I’m in a professional/technical role and have struggled with my current position (workload, leadership, etc) for the last 2 years. I’ve worked at this company for 15 years +. I’ve spent lots of time talking to my direct leader and all the way up the chain about the issues I see and how I’d go about rectifying them.
I was offered an equivalent position and I took it. When I gave my notice my boss said he wasn’t accepting my resignation at the time and that they’d want to speak to me more about it. By the end of the week – after realizing they weren’t going to change my mind – he said he would officially accept my resignation now and would follow up with an email. To which I told him that he could do what he wanted but I didn’t require it.
Then the next week he asked if I could stay longer because even with the lengthy notice I gave – that he wouldn’t be able to backfill and train my replacement in time – and the previous week he spent dicking around cost him even more of that preparation time.
Not only did I enjoy telling him no – but I also got to ask him if it might have just been easier to have listened to me in the first place and keep me.