Unwanted Feeling of Unappreciatedness

Those Above Me have sent me a response, of sorts, to my resignation e-mail. I was starting to wonder whether I had sent it to the wrong people, or whether I had accidentally written it in Swahili, but no. No mistakes were made, they’re just unbelievably crap at communicating with the staff that do all the work for them, and that’s a huge part of my motivation to leave.
There was a waffly paragraph about ‘understanding frustrations’ and ‘accepting it’s been a difficult year for the retail trade’ and then a few lines about wanting to discuss things with me before I make a final decision. I’ve read it a few times and I still can’t work out if they’re letting me go, persuading me to stay, or simply indifferent. My suspicion is they’re going to drag things out as long as they can, so my 3-month notice period can’t officially start, so they can keep me in position until they either find a replacement or wipe the job from existence completely.
I need to decide now when to start telling my staff. I’ll still be around until the end of February but I don’t want them to start worrying about their own jobs and who might be dropped in above them as their new boss. Things have a habit of slipping out when you don’t want them to, and I’d like them to hear it from me, and hear the truth, rather that react to any rumours that will no doubt start flying soon.
It’s strange how quickly I have adapted to the fact that I’m leaving. I thought I’d take a while to get used to it and have a few days of doubting my decision or regretting the fact that I’d taken it, but that hasn’t happened at all. If anything, it feels like I’ve woken up and realised just how much I dislike about the place and the position and how pleased I am that I’ve got a way out.
I’ve often spoken to people before about the terrible situation that so many adults find themselves in – falling accidentally into a job that they then convince themselves is good, and end up getting stuck with – without twigging that I was in that situation myself.

RC 4-12-20