Why defining your 'Employee Separation Strategy' is a must ?

Some of you may personally have experienced a painful separation process or may have heard from your peers that their resignation became a nightmare because their manager began to act as a jerk and treated them as though they had committed a big offense and had become an enemy.

All the managers in a company like to think that they are able to establish and maintain a positive relationship with their employees throughout the employee lifecycle and all HR personnel believe that they are working for a people-oriented company.However, when it comes to employee separation, the mood of the managers (and even HR personnel) can change dramatically, and a so-called people-oriented company may start behaving in such an odd way towards the soon-to-depart employee that it makes it an uncomfortable experience for many of the employee's colleagues observing the process.Sometimes such odd behaviour is unintentional and is caused by managers feeling slighted by a good employee's resignation, but at other times it may be done deliberately. For example, a manager may instruct the HR personnel to delay the resigning employee's departure from the company as much as possible, using such tactics as delaying acknowledgment of the resignation itself, signing the clearance forms, paying the End of Service Bonus, cancelling the contract and work permit, etc.; but all of that must be regarded as highly unethical and unacceptable behaviour.

There will always be many different reasons behind an employer’s seemingly unfriendly attitude towards those who resign, but today I am discussing only why such things should not happen and how to avoid pitfalls of this nature.

Firstly, it needs to be understood that 'Employee Separation Strategy' is a widely neglected matter amongst companies today, even in some of those companies who strive hard to foster good relationships at all levels. It is therefore hardly surprising to see that many managers fail to appreciate that,the human psyche being the way it is, the negativity caused in the closing period of an employee's stay will forever be remembered by him/her (and possibly relayed to others in the future), despite all the good times you shared together in the previous few years.It is the same principle as trying to paint a good portrait; no matter how much effort you apply, a small spill, a tiny drop of paint in the wrong place or a wrong brush stroke can damage the whole painting irreparably. In the same way, mistakes at the separation phase do much the same to previously good employee relationships. Unhappy leavers may turn against the company and, thanks to the accessibility to effective social media that abounds nowadays, their criticism will be heard by thousands, and many more may then join them by chipping in with their own related experiences.

"the best 'branding tool' that a company can have nowadays comes in the shape of happy employees"

The best 'branding tool' that a company can have nowadays comes in the shape of happy employees who are pleased to spread the good news about the wonderful company they work for, but few companies seem to recognize this fact. Even where a company does appreciate the value of fostering a happy workforce, they may still fail to understand that employee separation is a sensitive matter that encompasses the following factors:

Legal issues:

Discrimination or abuse in the workplace and the resultant compensation claims are subject to the full weight of the law, and any complaint to a law enforcing agency may result in a court case against the employer, who may face stiff penalties if found guilty of flouting the law. Once the offence becomes public knowledge, the company will find it will take a very long time to erase the associated stigma.

Emotional distress:

Leaving a job is one of the most stressful situations we face in the modern world. An off-boarded employee will suffer the most distress, but his/her colleagues will probably also suffer emotionally as well, the extent of that suffering being entirely dependent on how the departing person is being treated by the managers. Most employees keep their eye on events happening around them, and witnessing an unpleasant leaving scenario will inevitably leave a bad impression about the company and could even affect the morale and performance of the employees left behind.

Maintaining brand reputation:

it is a fact that, nowadays, in the same way as companies conduct reference checks on potential employees, candidates often conduct a similar vetting process of potential employers by checking with existing employees and, especially, ex-employees. Any negative feedback could easily rubbish your brand reputation and even significantly disrupt your hiring campaign. Moreover, you never know when a departed employee will be sitting on the other side of the table representing a client, where he/she can then raise questions about your company's ethics and compliance.

Career sensitivity issues:

Many employment offers are time sensitive, with the new employer requiring the new joiner to report by a certain date at the very latest. Delays in getting clearance from the current employer may therefore result in the employee losing the new job, and such an event may affect that person's career, as well as cause financial problems that would be disastrous for that person's family members.

