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I'm a teleworking employee who generally visits the office once a quarter. I'm planning to resign and offer a departure date coinciding with the end of Q2 (which would be a good closure point for my responsibilities and not leave my directs in a situation where they're scrambling).

My dilemma is that I'm not in the office until the end of the quarter. Is it at all appropriate for me to resign via phone? Is there any way to make a remote resignation more palatable?

jhack's picture

There are circumstances where it would be OK. You should make sure you've done everything professionally (a la the resignation podcasts).

If it would truly be impossible (you're in Shanghai, HQ is in Brasilia) then you have no choice. If it's a 150 mile drive....drive the distance.

Your heart will tell if your actions are right.

John

HMac's picture

Once the words "I'm leaving" come out, your manager's mind will immediately go to things like coverage, replacement and continuing services. And in the long run, how well you've prepared is what will be remembered and appreciated, not whether you resigned by phone or face-to-face.

So go through the "How to Resign" information and get everything together to make the organization's transition as easy as you can.

-Hugh

maddy's picture

Thanks for your input, jhack and HMac. I used the "How to Resign" podcast for a previous departure and it worked very well -- even with a hostile manager and a direct who had been working for me scarcely a month. I take it as a measure of the cast's success that my organization (notorious for calling former employees for their tacit information years past their departure date) only called me once in the years since I've been gone.

I'm a 15-hour drive from HQ, so a trip into the office would be difficult. I'd have to take vacation days to drive down there. While I wouldn't mind using the personal time, my director insists that I'm available via phone, IM and email on all personal days (weekends, holidays, vacation days) -- and I hear from her all day long. Being unreachable for 30 hours there and back sounds blissful to me, but her head would probably implode. One of the many reasons it's time to move on.

HMac's picture

maddy - it's still your call to make: you know your organization's expectations and culture, and you know what your own inner voice is telling you about what's right, what's acceptable, what's professional, etc.

My two cents: taking vacation time or personal leave time to drive 15 hours to resign? No - it sounds way beyond what would rightfully be expected of you (unless failed to mention that you work for a secret government agency, you have high level security clearance, and you need to be "debriefed" :P ).

If you're ever in the positon of having to defend your resignation, doing the things recommended by M/M will be much more meaningful than whether you did it over the phone or in person.

-Hugh