5 Critical Tips for Helping your Placed Candidate Resign from their current role
So you’ve made a placement ! Congratulations. You’ve worked hard to make a successful match between your client and candidate. You have made sure there has been a formal written offer which has been accepted and signed, but your job is not finished yet. This is where you can differentiate yourself from the other recruiters, and be a true consultant in the essence of the word – be sure to offer advice and guidance to your candidate on how they can and should resign gracefully and professionally from their current role.
Help them to be prepared in terms of practicalities for their meeting with these ideas:
- Suggest they schedule the meeting late in the day and week so that if things take an awkward turn they do not need to be left stewing at their desks for longer than can be avoided
- Make sure they know their notice period and any restraint clauses (if applicable) by reviewing their contract prior to the resignation meeting
- Suggest they have their resignation ready in writing for them to provide to their employer at the end of the meeting
- Encourage them to be polite and professional with the language they use. They should remain positive and thank their employer for the opportunities and development they have received while working there. There is never a good reason to bad mouth the business or other staff as they are resigning.
Help them to be prepared in terms of the emotional fallout that might occur as a result of their resignation. You may need to go over the reasons they decided to leave in the first place.
- They should be prepared for the possibility of a few different responses from their employer, and you can give them ideas on how to handle these scenarios;
- Ideally the employer will be professional and accept the resignation, and either ask them to work out their notice or finish them up straight away (and pay out their notice).
- They may make a counter offer by way of a promotion in terms of salary and/or title. You can let them know that statistically people who accept a counter offer are highly likely to leave the role within 6 months anyway. It shouldn’t take a resignation for a company to realise an employee’s worth.
- The resignation may not be “accepted” – this is not actually an option for them, it’s just bluster – the employer may try to guilt the candidate into staying, citing issues of loyalty and commitment. This is a business and career decision for the candidate, emotional manipulation by your employer is a sure sign it’s a good thing for them to move on from that business.
If you follow these tips, you will be well positioned to ensure a smooth resignation occurs and your candidate can start with your client in the right frame of mind, ready to start the next phase of their career. If you have any other tips you can offer to fellow recruiters, I’d love to hear about them, please feel free to share them in the comments.
