Why I Quit My Job While Others Were Busy Saving Theirs
I sent a long email to my boss and then typed my resignation letter before getting a reply from him.
I said goodbye to my job last year, on my birthday, November 5th. It was a tough decision for me because the time was not in anyone’s favor.
The pandemic was at the peak in my country, Bangladesh. People were losing jobs and leaving the city. Everybody was trying hard not to lose their jobs because their entire existence depends on those monthly paychecks. But I made up my mind and quit the job as I have never compromised with my mental peace so far.
I worked at the top English daily in the country for nearly three years under the Administration department. When I joined there in February 2018, the office environment was lovely. The colleagues were cooperative and more like friends of yours. The pay package was fair enough. As I am not a married man with a family, it was okay for me.
But why did I quit that job after only two years and nine months? Well, let me tell you in detail. You can relate it to your situations as well. It can help you decide what you want from your job.
The organization didn’t care about the basics.
Everything was going smoothly for the first year until the foundation day of the newspaper. On that day, I discovered something very wrong with this organization.
This organization has a culture to announce “Employee of the Year” each year on its foundation day. One best performing employee from each department gets that award along with the prize money. It’s a great way to inspire other employees to do good works.
After the first ceremony I attended, I witnessed a weird trend. There was no KPI for measuring performances. If you are close to your boss, in other words, if your boss likes you, you will get the award. It doesn’t matter whether you are doing great or not.
I learned the hard way that here personal relationships matter, not the actual job performances. I saw it in my own department — the most active ones didn’t get the award but the most inactive employee whom the boss liked the most. If you are wondering — I was not eligible because I didn’t complete a full year then.
I was just a few months shy to complete my first year there, but after that ceremony, I felt discouraged.
My boss said I must enter into his good book.
One day my boss told me that he expects me to be in his good book. How? He advised me that I need to talk to him more and more (even if it’s totally unnecessary). He even mentioned a few colleagues who were in his good-book and told me to follow them.
I was in shock — because I knew all of those colleagues. They are the ‘yes-men’ of this office. No matter what our boss said, they knew only one answer: Yes-Sir. I saw them spending much time gossiping with the boss hours after hours. And most interestingly, they were like boss’s puppets.
They would come to the office early but do nothing. Most of the time, they would relax, taking more than ten tea breaks. They would start working after lunch, and when other employees would leave on time, they would stare at them like those employees are committing some crimes.
I gradually started to understand that this place is not for me. And I cannot enter into my boss’s good book. One of the reasons is I was a bit straightforward and not willing to spend my time oiling my boss. Eventually, in my second year, I got a bad reputation for being straightforward(I am proud of that, by the way).
But one thing I was doing religiously: working hard and taking notes of my achievements. I maintained an excel sheet for that.
HR used to speak for the management (not for employees).
The man in charge of the HR department had no backbone of his own. He always hung a fake smile on his face and obeyed everything the management ordered him. Yes, he was obviously in my boss’s good book.
As I used to work very closely with him, I never saw him take the employee’s side. He always justified management’s orders in one way or another. But he pretended that he was not happy with that decision. He was a man with many colors. As far as I remember, no employees trusted him.
Another crucial thing that bothered me that all employees were not equal there. They were treated based on their designations and the closeness to our boss, other department heads, or the editor.
If the employee is senior, he/she will get quick attention. If the employee is on the downside of the organogram, the office hardly gives a damn about him/her. That was my boss’s unwritten rule. He often referred to it as a case-to-case solution for everything.
No doubt, it bothered me. As a part of the administration team, this unequal treatment was against my work ethic, and I started to hate my boss more and more. It was causing my mental discomfort.
There were hatred and jealousy beneath the smiles.
When the pandemic hit hard, the hatred and jealousy underneath the fake smiles( of our senior colleagues) became prominent. They were desperate to secure their jobs, and a silent unhealthy competition began to win the management’s eyes.
When our office laid off more than 30 employees due to the business fall, the competition got worse than ever. The seniors grew mad unnecessarily and created a toxic environment for all.
There was also a massive change in the top management, and our senior officials were unsure about their fate in the organization. Oh, it was indeed a tough time. And that time, if you saw the top officials smiling together, you could easily read the underneath hatred and jealousy imprinted in those smiles.
I had a few clashes with one of them as he misbehaved with my junior colleagues unnecessarily. It got intense. I made a formal complaint against one of my boss’s good-book employees.
My growth was stuck because of my straightforwardness.
I did not make it as I never tried. I failed to sacrifice my true self and wear a fake smile all the time with a constant Yes-Sir. So, the obvious happened. My promotion got stuck — it was nine months due.
Though I was fulfilling the position of an Assistant Manager (as he switched job a year ago) with my regular tasks, I did not get any raise or recognition. Even my designation was the same.
So, I took my steps. One fine afternoon, I went directly to HR and asked the manager why I was not getting accurate information about my performance evaluation in years. He, with his fake smile, told me that he knew no updates or anything. Management stopped all promotions and increments. And I can talk about it directly to my boss, GM (HR & Admin).
Without speaking to my boss directly, I sent my boss a long email — detailing what I did for the organization in the past three years. I mentioned more than 10 points where I made significant improvements — compared to the tenure before me. And I asked him directly why HR failed to give me the proper information regarding my performance evaluation which is nine months due.
More than that, I mentioned that if the management doesn’t recognize my contribution or fail to provide me the exact information about my career growth here, I will resign immediately.
I typed my resignation letter even before getting a reply from my boss.
I made up my mind. Not because my efforts went unnoticed but because the environment was getting toxic as well. It was hampering my mental peace. So, when I sent the email to my boss, I also typed my resignation letter and kept it in another folder.
When I talked to my boss that evening, he said he got my email and would respond quickly.
I got a response from my boss after one day. He replied to my email saying he is sorry for not providing me the necessary information about my performance evaluation on time. He mentioned that I am a great colleague to work with — but as the pandemic situation made the business worse, he neither can give a raise (that was due for almost nine months — long before the pandemic started here) nor change my designation until further notice.
So, I did the obvious. I opened the resignation letter I prepared beforehand, changed the date, read it again, and sent it to the HR dept and him.
I mentioned two reasons for my immediate resignation:
- The organization didn’t value my contribution
- I was deprived of my right to know the information at the right time, and it caused my mental discomfort.
Thus, I quit my job. I decided not to work in an unhealthy environment under bad leadership. Though the job market crashed due to the pandemic, I didn’t care.
Takeaways
Many of you continue the jobs you hate just because of the monthly paychecks. I understand your pain. You have almost no way because lots of responsibilities are on your shoulders. Your family depends on your income.
But if you feel ill-treated in your job or feel that the working environment is getting toxic, you should search for new opportunities or alternative money-making ways. Remember, continuing the works you hate is a constant mental battle that can ruin your life in no time. It is not worth continuing.
As I am a man with comparatively fewer responsibilities, I made the brave decision of quitting my job. But time will tell if I did it right or wrong, quitting my job during this time when others are trying hard to keep theirs. But now, I feel more peace and happiness in my day-to-day life.
I am currently enjoying my one-year career break and exploring the field of writing. I published my first book in 2014, and after so many years, recently, I have completed the manuscript of my second book. It’s an extremely rewarding feeling. I am also writing regularly on this platform and enjoying it more than ever.
Thank you for reading.
If you want to read more of my articles, you may check out the following one published in The Ascent:
