The Lame-Duck Employee Syndrome

It is not uncommon for companies to ask employees to leave with full pay within a day or so from the date they resign, because it's best for all involved. Companies don't have to worry about last-minute theft, sabotage and corporate espionage. Soon-to-be former employees don't have to worry about guilt, resentment, and telling their resignation stories over and over again. If you’re lucky, shortly after you hand in your letter of resignation you’ll leave your going-away party with an advanced paycheck, stellar letters of reference, and good-bye gifts stuffed in your briefcase, as your teary-eyed boss and coworkers walk you to the front door for one last group hug.

But that's in a perfect world, and an office environment can be anything but that. For one thing, your company might make you stick around through your two-week notice period. Unless you had planned some couch-potato inactivity, that might not be too bad, as long as your bosses, coworkers and direct-reports are reasonable, agreeable people. Maybe you'll still get that going-away party and one last group hug after all. But, what if they resent that you're leaving? What if they start nasty watercooler rumors about why you quit? What if they give you the cold-shoulder treatment for fear that they will be associated with The Quitter? This kind of office pettiness happens all too often. It can make you feel like a powerless, lame-duck employee, and turn your otherwise exciting and short notice period into a miserable eternity.

Despite how they act toward you and no matter how much you want to scream, "Take this job and shove it!" while storming out the door, it’s not a good idea to burn your bridges. It might bite you down the road when you need references. Some employers conduct reference checks as far back as ten years or more. But that doesn't mean you have to just sit back and let it happen, as though you are the powerless, lame-duck employee they think you are. There are some things you can do to try to head off this syndrome.

Next Page > Heading off the Lame-Duck Syndrome
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