When you start a job, you may first hear the offer verbally, but a written offer letter in hand confirms what you discussed and often provides additional specifics. Similarly, you can quit verbally without writing anything down, but to ensure key details are spelled out, you need a resignation letter. When you’re retiring, key details include your exact end date, how you’ll transition your work, and what you will do and what your employer will do for important logistics, such as disbursing your pension. You don’t want to rely on a verbal understanding about your retirement plans with so much critical information on the line — so yes, draft that resignation letter.
Decide What You Want Before Informing Your Employer That You Will Be Leaving To Retire
How much notice do you feel comfortable giving? What do you want your transition to look like? For example, are you willing to help hire your successor, or do you already have someone in mind? Finally, how much (if at all) do you want to be available to your successor or to your previous employer in general? Do you want to do some part-time consulting, or are you planning a long trip and want a clean break?
Two weeks’ notice is a general rule of thumb, but it varies based on the industry, your level and how long you’ve been at the company. For example, in high-security industries, such as banking, you may be escorted to the door immediately after announcing you’re leaving so that you lose access to sensitive data. If you’re at a senior level, you may be expected to give several weeks, if not months, of notice. Transitioning senior-level responsibilities to a successor will be more complex than a junior role where multiple people may already be performing similar tasks. Finally, if you’ve been at a company for a long time, getting someone else up to speed on everything you do and how you’ve done it may also be more complex and require longer notice. Your employer may also expect you to give longer notice as a courtesy for how far your relationship goes back.
Expectations about how involved you will be in selecting and onboarding a successor also vary by company. Opportunities to do a phased retirement (where you go from full-time to part-time to external consultant) also vary. Knowing what you want ensures that your wishes are considered. It doesn’t mean your employer will go along with everything you ask – but if you don’t ask, the answer is definitely No.
Deliver The News To Your Immediate Manager – Verbally At First
Start with your manager – you don’t want to go over their head to their manager or to HR. Your manager will also hopefully be a strong ally to get the retirement date, transition plan and other specifics you want. Schedule a dedicated meeting to announce your retirement, so your manager has time to process the news and ask questions. A dedicated meeting also gives you time to prepare what you will ask for and how you’ll deliver the news.
Since the path to retirement can vary, treat this meeting (and all your retirement conversations) like a negotiation. Be prepared to overcome objections – an outright No or a different idea than what you initially suggest. For example, your employer may ask for a later end date to give them more time to fill your position. You may ask for a phased retirement, but your employer may decline, preferring a clean break once the next person starts.
Pick An Appropriate Time To Announce Your Retirement
Since you’re not sure if your employer will agree to your preferred end date, only announce your retirement when you’re ready to leave, especially if you think your manager (or other decision-makers) may ask for an early end date. If you think you’ll be asked to stay longer than you’d like, only announce when you’re ready for that negotiation. You may even want to book a trip to insert some urgency into when you have to leave.
If you have some flexibility in your end date, you may want to consider the workload and upcoming deadlines. If your work is seasonal, you may want to time your retirement for after a busy period if you’re willing to help – or before if you want to avoid the overtime. If the company is doing well, you may want to leave on a high note. If the company is pushing through to a deadline and you play a key role, you may want to wait till you get to the end of the project or at least at a good stopping point.
Once You Negotiate The Details, Write Your Resignation Letter To Make It Official
Once you agree on an end date, work out with your manager how the transition will happen, and confirm if and how much you’ll help out after you leave, write your resignation letter to capture all these key details. Email a draft to your manager, so you can make an edits before sending it to HR. A resignation letter isn’t a legal contract, but having something in writing to spell out what you discussed helps minimize discrepancies that may come up in the future.
In addition to the logistics, your resignation letter may include a positive summary of your time at the company. Thank your manager and other key people that you worked with. Include your contact information outside the company so people can get in touch.
Confirm With Your Manager How You’ll Announce Your Retirement To The Rest Of The Company
While you’re working out the details with your manager and HR, refrain from talking about your retirement plans with anybody else in the company. Your manager may want some lead time to prepare what to tell remaining staff. For example, if you held a critical role, colleagues may worry about what will happen in your absence, and your manager might want to figure out what to say.
Leave Gracefully
Once the retirement transition details are official, then you can start sharing the news. Get people’s personal contact info so you can stay in touch even if they leave the company. Thank people who were collaborative allies, mentors to you or just great friends. If you have a long lead time before your end date, consider creating a Standard Operating Procedure manual so whoever comes after you will have a smoother onboarding. If you interact with a lot of different people, create a Frequently Asked Questions manual so work continues even when you’re gone.