Part 2 of this inaugural report offers more quantitative data from 80 respondents sharing their experience of how they were treated after tendering their resignation from an organization where they experienced abuse and neglect – with particular focus on perceptions of treatment during the resignation period. Part 1 offers demographic information and initial quantitative data, and Part 3 will share expanded respondent qualitative data.
- What prompted the resignation?
- 76% a mental health impact stemming from your low-morale experience
- 73% accepted a new job offer
- 38% a physical health impact stemming from your low-morale experience
- 36% Pressing need to leave due to the low-morale experience (no job lined up)
- Other reported prompts include:
- “I was laid off”
- “Learning more about low-morale experiences and their impact on the individual, including attending a [Renewals event]”
- “My probation was extended for unclear reasons”
- “Miscommunication and overstepping of boundaries by management and administration”
- “Things were reaching a boiling point and I would have been terminated if I’d stayed much longer”
- Length of resignation period:
- 31% Two weeks
- 19% Three weeks
- 18% each: One month; More than one month
- Other reported resignation periods include:
- “[I] initially gave two weeks but was asked to leave instead”
- “I was on leave already”
- “[I] was fired a week after my probation extension and while seeking employment elsewhere.”
- Did the abuse/neglect you experienced stop during the resignation period?
- 72% No
- 14% each: Yes; Not Sure
- Compared to the race and pace of established abuse during the low-morale experience, during the resignation period there was…:
- 49% An uptick in emotional abuse
- 38% An uptick in negligence
- 35% The established abuse types continued at the same rate/pace
- 28% No upticks in any established abuse
- 18% An uptick in verbal/written abuse
- 17% An uptick in system abuse
- Reported abuse examples include:
- “Once my boss knew I was leaving, she was suddenly super cheerful and nice. A total gaslight compared to the months of abuse I had endured from her earlier’
- “My resignation was not announced until after I left. I heard there were rumors that I had been fired after the announcement. Administrators who had harassed me were informed I was leaving before the library-wide announcement.”
- “Public humiliation…blaming me when coworkers asked for help after my departure/blamed failures on me in front of peers.”
- “Gaslighting from management and administration”
- Indicate new types of abuse/neglect experienced during the resignation period:
- 65% No new abuse types
- 16% Emotional abuse
- 10% each: Negligence; Verbal/written abuse
- 7% System abuse
- Reported abuse examples include:
- “Account access was removed. All enterprise managed account data was transferred to a supervisor who replaced my name with theirs (all documentation that I wrote, all projects that I led). They had no respect for agency or chain of trust”
- “Some individuals who had previously maintained a neutral/positive working relationship with me seemed to follow a herd-mentality inspired by higher-ups in that they began ignoring me, not including me in current events/potential programs. No acknowledgement of my upcoming departure/I never existed.”
- “My departure was celebrated as a ‘win’ for the organization as a ‘stepping stone’ to better jobs, which was a complete lie and used my identity and actions in ways that were not true to me.”
- “Former abusive supervisor contacted me at my new work email as if trying to keep tabs on me.”
- “Lack of administrative system around resigning increased greatly – no help with outboarding or reassigning work”
- Indicate new abusers during the resignation period:
- 63% No new abusers
- 19% Coworkers/Colleagues
- 18% Supervisors/managers
- 17% Library administrators
- 14% Human Resources employees/representatives
- 1% each: Campus administrators;Union representatives
- Other responses: “Library security”
- Indicate different influences/impacts during the resignation period:
- 43% No new influences/impacts
- 19% Uncertainty & Mistrust
- 16% Library workplace culture
- 15% Human Resources Limitations
- 14% Collegiality
- 11% each: Contagion; LIS Behavior culture (“Library Nice”); Politics
- 10% Burnout
- 7% each: Diversity Rhetoric; Leadership Styles; Perceptions of Libraries/Libraries; Policies
- 5% each: Organizational Structure; Resilience Narratives; Stereotype Threat; Vocational Awe
- 4% each: Deauthentication; Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Personal Safety; Staffing & Employment; Whiteness; White Supremacy
- 3% Racism
- 1% each: Social Contexts; Training
- Other reported inpacts/influences include:
- “Presumption of incompetence”
- “Former abusive boss lied to her boss that I was leaving because of ‘personality differences’ before I had a chance to debrief him alone”
- “Misinformation about why I was leaving; no self-accountability on part of leadership even though I was the 4th person to leave our department in a 9 month period.”
- “Library director conspired with HR and Provost to remove librarians’ faculty status out of jealousy and as a means of gaining more control over the librarians.”
If you’d like to share how your low-morale experience developed during your resignation period, participate in this ongoing data collection project. Updates to this briefing will be shared periodically.
Looking for support in your recovery from workplace harm? Need perspective and guidance as you transition to a new workplace? Let’s schedule a Connection Call!
