Manager told employees he's resigning before telling supervisor

Submitted by _Ryan_ on Tuesday March 4th, 2014 5:21 pm
in

Forums

I have a mid-level manager that reports to me and told his directs that he's resigning. He hasn't told me he's planning on resigning and hasn't resigned. He's actually on track to being let go, we've had several meetings about it and are putting a PIP in place this week. We'll be happy to see him resign.

What is the appropriate reaction specifically to him telling his directs he's planning on resigning? Can we ask him to resign immediately since he already told his directs he's planning on resigning?

In general do people agree it was inappropriate for him to tell his directs he's resigning before telling his supervisor or HR?

Thanks,

Ryan

Submitted by Kevin1 on Tuesday March 4th, 2014 6:02 pm

Manager told employees he's resigning before telling supervisor

Hi Ryan,

What you can actually do might depend on the country you are in and your labour laws.

I think you are lucky, as his resignation will save you a severance package. If he has clearly told his team members he is resigning, you would have every right to ask him what his plans are, when he plans to resign, etc. If his timings don't work for you, then see if you can let him go earlier. Do you have the necessary pre-reqs for doing that? If not, can you speed up the gathering of those pre-reqs?

Yes, it is unprofessional for there to be any sharing of his intentions with anyone other than his supervisor first.

Kind regards

Kevin

Submitted by _Ryan_ on Thursday March 6th, 2014 12:19 am

Thanks Kevin. We're in the

Thanks Kevin. We're in the US.

I hope he just resigns soon. I'll ask him about it next he's in the office. The whole situation has made him managing his team very awkward.

If he doesn't resign we do have documentation in place and a serious of escalating warnings so he won't be around much longer either way.

Ryan

Submitted by stenya on Thursday March 6th, 2014 10:32 am

Ask him to resign

Ryan, I agree that it's inappropriate for him to tell his team that he's planning to resign before telling you. The longer he sticks around, the more opportunity he has to poison the well... and his team may very well be watching to see how upper management handles his unprofessional behavior. I'd bring him in ASAP, tell him what I'd heard (though not who told me), and ask him to resign. If he does, great - you've got your deadline. If not, that's OK too - you've got your plan B in place.

It might be worth talking to HR to be sure that asking for his resignation doesn't obligate the company to pay severance / unemployment for this guy. (Might be worth paying him 2 weeks in lieu of notice so you can walk him right out the door - ?) Hopefully you have a good enough relationship with the team members that you'll be able to quickly evaluate their workload and keep them on track.

Good luck!