Divulging Personal Info - The Request vs. The Notice

I was asked by a friend of mine to look further into the formalities of requests and notices in systems of breaks and resignations, and after doing my whole "well what's the point, I'm a busy developer and I already wrote about it", I caved, and here I am, indulging you further!

The request is an often overused, and possibly wrongfully used, system of staff governance - whether it be through requesting breaks, requesting resignations, requesting lateral moves, et cetera. Some of these are perfectly great scenarios for requesting - I wouldn't just notify my upper management that I'm moving departments after all! - and in those cases I see no issue. However, a rising trend, and a lasting one at that, has been that requests are being used to validate breaks and resignations. This is an incredible violation of privacy and can introduce conflicts of interest, both of which are things you definitely don't want on your server.

In comes our better friend, the notice. The notice, like most things, is made for certain situations, and thankfully it is a real help in these situations where requests feel like they're prying a little too much. The notice serves as a heads-up, rather than a sought-out approval - it allows staff to retain control of the matters that drove them to make the decision in the first place, and ensures that they don't feel there is an approval channel to go through.

Now, let's talk about two of the primary ways we need, as a community, to implement notices instead of approvals - resignations and leaves of absence.

Resignations

The resignation process in most standard, part- or full-time work, implements a notice, so this one shouldn't be too far-fetched! For example, when I left my previous job for my soon-to-be-newest job, I gave a 14 day notice of resignation, signifying my courtesy of notifying my place of employment that I was leaving for new horizons. This was accepted and gladly agreed to, but that was never a formal discussion. I withheld my reasoning in some areas - I focused more on the dates and circumstances of my leave, but not on my personal rationale. This was my choice, and at no point was I forced to give these reasons or risk losing the validity of my resignation notice.

In fact, where I'm from, this is very illegal! In my home province of Ontario, Canada, it is illegal for an employer to do any of the following:

• Stop me from quitting my job, or require that my resignation be approved.
• Demand a reason for resignation, or an alternate reason for resignation.
• Keep records for a period exceeding three years.

Why do they mandate these preventions? Well, for employee privacy! I cannot be legally told that job satisfaction, workplace conduct issues, or even personal grudges are not a valid reason to resign. This is because my reason for resignation is privileged information - information that has no need to be divulged for privacy or personal reasons.

Now why is this something you should bring to Discord, just because it's a "real life rule?" The same higher-order ideas that I brought to the table in my last argument: it is a matter of personal, privileged information, and there is no (or should be no) reason for you to mandate that this information be shared. Beyond this, however, I recommend that you not hold the resignation against the staff member in any way either - whether that be reporting to a larger server, banning them from your staff team or server, or otherwise, there are always many ways to resolve disputes. Even to that end, if a member quits for job satisfaction-related reasons, there's no real need to ban them from anything - the odds of them retaining their role as an active member or staff member in the future can honestly diminish depending on who they feel was the catalyst for their general unenjoyment of their position.

What I recommend: If being informed is important to you - as it should be! - kindly ask that your departing staff members provide you with a date for departure in a dedicated channel or system. In my opinion, you should not provide even an anonymous or optional opportunity to add a reason to their leave - this can encourage fires to ignite, or can scare members into thinking they'll be held at a future disadvantage if they do not provide a reason.

My implementation would be just as I stated above - I'd provide a channel that asks for the date they're departing, after which they have their roles removed and are removed from all staff systems. Whether or not you want to mandate a time is up to you, and while I don't recommend it, if you feel the infrastructure or job duties have to be adequately accounted for, cleared, or passed onto the successor of the position, you may add a 48 hour or 72 hour notice requirement.

Be this as it may, I know some server owners or managers will be hesitant to add this system. My advice to you - if you're worried about the missing personnel, instead of the happiness and general retention of staff members, you may need to take a moment to critically evaluate the priorities of your management team.

Leaves of Absence (LOAs)

"Blizzy, this one makes sense to have a request! We have PTO requests in the workplace, that makes sense, right?" Well, not quite. What you are thinking of is either compensation for time off work, or earned time off as a part of a contract.

