Will asking HR questions alert them I’m considering leaving?
February 14, 2005
Subject: stock options
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2005
From: Anonymous
Mr. Gray,
I received several thousand shares of stock in my employer a little less than two years ago as an incentive to accept my job. The company will soon go public, but I’m thinking about leaving. I don’t understand the stock plan, but I’m afraid to ask questions at the HR department because they will probably suspect I am planning to leave. What would you do?
Answer
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2005
Hello,
I would tell the HR department that I need to have information about the stock plan in order to prepare for the coming public offering. If you actually have unexercised options for company stock, you might want to exercise them before the company goes public – whether you decide to leave or not. GETTING PROFESSIONAL ADVICE FOR THIS SITUATION IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT.
Good luck!
Mike Gray