Culture Audit Part 2.5 Off-Boarding Matters

How you say goodbye matters!

Photo by Mahdi Mahmoodi on Unsplash

Off- Boarding matters! Saying goodbye to colleagues is an indicator of culture. How do you say goodbye to people in your company, whether they are retiring, resigning, or asked to leave/fired? I have transitioned from a few schools in my career. Some of the schools have had long-held systems and traditions in place for saying goodbye: community gatherings, speeches, gifts, and more. Some places do not, especially when you have been asked to leave. Whether it is your choice or the company’s choice, I think it is important for a person to be able to leave with grace and a sense of closure.

Human Resources or People Operations can play a key role as well as the direct supervisor of the person. Think about how you want people to feel when they are leaving your company. What do you want them to say about their experiences? Of course, there are certain circumstances where this is not going to work out. Confidentiality plays a key role. Yet, having intentions and some systems in place can help leaders think and work backwards into designing the exit experience. Establishing systems and intentions helps leaders have more time and space so they can respond versus react. Building in time for reflection for the person exiting and for the company is vital as well.

Despite the reasons for terminating employment, offboarding should be a positive experience. Therefore, you should put in the same effort as during onboarding.

Laura Gariepy, careerminds

Reflection Questions to Consider for Off-boarding:

• How are people exited from a community (retirement, resignation, fired)?
• What does each situation look like internally and externally?
• How do we get feedback on how to improve?
• How do you want people to feel about their exiting experience?
• How can you work backwards from these intentions?

Whether you are joining a new work community or managing the onboarding or off-boarding in your company, you can tell a lot about a company’s culture from these processes. Look for the cultural clues. You will learn a lot about your company from the way they welcome and say goodbye.