How should a 2 person "team" give notice to their employer?

[LeavingSoon]

Looking for some advice, especially from folks who have been supervisors.

Very soon, a work colleague and I will be giving notice to our boss. We are leaving together for another company.

I've read several websites about the proper way to give notice, but they are all geared (understandably) to a single employee. In our case, should we break the news to him separately? (he would almost assuredly ask whether the other person was also leaving).

Or should we go in together?

 

[BigMoneyJim]

Unless there is some special situation they employ you and this other person separately. There is no reason to specify what you're going to do after your employment ends; it's none of their business.

In fact if you advertise you're "leaving together" there could be some whining and possibly complications about whether one of you recruited the other to leave the company.

 

[Mill]

tough one. I would probably approach this individually for reasons stated above. You dont want to burn any bridges.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I think you both do it separately, but probably at approximately the same time. And confine your comments and reasons to your own decision about the change, not those of your colleague. And try very hard not to say that you did it because the other person did, even if that is the truth. Separating the reasons will make it more polite and cordial with your boss, I think.

 

[donheff]

Hum, if the reason for leaving will not be secret from the boss or coworkers, I think I would go in together and explain what you are doing to the boss. If you are simply forming a new company that won't compete substantially with the old, you may as well be up front about what you are doing. If you are raiding the company for clients or employees you are burning your bridges in any event. In the later case do what seems most effective to succeed with clients and co-workers.

 

[Lazarus]

Would they lay you off as a team?

 

[tryan]

Easy ... don't be the second one to report it (unless you want a shot at a consulting gig). Use what you know to YOUR advantage (mega corp would).

 

[EllisWyatt]

You are two individual employees, with your own reasons for leaving (regardless of how similar the reasons appear to you at the moment), so I personally wouldn't recommend goin in together. I would strongly recommend individual resignations in a face-to-face meeting with your supervisor. Having said that, it wouldn't hurt whoever goes second to be discreetly standing outside the supervisor's door in order to immediately have the face-to-face with the supervisor. The less time between the two meetings, the better for all concerned.

Having had that happen to me once, it did suck - sort of a one-two punch to the gullet, as I highly respected both gentlemen and didn't want them to leave. But don't be surprised if your supervisor isn't shocked - the office grapevine is incredibly efficient, and in the case above, had picked up on the likelihood of them leaving several weeks before the actual event.Sadly, there was nothing I could do to solve the issue.

 

[MichaelB]

Leaving together, going to the same new employer. Could the current employer see that as unfair competition? Are the new positions contingent on each other?

What is to be gained by giving notice and resigning jointly? These should be treated as separate and unrelated events unless there is a specific need to do otherwise.

 

[tryan]

Reminds me of a megacorp story ... we were haveing a mass-exitous after a crappy annual raise. So the pointy hair boss tasked my boss to ask the two senior people left (me and Dave) if we had intentions of leaving.

So 3 of us in a conference room (Sandy - my boss - dave and I) triing to figure out how to handle the new work load. Sandy volunteers "I am not looking for a job ... I am happy here ... what about you guys". Dave says "I am staying ... we need reqs for all these open positions thou". So I look at Sandy and say " No I am not looking ... but if I were, I WOULDN'T TELL YOU." Within 2 months both Sandy and Dave left. I was promoted to Sandy's position.

 

[mystang52]

Unless your current employer pays both of you one check, and leaves it to you two to split it up, I don't see why you would give notice together.

 

[youbet]

Very soon, a work colleague and I will be giving notice to our boss. We are leaving together for another company.

This is a bit of a strange situation and you're not really giving enough info to support a good answer.

Why are you and your colleague "leaving together?" Is you employment with the other company contingent on both of you arriving together? Will you being filling some role at the new employer that requires the combined skills of both of you? Do you work as a closely knit team at your current employer?

Or, do the two of you work independently and your move to the new employer is based simply on the fact that the new employer had job openings and you both interviewed for jobs and were each independently successful in obtaining one?

