Handles resignations like breakups - Anonymous employee The Edge Learning Center Employee Review

When I resigned, I did so because I could no longer handle the poor attitude some managers had towards us. It was to a point where in the morning I would struggle to wake up to get to work because I felt so depressed about going back and face those people. The day I resigned, the managers all of a sudden acted all friendly and nice. One of them in particular came to me after work, and had an initially REALLY FRIENDLY chat with me. I have never seen such a huge smile on the person. If I hadn’t witnessed how the person had publicly insulted colleagues before, I would be fooled into thinking they were the nicest person on the planet. The first thing they told me was “the management is really shocked that you resigned.” I nearly laughed out loud because, come on, I am leaving precisely because of you. They went on to say I was one of the top performers according to their standard (with some of the most teaching hours) and really wished I could reconsider and stay. (I did try my best to do my job and help students while I was there despite being distracted by the constant harassment from several higher-ups.) I knew that of course once I promised to stay they would revert back to their old ways and treat me like trash. So I kept politely declining, giving reasons such as no career progression, no end-of-year double pay like in most Hong Kong companies, and inconvenient working days and hours (these are all true by the way). This manager would come to me for a few more days to continue the discussion, and it got really tiring. All this time, I was thinking, Just let me leave already… In one of these meetings, I was naive enough to spill some of my future plans and told them that there was another opportunity waiting for me that would pay me $X amount as salary (which is higher than my salary at that time). If The Edge could match that salary, I would consider staying. Soon enough it became obvious they can’t match that salary. I imagine that in such a situation any decent human being from any other proper company would say something like “It is unfortunate we can’t continue to have you work for us. We thank you for your service. Let’s keep in touch etc.”. But not this one: the person immediately dropped all the fake smiles, and revealed a really, really obnoxious face. The person opened their blood-shot eyes wide, bobbed their head towards me, and bellowed, “You give us the image that you are THREATENING us by resigning now” (direct quotation). I was completely taken aback and was really terrified for my life at that moment: it was the ugliest face I have ever seen in my life, no matter how much cosmetics was put on, no matter how big the smile was just a moment ago. Was this person trying to convince me to stay or scare me away really?? For God’s sake, I am not your husband or boyfriend (fortunately), and this is not a divorce or breakup. This is just the ending of a professional relationship: I resigned by giving the appropriate amount of notice. You begged again and again for me to stay. I gave my condition for staying. If you can satisfy the condition, I stay; if not, I leave. It was that simple. Why they would resort to such violent and frankly very rude means of dealing with this is beyond me. It is also worth noting that employees of this company already have to give double the amount of notice period (2 months) compared to most other companies (1 month). How was I threatening them by resigning and giving them two months’ notice? Were they so delusional to think that this job is sooo great that anyone who resigns is somehow “threatening” them?? With managers as mean and narrow as this one, I can safely say this job is not great at all. I still get nightmares whenever I recall that scene. After that meeting, the person indeed reverted back to their old ways (no more smiley face) but would still keep calling me to yet another round of meetings, again trying to convince me to stay as if my intention was not already Crystal Clear. In these later meetings, the person kept saying, “let’s not waste time” and “stop wasting my time” even though they themselves called for these meetings and were indeed wasting MY time LOL…. At one point they even implied that at my current age I did not deserve the $X amount of salary (Is this age discrimination?). No one needs your judgment here, just tell me whether you can match the salary (No, you cannot) and let me move on. They just stressed me out to no end. These people are vicious and border on the barabric. Please do yourself a favor and stay away. This will save you some bills from getting anti-depressants as well.