Well by now some wise crack somewhere has already thought of this and so there is already a site that occupies the niche area of teaching people how to resign in style. The only issue is that it deals with the west where people are a little more dignified when they leave or are they?

Anyways I don’t want to dwell on the west but talk about some of my experiences with resigning in India. I have never had the good fortune for resigning a number of times. I think I did it once and was very decent with my employers. Here is how I categorize them, however please note they are not according to any order, so don’t have any ideas.

a) Gayab - in Hindi means disappear. These are the kind who picks up offer letters cum work with you for sometime and one day - GAYAB. No information, nothing from them. I did have the rare instance of hearing that one such person had called the office and asked for his pending salary after a month.

b) Template Resignation - There are some who just cannot frame their resignation letter. Just like their resume, it is a template from somewhere. So they even forget to change customizable parts like names of places in the letter and so on.

c) Prompted by Daddy - Some letters are written in language that would have made an English teacher in the British Raj times a very happy man. So parents are nowadays even helping their children write their resignation letters just like their homework in school.

d) The Angry Man - This person experiences lots of animosity before leaving and so chooses to vent it on everyone including the door mat when he leaves the office. Reasons for anger could be many but the entire resignation episode is very stressful for these individuals. Long emails are sent to people who he has hated in the organization just before he stomps out.

e) Mr. Slimy - This smiling assassin exits very gracefully doing everything right including mentioning the name of the company he is going to. He even mentions the pay he is getting there, which is of course 3 times more than what he is getting here. You are fine with everything only to be rudely shocked to see him at the next client pitch sitting across you as the client or walking in as part of your competitor’s team.

f) Backpacker - This guy is totally fed up of working and feels burnt out. He just wants to get out of everything and use his savings to travel around the world as a backpacker and make up for lost time. He hopes to come back after a year rejuvenated and refreshed for a new job challenge.

g) The Sick Parent - This individual does not have the guts to resign so uses one of his parents as a scapegoat. Phones office early in the morning and informs office manager that one of his parents is very sick and so he cannot come it. That is the last you hear of this person.

h) The Forger - This individual picks up a letterhead from the office and cleverly puts his own experience certificate down, even signs it himself.

i) The Wingless one - I was lucky to read a letter written by one individual to his prospective employer about his need to fly and how his wings were being restrained in this office environment.

j) The Tomorrow Guy - This person resigns and wants to leave tomorrow. Period.

h) Resignation from Home - This person resigns from home via email and also copies the email to all the clients.

So the reason why I am posting this up is to make people understand that joining and leaving a company is part of life. No one expects one to stay forever, but resignation should be done gracefully. It is as simple as giving a letter, discuss your reasons for leaving, serve your notice period and leave with friends in your old office. If you have had a bad experience in the company, you still owe that company a graceful exit, cause they gave you a job which you were glad when you wanted one.

The sudden entry and exit culture of ours has to change as it is giving us a real bad name in the west. This is quite dangerous for our future if we do not change now.