How can I leave my job in the nicest possible way?

[lv75]

I have worked at my local pre-school for the last three years. I was the chairperson of their committee and expressed an interest in the Early Years Professional training and was employed by the preschool with a view to getting the qualification and then taking over the management of it.

I am close to the validation part of the qualification and am becoming increasingly frustrated at the setting where I work. My manager is expecting me to help her with the management but is so badly organised that I am not given any time to do the paperwork etc that needs to be done. She does not seem to realise how important some of the paperwork is and often becomes distracted and erratic, for example, this week, she suddenly announced that the cupboard needed clearing out and that became the focus of the entire week rather than the management issues that desperately need to be sorted out.

I have not been given any clear indication of my pay and conditions once I receive accreditation for my qualification in the spring. I seem to be continually working at home, however am only paid by the hour at work and so seem to be doing a lot for free. They have received a lot of government funding linked to EYP training which I have seen very little of. I am grateful for the experience but have made a decision to look for work elsewhere once I have received the accreditation. I am worried as my manager has commented that she is looking forward to someone else taking some of the workload from her etc but cannot make the commitment due to the pay and conditions I am working under.

Can anyone give me any advice as to how to leave the position without any hard feelings? I feed guilty for wanting to look elsewhere, my contract does not tie me in following accreditation, but I do a strong sense of guilt at needing to look elsewhere for work.

sorry, just noticed two typos in the last paragraph, rushing while daughter waved Wii remote in my face!! I meant I feel guilty for making the decision to want to work elsewhere given the expectation of my manager.

If your manager won't commit to you why should you commit to them? In my honest managerial opinion, you have nothing to feel guilty about. Employers/managers have to realise loyalty and commitment works both ways.

When did you last talk together? To be honest this sounds like a communication issue rather than a managerial one. It sounds like she's stopped telling you plans and strategy and gotten bogged down in minutae. Also you are taking on more perhaps than intended or she's just gotten distracted. Before you throw in the towel, is this a person you can approach and say something like can we refocus? I feel x. Don't say you will leave, just gently say that improving a short(!) list would make working feel better first.

That way its not a shock. She may genuinely think you are happy, or be so bogged down she's feeling awful too.

Ihave had several chats with her, have tried to establish long term planning and strategies for the group but she isn't able to organise herself in that way and as a result improvement etc does not seem to happen, morale is low and i end up doing the policy planning etc at home. The problem is that there are no plans and strategies, I was employed to try and sort it out but there is no commitment from above to sort it out. Given the low wages and the fact that there have been no promises in writing regarding my position I think going elsewhere might be best. Just wondering how to go about it really.