In the first case where you two are joined at the hip for both the current and future jobs, I'd tell my supervisor together.

In the second case where your simultaneous moves to the new employer are simply coincidental, I'd resign completely independently.

 

[azphx1972]

Is your decision to leave hinged on your coworker's? If so, let him/her resign first, then hand in your resignation. If the boss asks why, have an answer prepared that is based on your own reasons for leaving (better opportunity, work/life balance, family situation, etc.). Do not discuss your coworker's situation. If the boss asks, say you do not know what the other person's reasons are, and that you cannot speak for that person.

 

[MooreBonds]

I would suggest giving notice second.

There's always a chance your current employer - faced with the prospect of 2 simultaneous departures - would be willing to pony up more money/benefits to keep at least one of you there and stem the bleeding...but if you give notice first, they might not feel the urgency to give you a blank check and ask you what it would take to keep (at least one of) you.

Or, are you pretty much 1,000% set on leaving? Would anything make you stay? Be prepared for the prospect of a counter-offer (or being asked what it would take to keep you) if/when you give notice.

 

[jphripjah]

Separately. Highest ranking person goes first.

 

[obgyn65]

My thoughts also.

Unless there is some special situation they employ you and this other person separately. There is no reason to specify what you're going to do after your employment ends; it's none of their business.

In fact if you advertise you're "leaving together" there could be some whining and possibly complications about whether one of you recruited the other to leave the company.

 

[donheff]

I revise to recommend giving separate notice. I misread the OP to indicate that they were leaving to form a new company rather than to go to another company. When OP said the boss would probably ask if the other guy going too I assumed the OP would have to say yes or lie in a manner that would be quickly exposed if they were partners. If he said yes and explained the second guy might feel a little strange going in to resign when the boss already knows. But just leaving for other employment doesn't present those unusual circumstances and doesn't call for a unusual approach. If asked about his coworker, the first guy should just act surprised and say, "I don't know, ask him," or something.

 

[RockyMtn]

Separately. Highest ranking person goes first.

+1

 

[jphripjah]

I If asked about his coworker, the first guy should just act surprised and say, "I don't know, ask him," or something.

No, don't lie you'll look stupid.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Good luck in your new position and congrats!

Completely agree about being open (but I do think questions about your coworker's plans need to be asked of him, not you) and not burning any bridges. Remember it's business and not personal. Maybe your old boss will join you at the new place one day.

 

[LeavingSoon]

Thanks for the responses. I am now convinced that giving notice individually is the way to go, and very soon after my colleague.

I'll come back here later and explain a little more about the situation.

 

[LeavingSoon]

Well, we both resigned today.

It didn't go quite as planned by me. I called to my boss' office to see if he was in (his work location is different than ours). When we both arrived at his office he was standing in his doorway and saw us both coming. My buddy walked in for a very short meeting, at which time the boss asked him if I was leaving, too (it was pretty obvious by then). I didn't really have much of a one-on-one meeting with him. But that's OK.

Our situation is not your normal job switch. The reason my co-worker and I left together is that we are recognized specialists in what we do, and it would have been very awkward for us to be working for different employers. In our new position, we will be at the same workplace, working with the same group of people, and doing the same work that we are presently doing. We just switched to a different subcontractor company under the same prime (general) contractor. So, on a day-to-day basis nothing will change.

So, there you have it. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Hamlet]

This reminds me of when I left my first job after college. I worked in a network operations center that was growing quickly and very understaffed, because our company didn't pay well and the job market was exploding. On the plus side, the opportunities for technical development had been very good.

One of my coworkers and I lived in an apartment together, and were approached by a former coworker about an opportunity. We both got very good job offers, and he asked me if I was going to take mine.

I said "if he was, I was, since I didn't want to get stuck doing both his work and mine." He said, "yeah, no way I'm staying if you're going."

We took the the offers, and felt a little bad for the folks we left behind.

Not bad enough to stay though.

 

[RockyMtn]

As they say...it is what it is.

Everyone will move on is a very short period of time.