Opportunities for Decorum When People Leave the Company
People leaving the company impacts team morale and should be handled with care and transparency
With the increase in remote and hybrid work, we often interact with our coworkers through chat programs, email and video calls. In some instances, we may only know people virtually, seeing them just on a screen in their remote workspace. Even though our interactions are different, we can still form strong emotional bonds with our virtual coworkers. When a person separates from the team, either on their own terms or through termination, it is imperative that the manager communicate what they are able, then focus on the morale and cohesion of the team that remains.
Processing separations
For the impacted individual
Read paperwork carefully
Close gracefully to line up your next job
For more tips, see https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/let-go-job
For the team
Reaching out to someone on Slack or Teams and suddenly finding them deactivated can be a jarring experience. “What happened to Joe? I just talked to him yesterday, now all of his accounts show deactivated!” or perhaps you see the update on LinkedIn before getting an update internally. When processing this type of event, it can be important to consider the following:
Access gets cut quickly
Your manager is limited in what they can say
Maintain connections outside of work
Access gets cut quickly
It is a common corporate policy to cut access immediately when an employee separates with the company. This is done as a safe guard to prevent regrettable actions by a person in a time of grief or more premeditated, malicious actions. Depending on the company or situation, this behavior may even happen when an employee gives voluntarily notice. Future emails and chats for a person are typically forwarded immediately to a person’s former manager.
Your manager is limited in what they can say
There are privacy and legal reasons that limit what your manager can say when a person separates with the company. Company policy often dictates that personnel matters be kept strictly confidential. You wouldn’t want your name defamed after leaving the company and other people deserve the same courtesy. Separations can also get messy as both the employer and employee may pursue legal action. Legal counsel and HR may direct a manager on what they can and can’t say.
Maintain connections outside of work
Due to the abrupt nature of separations, all work communications will likely become unavailable. The time to establish relationships and communication channels is long before any work events come to a boil. Consider using platforms like LinkedIn to stay in contact professionally or more direct lines of communication if a strong friendship has developed. If you decide to reach out to a friend who leaves the company, focus mainly on their well being. If they want to share details, they will, but it’s their story to tell on their own time table.
In the grand scheme of things, the technology universe isn’t that big. I’ve intentionally worked with people again at different jobs. I have unintentionally crossed paths with others at future jobs and in the community. I have also seen roles get reversed for who is in charge. Treat everyone with professionalism, you never know who you’ll cross paths with.
For the manager
Consult with your HR and legal team for what you can say and when
Maintain confidentiality on personnel matters
What you can say may be limited to “[Employee] is no longer with the company. We wish her the best in her future endeavors.”
In some cases HR or legal may advise you to say nothing and instruct you to direct question their way
Begin immediately to address the emotional well being of the rest of the team
Opportunities for decorum
Decorum, behavior that is considered, correct, polite and respectable, is important for the long term morale of a workplace. Separations are going to happen. People make changes in their life and leave jobs. Business conditions change and people get terminated. Regardless of what happens, we can all be decent human beings to each other. The remainder of this article suggests specific ways to conduct oneself with decorum during separations.
Say something, even if you can’t say much
Because the manager has to navigate a complex maze of privacy and legal concerns, there may be a temptation to just say nothing. This failure to act leads to speculation and uncertainty in the teams. It leaves employees feeling like they can only get information from outside sources.
A manager should consult with HR on who can say what and when, but something should be said, even if it is as simple as “[person] is no longer with the company”. Company policy may dictate that this type of message comes from an HR person, in which case the manager should work with HR to ensure the communication is handled in a timely manner.
As a team member you should avoid dealing in speculation and be direct if needed. “I noticed Joe’s account has been deactivated in the system. Does Joe still work for the company?”. You might find out good news like the person is just on FMLA leave (some companies have policies that require accounts to be deactivated for extended leave periods). You might also find out bad news that the person is no longer with the company, but at least you can operate on facts instead of speculation.
Check on the impacted individual
Some separations can go very smoothly and other separations can be traumatic life events.
For the manager, find a way to give the impacted person a genuine compliment. Allow the person to get their personal effects. If that is impractical, make sure someone, either yourself or HR, carefully boxes and mails all personal items. Work with your HR representative to make sure all final paperwork is completed correctly. Make sure insurance continuation paperwork, final pay checks and other financial matters are in order. Make sure employee records are accurate, such as the ability to work at the company again or eligibility for unemployment. Maybe this job didn’t work out but you should still care about the impacted person as a human being.
As a team member, check on people you were close to. When checking, focus on how people are doing, about their well being. If it is appropriate, such as with permission or when a person publicly asks for help, you may be able to help the person with connections in your network. If you don’t feel comfortable helping with a referral, don’t offer and politely decline if requested.
Focus on team cohesion
As a manager, you should dedicate significant efforts to support the morale and productivity of the team members who remain after a separation. The person separated from the company may have been a friend or someone people relied on. There may be a need to distribute work among the team to cover immediate needs. If there are no plans to backfill the person who separated from the company, strongly consider making hard decisions for the long term like saying no to things or reducing commitments to keep work life balance for the team.
As a team member, if your manager isn’t addressing the needs of the team, be direct. Ask specifics about open work items and unmet commitments Express your actual workload over time and point out unsustainable work configurations. Ask about back fills for the position and if appropriate, refer qualified candidates.
Termination should never be a surprise to the employee
An employee should never be surprised about a termination. The manager should set clear expectations. The manager should provide training, coaching and mentoring. The manager should work with an employee to address gaps in performance. Company policy may require a written performance improvement plan before separating with an employee who hasn’t committed any criminal acts. The manager and employee should both help form this plan and the employee should receive regular feedback on their progression.
Be transparent about company financials
A company must operate within the finances they have and sometimes that means reducing head count. The part that frustrates employees is being told financials are great and learning later that they were not so good after all.
Managers, if sales are slowing, or expenses are sky rocketing, tell your employees. Positive outcomes may include:
Staff members may be able think of ways to make new revenue or cut costs
Some employees may accept other job opportunities, reducing financial obligations for the company
Staff may defer major decisions like moving, buying a home or a new car
This transparency may not stop financial decline for a company, but employees will at least be more prepared and able to brace for impact. As a manager, this may be a hard conversation because it can involve factors outside of your control. I can assure you that it’s a much harder conversation when life altering actions are the only option.
As a team member you can be direct to encourage more transparency. Ask questions about financial health. Ask about future hiring, major accounts, product lines, debt levels and industry trends. Understand how your work contributes to the bottom line. Suggest ideas for significant improvements.
Conclusion
Separations can be difficult for everyone involved. We can do what is correct, polite and respectable by remembering:
Separation actions can be taken in a way to protect the dignity of individuals
Managers must focus on team cohesion after a separation
Team members should be open and direct with needs
Managers should clearly set and manage expectations
Accurate financials help employees be effective and plan for the future
In closing, our workplaces will be stronger if we find a way to have decorum.
"Be excellent to each other"
Bill, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
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