Changing the approach to resigning workers

When employees temporarily part ways with work 

Ms. Ngoc Anh, who has just left a management position at a media company after 4 years of working, loves the movie “Hè rồi, nghỉ việc thôi”. She shared that; she is also in the stage where she needs to stop to think about a new direction for herself. However, unlike the main character who experiences series of drama at work, the decision of Ngoc Anh is simpler. “The decision to resign came naturally to me; I did not meet any disadvantages or conflicts with colleagues. I just want a break for myself to look back on the career path”. 

Many employees sometimes do not need even to decide to quit their job. They take time off from their career as a “gift” for their dedication. This trend is gradually being known as “career break” – the break when employees want to take a break and focus on other concerns, or simply they need to take a break. According to a LinkedIn survey on 23.000 employees and over 7.000 human resources employees (HR), nearly 62% of employees have taken “career break”. 

Career break is turning into an emerging trend that many specialists of people choose, especially the high-level employees. LinkedIn also quickly grasped the new trend of the market, adding a new feature that allows employees to update the period of “career break” on their job profile. 

Ms. Ly Ngoc Tran – Head of Outsourcing Service of Talentnet Corporation – shared: “If employee knows how to take advantages of the break to shape their future and enhance the necessary skills, then “career break” is a necessary milestone in their career. At the same time, businesses should also have an objective view of this trend. Taking a “pause” button for job does not mean the end between employees and businesses but can be a step back for many steps forward for both sides”. 

Take a break to start an “open relationship.” 

When “career break” is becoming the best choice for consideration of employees, especially the executives, the “underground wave” for business is also from there. 

The gap from the shortage of high-level employees will cause businesses to spend a lot of time looking for a candidate to fill in the gap. 

HR itself will not be able to intervene in personnel’s decisions. Therefore, instead of parting in regret, HR can change the approach in new directions. The first is to offer senior employees “temporary leave” if they feel they are burned out or need time to deal with their issues. In case the employee has a new direction, HR may consider allowing the employee to cooperate as a freelancer if this does not affect the company policy. 

Ms. Ly Ngoc Tran suggested that with the temporary resignation plan, businesses can create conditions for C-levels to temporarily leave work, spend time for themselves, solve family issues, or learn more to develop career skills for a certain period. Businesses can hold positions until they return. This will help business increase their ability to retain a group of “rare and hard to find”, creating a competitive advantage in terms of welfare policies in the market. 

However, if the employee still decides to leave, the change in personnel will be a variable for the team. Therefore, business needs to have a scenario to cope with. According to Ms. Trân, there are 2 “firefighting” solutions that HR can use in this situation. Firstly, borrowing support from the abundant human resources from the outsourcing service. This will help the business stabilize its personnel structure, fill necessary vacancies, and have more time to develop the current team. 

Secondly, HR can find support from the Executive Search service. With the advantage of connecting high-quality human resources, businesses can shorten the recruitment and restructuring of the open position after the leaving of this essential personnel group. 

According to LinkedIn, 79% of HR agree with hiring candidates have a “career break” in their resume. The market is getting used to these breaks and businesses can prepare policies that are relevant if the employee chooses a “career break”. 

It can be seen that, if the business and employee are ready for an open relationship, then a “career break” may no longer be a difficult variable to solve with the business.