Excuses For Quitting Jobs Can Get Bizarre
By Rodney Tanaka© Pasadena Star-News, February 6, 2005
Long hours and an overbearing boss may be good enough reasons for some employees to quit.
But others like to head out the door with a little more flair - saying they're quitting to climb Mount Everest, to join the Witness Protection Program or because they can't get up in the morning.
A survey of 250 U.S. advertising and marketing executives shows a wide range of unusual reasons employees give for quitting.
The survey, conducted by The Creative Group, also revealed such nuggets as: "One guy said he was making too much money and didn't feel like he was worth it,' and "An employee left because he didn't like the smell of the office.'
Perhaps the only lesson to take from these amusing responses is to improve the screening process so these kinds of people don't get hired in the first place, said Gary Kaplan, president of Gary Kaplan & Associates, a Pasadena-based executive search firm, which was not involved with the study.
"The reality is, people are pretty bizarre and when you have these kinds of situations occur, there really isn't anything a company can do,' he said.
Kaplan once placed an executive with a Toronto firm, which moved him from Pennsylvania and housed him in a motel during his transition.
"Three days into the job he totally disappeared,' Kaplan said. "Eventually, when we tracked him down, he said he walked out because he had three miserable nights in the motel because the mattress was so incredibly uncomfortable.'
Some responses may be outrageous, but conducting exit interviews with departing employees is important to keep rapport strong in an organization and to improve the work environment, said Laura Kovach, senior account manager for The Creative Group.
Kovach was surprised by the unusual responses in the survey. Companies can make some adjustments to keep employees, she said, but some cases are simply out of their control.
"If they're leaving to climb Mount Everest, there's nothing human resources can do about that,' she said.
People who give outrageous excuses for leaving aren't using common sense because they could be burning bridges, she said, adding that employees should give two weeks notice and act professionally.
The two main reasons people leave a job is because of their relationship with their immediate supervisor, or they don't feel they're growing, said Pete Tzavalas, managing principal with Spherion, a human resources consulting firm based in Westlake Village.
The average life expectancy for an employee is 36 months, Tzavalas said. Turnover costs sometime reach three times the position's salary, he said.
"The running joke in training and development is, 'I can't really afford to train this person. What if they get so good they leave?,' he said. "But what if you don't train them and they stay?'
Rodney Tanaka can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2230, or by e-mail at rodney.tanaka@sgvn.com.
