The Replacement Politics of Leaving a Job

A WCW reader writes: “Dear Alexandra, I’ve read your advice about the right way to leave your job, and I think it’s good. Only trouble is, the people I work with aren’t exactly helping me out. I gave them six weeks notice so that I could find and train a replacement, but no one except me seems to feel this major urgency to hire someone. My six weeks are almost up, and there’s no one to take over my many and complicated responsibilities. What should I do?”

Great question, and I feel your pain as I was in a similar situation as I prepared to take a long maternity leave from my marketing communications consulting gig. First of all, I think it’s admirable that you care so deeply about what happens to your work once you’ve left. Believe it or not, most people look at a job as a paycheck, and as soon as they’re assured they don’t need it anymore, they check out. 

Giving a healthy notice and going out of your way to try and hire and train a replacement was the considerate thing to do, but there is a limit to how much you can control the behavior of others. You’ve told them of your desire to keep the machine running well in your absence, but at the end of the day it’s their organization, and they’ll do what they will with it. 

The best you can do is prepare a detailed transition memo of all of your projects, so that your old team members have the information they need to divide and conquer them in the event that a replacement isn’t hired before you depart. And then it’s time to start focusing on your new job and the contributions you’ll be able to make there.

Comments

[Alexandra Levit]

Excellent advice, Lee, for this situation and for networking in general!

[Lee Coles]

If you belong to a marketing & communications networking group (i.e. MediaBistro), message board, or professional organization (like PRSA) you could put the word out locally via e-mail.

[Alexandra Levit]

Thanks, Erika. This reader sure was super-dedicated, which I hope serves her well in the next job!

[Erika]

Wow, I respect someone who can stay so committed to a job that close to the end. I agree with Alexandra that the only thing you can do is leave a good system of notes behind and do your best to make sure that the other people on your team know where you left off.