Let's head back to my home province, shall we? We also have Leave of Absence laws - for example, giving notice, not a request, of sick leave, is granted under clause 50(3) of the Employment Standards Act. Employees do not need to approach their employers, and through crusted eyes and stuffy noses, hoarsely declare "Mr. Employer, I am sick, may I have time off because of this?" Why? Again, because this is personal information! Not all sicknesses are external, and mental health struggles often incapacitate employees through means not commonly observed by a third-party.

Why should we bring this to Discord? I hope this answer is obvious to most! Mental health struggles can have a massive impact on Discord users, whether moderator or manager, occasional drop-in or omniscient owner. It is not fair for users to need to divulge their personal struggles to people they often have never met face-to-face, because most employees who work face-to-face don't have to either. It takes a lot of trust to tell someone about your mental health struggles, and this is something I wouldn't ask my staff to share with me at any point.

A similar sentiment goes for physical ailments - it's actually almost an inverse on Discord, because physical ailments are often the ones we can't see! To deny a user LOA if they're physically ill is restricting their own bodily autonomy. That's it, plain and simple. There is frankly no respectable reason for holding that against someone - they didn't plan for it, and they shouldn't be punished for playing a game of lottery against their own body.

Here are some of the complaints I've also heard from server owners regarding LOA:

1. "No requests means repetitive LOAs!" That's right, it does! At that point, you need to realize your role as a manager and assist your team in understanding that this could just as easily be a long-term personal battle for this user. It often follows that these users will resign from their positions - however, if they don't and their lack of involvement is becoming a worry, send them a message asking if they need anything, and whether they would like to continue contributing at your server.
2. "No requests means time off for unimportant matters!" This is not a territory for you to control. We all have different rationales for our decisions, and it is not our job to prove the burden of proof for a need for an LOA to any one person, anywhere. Something benign to one person can be catastrophic to another, and this is not something for you to govern with an iron fist. Remember that their provision of a reason for you is a far enough step to begin with, and realize that "different strokes for different folks" applies just as easily to LOA rationale.
3. "No requests means sudden outages of work!" That is okay! Ebbs and flows are natural. This likely means you need better systems of redundancy in place, or dare I say, some teams dedicated to other tasks may sometimes need to be asked to get their hands dirty somewhere else. There is nothing wrong with having a little bit of redundancy on a server.

For some reason, most server staff I come across seem to focus on the negatives surrounding LOA. LOA is very beneficial, and some staff can even come back stronger than when they were hired - believe me, I'd testify to that fact any day! We demonize taking a break for our own health, which is a little too workaholic for my liking - setting boundaries is crucial for safeguarding your mental health, which should be treated as a sanctuary. Protect your brain, and it will continue to help you develop and improve those projects you look forward to creating and innovating on daily!

So, we've addressed two chief concerns regarding the request vs notice principle; what can we take away from all of this information?

1. Take everything I say with a grain of salt! I am not the manager of your community, and every group and guild is different. While I implore you to take a staff-centric, servant leadership view as a manager, ultimately the buck lies with you. I hope that what I provide to you in these little articles is beneficial - maybe not as an instruction guide to running your server, but potentially as an inspiration to do good by all you meet.
2. Consider and prioritize collective wellbeing! A safe and healthy staff means a safe and healthy you. If systems work, and staff chip in when they are ready to do so, then you can rest easy knowing you've cultivated a team of individuals who know how to help you achieve your dreams. This is a team game, running a Discord server, and everyone should be allowed to pitch in whatever they can afford!
3. Communication is always key! There is never a moment, I'd argue, when communication is unhelpful and irrelevant. Make sure to keep your team informed, and ensure that they are in the loop, both during and after, the process of changing internal systems. They are the ones who use it every day, and if they agree and can easily understand the functions of each deliberate change, then the entire team can run on well-lubricated gears towards the seas of change.

I sincerely hope you learned something from this. Admitting you can do better is a trait of a fantastic leader - it's not fixing what's wrong; it's constructing on what's there!

First time here? Hi, my name is Blizzy! I am a Canadian server management advisor, independent developer, small-group facilitator, and professional developer. A lot of my professional career is designing and implementing training and development systems for small to large teams - I have certifications in various leadership programs with many more to come! I hope my readings provide you with the resources you need to grow alongside your staff team, as that falls in line with my one goal: helping you achieve your dreams!

For any info on my certifications, real life endeavors, or to just ask a question or say hi, please contact me on Discord @ Blizzy#8953, or by email at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you! All the best :)