The resignation – at last!

So, The Manipulator has resigned.  She turned up at Sarah’s desk on the day she sashayed in after her week of “sick” leave and she’s now got just under 4 weeks to go.  I met with The Manipulator at 8.45am when I got in the office, as planned.  And I read her the riot act. It will probably help to give a bit of history here.  We knew that The Manipulator was an issue.  Sarah was a temp for a couple of months when I first started at The Company, and The Manipulator gave her a tough time right from the start.  At times, she would simply withhold critical information.  At others, she would refuse to help.  Other times, she was just downright rude.  But, when Sarah went full-time, she became The Manipulator’s boss.

At that time (about three months ago), I sat The Manipulator down and gave her a choice: she could either be the 5-star employee that she occasionally showed the promise of being.  This way, she could live up to her considerable potential and make everyone happy.  Or else she could continue to suck up to selected people, gossip and waste time, refuse to help others, and be nasty when the mood suited her.  The Manipulator claimed not to know that she exhibited any of these traits.  I told her that, if they continued, she’d be gone.

So, on Wednesday when I got into the office, knowing The Manipulator had resigned, asked her: “Are you going to work for the next four weeks, or not?”  She looked sheepish.  I told her that I didn’t think she’d really been sick all last week.  She said she had been.  And then I told her that we had a written warning letter we were about to drop on her before her resignation, and that I would hold off on giving it to her it she actually achieved the things we needed her to before she left.  I handed her a list that Sarah had drafted.

I told her that we would be meeting every 2-3 days to discuss her progress.  (This shouldn’t be necessary because Sarah should be able to follow The Manipulator up.  However, The Manipulator promises the world, and then promptly ignores Sarah’s requests, making it necessary to sit on her until there’s an outcome). 

If she failed to deliver, she’d get the warning.  If she was nasty to anyone, she’d get the warning.  If she took more sick leave, she’d get the warning, even if I had to post it to her.  If she wasn’t at her desk, or doing real work, she’d get the warning.

So, why should she care?  Because this would be the second warning on her file and, although she was leaving, it would always be there.  I helped The Manipulator understand that, even though she might find some ex-staff members prepared to be her referees, the fact that The Company held two warnings from different managers would look bad.  And that she should avoid it at all costs.

In the end, your reputation is all you carry with you.  Mostly, achievements disappear or get claimed by someone else.  But the way people remember you when you’re gone is the most important thing you have in your career.