged to all his colleagues that it was his last day, but failed to let his boss or the HR manager know.”
A few people took advantage of technology:
“An employee sent his boss a text message to say he was leaving.”
“One person quit on Facebook.”
“The employee submitted a message through the company web site.”
“Someone resigned via a video conference call.”
Some delegated the task:
“One person had his wife call to tell his boss he was not coming back.”
“A worker sent a text to a colleague saying he was quitting and asked her to forward it to management.”
“One employee’s parents contacted the company to let us know their son was resigning.
And others simply disappeared:
“One person said he was going to the men’s room and didn’t return.”
“An employee packed up her belongings and walked out without a word.”
“Someone left for lunch and never came back.”
“An employee stormed out in the middle of a meeting, without explanation.”
“The employee said she was going out to buy boots, but was never seen again.”
“How you leave a position can make a lasting impression,” notes OfficeTeam executive director Robert Hosking. That’s for sure. Most (86%) of the HR managers in the survey said that how someone quits a job “affects their future career opportunities.” Word gets around.