Final Moments at Work: Priorities Shifted
Handling the final phase of an employment relationship requires careful planning, professionalism, and emotional intelligence. Stefanie Bickert, a career expert at Indeed, provides tips for a successful farewell.
## Smooth Transition
Preparing for the conversation with your employer is crucial. Choose the right time and place for a private meeting to discuss your resignation, ensuring a respectful conversation. Practice your talking points, focusing on personal growth or new opportunities. Discuss the transition plan, offering assistance during the period, such as training a replacement or completing projects.
Writing a professional resignation letter or email is also essential. This should state your intention to leave, the effective date, and express gratitude for the opportunity.
Finalizing tasks and handovers is another important step. Complete any urgent tasks and ensure a seamless handover of responsibilities to colleagues or a replacement.
## Personal Goodbyes
Craft personalized farewell messages for colleagues, managers, and clients, expressing gratitude and best wishes. Tailor your messages based on the nature of your relationship with each recipient. Send farewell emails or leave notes for colleagues, acknowledging their support and friendship.
Updating your professional profiles (e.g., LinkedIn) to reflect your departure and new career path, if applicable, is also recommended.
## Emotional Closure
Recognize the emotions associated with leaving a job, such as sadness or excitement, and allow yourself to process them. Reflect on the accomplishments and experiences gained during your tenure and celebrate them, either privately or with colleagues.
Stay in touch with colleagues and mentors who have been important to you, ensuring that professional and personal relationships remain intact. Focus on the new opportunities and challenges ahead, using the past experience as a foundation for future success.
## Additional Considerations
Be aware of the company's offboarding process and collaborate with relevant departments to ensure a smooth exit. Maintain a positive and professional demeanor during your final days and in any communication post-departure.
If appropriate, provide constructive feedback to your employer or reflect on what you learned from your time at the company. In a difficult work environment, a good handover is considered the final proof of professionalism.
Employees should organize their personal digital files, clean up file storage, and email inbox. Personal data should be deleted, and accesses and technology returned to the IT department if necessary.
Take time in the last few days to reflect on three professional and personal growth points, and one thing learned about oneself at the workplace.
In the final phase of the employment relationship, conflicts should not be ignored but addressed calmly and factually in conversations with colleagues or in the exit interview with management. Respectful treatment should always be possible, even if the departure was not voluntary. Avoid using standard phrases in a farewell email, and refrain from negative generalizations during conversations or the exit interview. Impulsive actions should be avoided during a difficult departure, and a clean exit is appreciated later. Questions like "What would you have wished for differently?" are opportunities to provide feedback. Bid farewell to colleagues with whom one wants to maintain personal or professional contact, either during a last coffee break or a walk through the department. Stefanie Bickert advises against letting conflicts be the last thing that's remembered during the final phase of the employment relationship.
To ensure a smooth farewell and facilitate personal growth, tailor your conversation points when discussing your resignation with your employer to emphasize opportunities for personal or career development. Express gratitude and well wishes to colleagues, managers, and clients in personalized farewell messages, focusing on the relationships built during your tenure.
