Background: I've had a great relationship with my boss up until i resigned. I have to serve 2 months notice in my contract (I’m not US based). I’ve been in this company for 3 years and promoted twice due to positions opening because of turnover and me being in a fast track program.
I prepared 2 letters for my boss during my resignation. 1 resignation letter and 1 personal letter to express my gratitude towards him and the company. Tendered the day after getting my variable bonus and my boss flew into a rage saying he had already heard that I would be going to a competitor from his connections weeks ago (I did sign my contract with them weeks back but did not tell anyone about it hence I don’t really know how he knew).
He said he was extremely disappointed in my selfish behaviour as I had only thought of myself as I resigned after getting my bonus vs not informing him as soon as I signed with the competitor. He said that his reason for accusing me was because it is difficult to fill my position and more time would’ve been useful and he thought we were closer.
I was not expecting this reaction and had actually prepared a handwritten personal letter to him, which I offered to him at the start of our conversation and he told me to keep it.
After hearing his accusations, I told him he was the first in the department to know but he said that I must be gullible to think that this news wouldn’t reach him. I said that I had only brought up the conversation now as it is a tough one to have and I was thinking of how to have it I had no intentions of harming him or the company.
To which he said I should’ve handled the situation better and had expected more from me but he accepts my resignation letter.
I said that perhaps I really handled it wrongly and re-emphasized that I have no bad intentions. I offered my personal letter a second time and he rejected it once again.
He sent me an official email at the start of the next working day telling me that while he accepted my resignation, was revoking my WFH privileges, not to delete anything on my laptop and told me to cc 2 other employees in all my emails from now on.
I don’t understand how I could’ve handled it better. Was i in the wrong?