At LiteBreeze we do our utmost to retain talent, but that being said there are sometimes unavoidable situations where we have to let talented staff and developers go.

If you are thinking about resigning, I recommend that you plan your resignation well in advance. You might have a two month notice period.

I understand that if you get an offer, your new employer would want you to join sooner than your current notice period.

But I can’t sacrifice quality problems here at LiteBreeze for the wishes of other employers. When we give someone an offer and they have a two month notice period, we just have to wait. There’s no way around it. So make sure to plan your resignation carefully; everyone wins.

Inform us early about your plans. “I need to change jobs but it might take up to four months to find the right one” is fine with us.

This way you can start looking for a new job without urgency and with peace of mind. It’s all about allowing us to plan.

Some hand over a sudden resignation and expect a shorter notice period due to “their special case”. In my experience, true special cases are very rare though.

Finding the perfect replacement takes time. Aim for a win-win closure; we both will need things from each other even after you’ve left, including but not limited to positive reputation, ratings and references. And who knows, if you inform us early, we might even be able to change things at LiteBreeze to make you happy to stay.

Sometimes people ask me for a reduced notice period while handing over their sudden and surprising resignation. I very rarely approve such requests for the following reasons:

1) The notice period is there for a reason. It’s detrimental to the company if I set a precedent where getting a reduced notice period is standard practice. If I give one employee a reduced notice period it will be very difficult to ask others to adhere to the agreement in the future.

It will be a costly precedent for the company. It would be unfair to others who have wanted to leave fast, but who have had to stick to their commitment and serve the agreed notice period.

2) Ideally, staff who has resigned should wrap up the tasks assigned to them. Aim to complete as many assigned tasks as possible before leaving, to reduce the burden on your colleagues and replacement. This is more important in projects/departments where there’s a backlog of tasks.

If a developer, for example, has just successfully completed a project, all their todos, and nobody at LiteBreeze will do further work for that project (no need for handover) – then it will be easier for us to grant a reduced notice period.

3) Enough time needs to be spent introducing your colleagues and replacement for your tasks. It’s natural to underestimate the time required for a successful hand-over. I’ve experienced this many times.

All routines need to be carefully handed over and documented for clarity and transparency. Otherwise, it leads to unfinished tasks, tasks finished with poor quality or future routines that fail which equals costly upward delegation.

4) Work your hours corresponding to your notice period before being relieved. For example, a two-month notice might correspond to 320 working hours. If you can work your hours and hand-over successfully, it might be possible to relieve you 2-3 days before your actual relieving date under certain circumstances.

Let’s aim for a positive closure!