Hamburg
It sounds so tempting: tell your boss what you’ve always wanted to tell him – without fear of any inconvenience. Maybe if you just won the lottery. Or if you have a new secure job.
“Of course, before changing jobs, everyone asks themselves whether they really have to settle accounts with their employer in the end”, explains the company psychologist from Saarbrücken Andreas Hemsing. But even if this is now possible “without fear”, he advises against it urgently.
• Good reasons
“First of all, you meet again and again in life,” says Hemsing. Especially if you stay in the same sector or in the same city. In addition, the new employer may have the idea of asking the former manager for an evaluation. “Someone I threw all kinds of things at will find different words about me than someone I said goodbye to.”
And the assumption that one needs a facility for one’s own mental hygiene is generally not true. Such negative effects tend to damage one’s own emotionality and motivation. Hemsing advises going out with “a positive, forgiving ending and not leaving in a bad mood.”
Hamburg career consultant Ragnhild Struss also sees it this way: “It doesn’t matter whether you resigned or were fired: you have to make sure that you part with a value-oriented asset.” Especially those who show character towards ending crisis situations, for example, doing “incredibly good public relations on our own behalf”.
• Behave consistently
This also includes continuing to work as before. In other words, don’t commit too suddenly to doing what you haven’t been able to do for the past few days, but don’t be lazy either.
It is not uncommon that one does not receive his employment reference until the end of the contractual relationship. The last few weeks can tip the balance. “An important rule is that you don’t show a big departure from previous behavior,” says Struss. It seems unnatural. Better to make an authentic impression all the way.
Also: “If I suddenly let things slide, I find myself in a performance slump that doesn’t automatically go away when I start working for a new employer. I radiate that”, says Andreas Hemsing. It is best to maintain your own inner speed and carry it with you until the next job.
But how are employees finding the right balance in recent weeks? “Priority is important,” says Struss. “The top priority is a proper transfer of one’s own area of responsibility and knowledge to the successor”, explains the occupational psychologist. Projects that have already started must be completed. And: Record processes, access data or any special features in writing in some kind of drive – for successors.