𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗬 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞? 𝗔 𝗦𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙-𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗬 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗔𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞? 𝗔 𝗦𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙-𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

When William submitted his resignation letter to leave Jewel Publishers, I immediately invited him to my office to understand his decision. His reasons were straightforward; 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐚𝐲.

After a brief conversation, he assured me that an increase in salary would keep him from leaving. I told him to give me a moment to consult a few colleagues and, without much delay, we were able to adjust his salary upward. He stayed.

A few weeks later, John also tendered his resignation. This time, I simply delegated Stanley to conduct an exit interview, not because I wanted John to remain, but because I wanted to understand if there were areas our organisation needed to improve.

John was shocked. Shocked that no one tried to negotiate with him, shocked that we didn’t counter-offer, and even more shocked when we asked him for his actual exit date because he attempted staying longer than the notice period he initially submitted. Meanwhile, someone was already waiting to resume his role.

Let me be clear: I am not asking you to test your value in your organisation by submitting a fake resignation letter. In this tough Nigerian economy, your employer may have been hoping for a reason to downsize.

What I am asking is simple:

👉🏾 𝐒𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐛 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

👉🏾 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲.

If your role doesn’t have a KPI, design one. Go through each line of that JD and evaluate yourself:

• Have you consistently done the job you were hired to do?
• Did you do it on time, every time?
• Did you do it the right way?
• Did you take ownership, or did you merely occupy space?

And beyond that:

• 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠?
• 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞?
• 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬, 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬?

This simple reflection was the reason we begged Roland to stay, even when business felt heavy. It was also the same reason we accepted John’s resignation with ease. Sometimes, the hardest thing for managers is firing someone after several warnings. So when a low performer attempts to exit, it becomes answered prayers, followed by swift corrective action to bring in a high-performing replacement.

So today, I encourage you:

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞.

Because if the organisation grows, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼𝗼.

Have a great week.

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐦.