Don’t let your good employees bid adieu with a heavy heart

Decisions - to me this one word describes what life is. At the end of it all, life is only about the choices we made, and the battles we chose to fight.

As someone who has been leading a company for quite some time now, I’ve had my fair share of goodbyes to some great people who have worked with me. But before I get into my story, I’d like to point out something which most companies miss.

There is great brouhaha in welcoming someone as part of the team. But, how many celebrations do we see for people who bid goodbye to the team in-between? Not many.

In fact, I just asked the team members sitting around my desk right now the same question. And, the answer by all of them was in negative. Hence, point proved.

But, being the Marketing Manager at ProofHub I am not someone who agrees to this culture. What I believe is that life is all about choices we make. At one time it was their choice to be part of your organization. It was great! Now they have chosen to move ahead, and focus on something they want based on their current life-scenario. And, as a business owner and leader you must accept and respect this fact.

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Rather than cribbing about the fact that they are leaving or over-burdening them with work, why not make the last few days (during their notice period) the most memorable ones? After all, they have given their heart and soul to your business for all the time they have worked for you. Doesn’t it become your responsibility to bid them a good farewell?

If you can relate to what I’m saying, and want to change the way things work when people say goodbye in your organization, then here are some things worth considering -

Don’t alienate them

Okay, so he’s leaving in a month’s time. He won’t be working on your next project. Does this mean he has nothing to do with the team right now?

By alienating the person who has worked with you, no matter for how long, you are really setting a bad example in front of the entire team. A good leader does things to gain the respect of his team, and by making your employee feel left alone at a time when he’s leaving you are in a way creeping up the fear in other team member’s mind that they will have to face the same.

Don’t end it on a bad note

It is quite common for employers to start bad mouthing people when they are on the verge of leaving the company. All of a sudden problems start to creep up in their work. The things they were great at doing earlier, now they become just okay.

Just because someone chose to move on from your company does not mean he or she has something negative against your business. Whatever the reason is for the move, be it changing a career or just getting better growth opportunities, it is their choice and you need to accept it gleefully.

Don’t overburden them

A big mistake businesses make when it comes to handling the last few days of employees with their company is that they overburden them, thinking they need to get everything done before they leave.

This really shows the sense of panic as well as insecurity about the leaving of the employee. At the same time it puts a negative impression of the employer being apathetic about the person who is leaving. This behavior can work against you. Don’t forget that maintaining positive business reputation requires good networking. And, these employees are going to work somewhere else and talk about the way you dealt with them.

So, don’t cut off the nose to spite the face by making them feel bad during their last days with your organization.

Show gratitude, rather than attitude

Bidding goodbye is the best time to make the employee feel great. It is the time for you to show appreciation about what they have done for the organization. Thank them for the efforts and time they have invested while working with you for your organization.

By showcasing their growth stories you can kill two birds with one stone. First of all, make the leaving employee feel great about you and your business culture. Secondly, you are putting up an example in front of the other employees to follow by highlighting what that employee had done for your business over the course of time.

Never let them go without a feedback

Most important of all, this is the time to get them to talk about their experience with the organization and get their feedback on how to improve the existing structure.

Remember - there is always scope for improvement in every business. A person who has been part of the system, but is now leaving, can let you know all about the negatives and positives about it as he or she is not burdened with the fear of facing any negative response (though the fear should not exist in the first place, but there is always little bit of insecurity in the back of mind).

A wise man once said, people are never going to remember what you did. But, they are always going to remember the way you made them feel. And, when a good employee is bidding goodbye, it is time for you to make them feel great and not otherwise.

This will not only make the person who is leaving feel good about your business, but will also bring your business into positive limelight amongst the current team members.

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Vartika Kashyap runs the marketing team at ProofHub — a project management software for teams of all sizes. She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2016. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.

Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.

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