Unhappy enough to resign - should I say?

[SecondHandFurniture]

I've been in my PT job for 5 years and until last year, I loved it. Good colleagues, good hours. Unfortunately last year I was made to swap teams, against my better judgement, as I am supposed to be training for a promotion and I knew my new manager wouldn't have the time or patience for this. This was for the benefit of the person I swapped with who didn't get on with my manager.

5 months later I have been proved right - she mostly ignores me. I have raised this twice with my boss who just says he'll speak to her. My development is going backwards if anything. I don't want to work for someone who won't engage with me.

I have one (final, as far as I'm concerned) meeting on Wednesday to say I have given it a shot as requested but I want to move back.

Question is - do I say that it's affecting my confidence so badly that I'll move on if not? It's true, but I feel like if they do move me back they'll always view me as someone dramatic who basically blackmailed them. But I don't want to hand my notice in this summer to "Oh you should have told us you were so unhappy, we'd have done XYZ".

I agree with you that presenting it as "do what I want or I'll quit" probably won't end well, but I think they should know that the current situation is untenable and you need them to engage in meaningful problem-solving with you to resolve it.

It's possible they may currently be thinking that all you need is space to vent about the issues rather than a resolution.

Yes, agreed. I think my boss is expecting a 10-minute handhold "there there" sort of meeting but I have bullet-pointed notes! Meaningful problem-solving is a great phrase.

I think you can be clear about what you want without saying you'll resign if you don't get it if you see what I mean. Just be clear that you're unhappy and why and then make a proposal as to how you want things to change. That way you have made it clear what you want and you give them the chance to remedy it. I wouldn't even mention to them that you are considering leaving if it doesn't change. Ultimately if that's what you end up doing, at least if you have laid it out to them clearly, and you are giving them the opportunity to change things. If you resign and they question it, you can refer back to the time you raised it with them and that they didn't do anything about it.

I think you have to dress it up in business speak. Something like, you would prefer to problem solve as the current situation is not supporting the company's goals for your position. It also helps if you talk about the role or position rather than yourself. It implies that nobody would be able to do this, not just you, and also shows that the company is not getting the work they want from this situation.

Thanks everyone.