Executive Assistant's Guide to Giving Your CEO Your Resignation
After working in the recruiting business for nearly 20 years, I have experienced the highly emotional scenario Executive Assistants go through as they give a resignation notice to their CEO or Executive – especially if they have worked together for several years.
The relationship between an EA to the CEO is unique. One that closely mirrors many of the loyalties and confidentiality that a couple would experience in a formalized marriage. As difficult as it is to find the match of the Executive Assistant to the CEO, the longer you work together the harder it is to break this bond.
If you are at the top of your profession and your boss or company provides no indication your employment is in jeopardy, they will most likely push extremely hard to keep you in your role and prevent you from leaving the company and accept another position, anywhere.
You are the yin to the yang of the CEO, a VIP.
As an Executive Assistant at this level, you have a big heart to go along with your big smart. You care so much about people, and especially your executive. The fear or indication you are or will let them down by leaving them is about the closest thing to heartbreak and relationship failure you could think of. Your profession is focused on serving and pleasing people and your partnership with the CEO, putting yourself last.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when giving your notice:
It is never a convenient time for you to give notice to your CEO. Conversely, if business needs change, it is never easy to let your Executive Assistant go, but at the end of the day, it is not personal, “it is business,” and they will follow through, regardless. There is no room for discussion, end of story.
Remember the reason you were looking for a new job in the first place. It could have been money or total compensation, work-life balance, opportunity, title, or all of the above. If you have presented to your company your desire to move up or secure additional benefits that you are now receiving with your new role, that had in the past not been recognized, consider why. Reconsider it over and over. A company has a cadence and culture, hard to change in a short amount of time. Be strong!
What if you are presented a counteroffer from your current employer post notice?
Understand after you give notice and accept a counteroffer, you will likely be questioned about your loyalty to the executive and company. Why? Statistics show that after you accept a counteroffer from your current employer, you are more likely to leave in the near future, or worse yet, be replaced.
Consider the new company you have accepted a position with. In my experience, if you cancel the contract after you have accepted, the door to that opportunity and company will likely never open again. You will never know what could have been.
Remember. It is never convenient for a company to find a replacement employee, especially at your level. But you need to look out for yourself, number one, at all times and manage your career. They will fight to keep you until it is convenient to replace you if that is the case someday.
Again, consider why you were looking for or accepted the new opportunity in the first place. The new company/role has the appeal and opportunity you are attracted to. Therefore, take as much time as you need to make your decision to accept a job offer before you accept a new role. Ask the right questions. Talk to the right people.
If the details and the new position you accepted are aligning with your career aspirations and trajectory despite the usual unknowns, hold your ground, and move forward for the new position. Trust the process. Go with your gut. I am a firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason, and when it happens, “go with the flow.”
You are in charge of your career and destiny unless you give that power to someone else. I have seen Executive Assistants, as well as others, pass an amazing job opportunity aligned with their personal and professional lives and stay in a job sometimes due to fear or a promise.
To grow, sometimes you have to push yourself, take a leap of faith, jump off the dock, and swim. Or you may end up watching others swim past you.
In the end, when you are faced with a counteroffer, afraid of moving forward with a new job offer, I recommend you ask the question, “What is the worst thing that could happen?” And “What is the best thing that could happen?”
If you are okay with your counteroffer and status quo of familiarity in your job, that is certainly okay. In the end, it is your decision.
But, as Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
About Diane Steele
Diane Steele is CEO and Founder of Steele Recruiting, an Executive Administrative Assistant Search firm. Headquartered in Minneapolis/St Paul, Steele Recruiting is a female owned retained search firm, specializing in Executive Administrative Assistant-Chief of Staff recruitment, supporting CEOs and Presidents in Minneapolis and St Paul. Contact Steele via email or phone at 952-484-4217.
