Thinking of leaving your role? 5 tips on how to leave on a good note

Freya Lucas

Aug 14, 2023

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The average amount of time an Australian worker spends in a role is around three years and four months, however in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, the time frame can be shorter, with staff turn over rates being quite high in some services.

The reality for many working in the ECEC sector is that leaving one service and starting with another is a fairly frequent occurrence. Given this frequency, educators, leaders and others in the sector may be wondering about their responsibilities, and how to leave their role on good terms.

Regardless of how you feel about your soon to be former employer, it is important to leave in a positive light. The world of ECEC is deeply connected, and there is a lot of overlap between employers, professional development providers, recruiters and others.

In the piece below, we share five top tips to make sure that moving forward in your career can be a low stress, high professionalism moment, contextualised to the ECEC sector, but based on the work of Professor Art Markman, author of Smart Thinking, Habits of Leadership, Smart Change, Brain Briefs, and, most recently, Bring Your Brain to Work.

Support the next person

Most ECEC professionals are passionate and dedicated to their roles. They know the children and families they work with intimately, and have taken the time to get to know systems, resources, processes and ways of working which serve them best.

When leaving for a new role, it can be helpful and supportive to compile this information into a document which will support the person who is coming in to do your job. This list could include:

Key contact information for important people you interact with in your role. If there is overlap between you and the new person, introduce them to key contacts by email or in person.
Any aspects of the job that may not be obvious, including shortcuts that will improve the efficiency of their work.
A list of tasks that need to be completed weekly, monthly, and yearly. The yearly task list can be particularly important because those issues often get forgotten, and then everyone has to scramble to complete them.
General notes on key people that are part of the team to ease their process of working effectively. You don’t want to preempt the new person’s ability to get to know their colleagues, but short notes about who they are can be valuable.

Let them know where you’re up to

Every role has its own responsibilities and tasks. Perhaps you are responsible for summative reports, organising the end of year function, or making sure the expenses in the room tally up with the budget.

Regardless of what you are responsible for, leaving guidance of the status of current responsibilities for the incoming person can help to make the transition smoother for children and families.

A one-page update on the key things you are working on can really support.

Share your network

Do you know an amazing inclusion support provider? Have you formed a strong bond with a sales representative who can always help you source hard to find resources? Is the children’s librarian the most supportive person outside of your team?

Share those contacts with the person taking on your role to help them to hit the ground running, and get the support they need as they find their feet.

Information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses and other contact information, along with a short description of what they do, how they like to be contacted, and the things they have helped with in the past can be very helpful.

Provide feedback

If you aren’t offered an exit interview, it can be helpful to ask for one, to share elements of the role which worked well and which didn’t work well, and to ensure you’re sharing the benefit of your reflective practice with your former employer.

Exit interviews serve two functions. Firstly, they help employers to improve, and secondly, it helps you to leave on a positive note, leaving the door open for returning to the service in future.

Stay connected with your team

While not everyone you work with will be someone you are close to, it’s likely that you have connected with one or more of your colleagues.

As you leave for a new role, and make new connections, remain connected with those who supported you previously.

You may like to do this through text messaging, social media, a professional network such as Linked In, or even email.

Access Mr Markman’s article, in Fast Company, here.

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