"design offboarding process as good as the onboarding"

Companies should design the separation and offboarding process to be as good as the onboarding process, where each aspect of the employee's separation should be carefully reviewed and efforts made to make the whole process as smooth as possible. Below are a few suggestions that employers could put into practice that would go a long way towards achieving the objective of making employee separation a less traumatic experience for everybody involved:

Separation (offboarding) training:

Companies should allocate time to training those who play any part in the employee separation process and which, for good effect, should include introducing role-playing scenarios that will be useful in later real-life situations. Every aspect of such involvement should be well defined, from the behaviour and attitudes displayed and the communication methods employed (including paying attention to dialogue,speech patterns/inflections, body language, etc.), so that the concerned employees will know how best to behave towards departing employees and how and what to communicate with/to them.

Farewell party:

A pleasant farewell lunch/dinner with colleagues and the relevant manager is quite common in many companies. Such farewells provide an opportunity to socialize with the departing employee in a more casual mood setting, which may then provide insights and information that can be critical for the HR and the department manager for developing future improvements.

Personalized appreciation letter:

Assuming that the departing employee has performed well in his/her job, an appreciation letter would reinforce an employee's belief in himself/herself and would help make him/her feel important and appreciated at the workplace. It would also help to bolster confidence for them to perform well in their new job.

Separation buddy:

Many of you will have heard about an 'onboarding/induction buddy', whose role it is to help a new joiner in understanding the company culture, complete the necessary paperwork, obtain all necessary passes and get started on the job. A 'separation buddy' is a similar concept to help departing employees in their move by personally guiding the employee through the offboarding process. A separation buddy would be a good idea for most companies, since it may provide the best source of information on the experience of the departing employees so that effective improvements to the separation process can be made.

Parting note from colleagues:

Work colleagues are a very important part of our networking efforts and may help us in a variety of different ways in our career and business, such as by way of job leads, introductions to new people and providing a good reference for you. Encouraging your employees to write a pleasant departing message to outgoing employees will be of benefit to everybody, if only for the all-round goodwill it will create.

Parting gift:

A small parting gift of lasting value would create a good impression and will help to remind the departing employee to recall the time spent in your company as having been of value, as well as reinforce the message that your company cares about its employees, even if they have decided to go.

Developing employee alumni groups:

There are two good reasons behind developing employee alumni groups:

(i) It is always beneficial to keep employees engaged with each other, no matter if they are still working for you or used to work for you, since they might return to work for you in the future or help in recommending you to good potential employees; and

(ii) Even though you do not currently have an official alumni group, setting one up may bring great benefits, since your employees are used to using networking groups and will usually be active on LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, WeChat, QQ International, etc., and they may therefore welcome a chance to share their views with work colleagues (both existing/current and those who have departed).

All the above observations and comments relate to where employees have resigned because they intend to move to another company. However, there will inevitably be times in all companies where an employee's contract needs to be terminated for some reason or other. In all such cases, the level of stress for both the departing employee and his/her close colleagues will be far greater than where the departure is being done because of voluntary resignation. According to the circumstances therefore, much more attention must be paid to avoiding conflicts and recrimination in forced termination situations, which might otherwise leave a sour taste in everybody's mouth. Wherever it is appropriate therefore, thought should be given about the best way to provide resources to the departing employees to help in their future careers, which may include bringing in expert counselling services where mass layoffs have to be conducted due to a sudden major problem that has hit the industry, and that counselling may need to be extended to those employees who will remain in the company, since they will inevitably have deep concerns for their own future having seen close colleagues lose their jobs.

Where somebody's job is terminated because of wrongdoing, great care must be taken to see that the managers do not become hostile to that person; sometimes the best defence here is to immediately remove the employee and make the necessary settlement payments as a matter of priority, so that any resentment is not allowed to fester. However, in all cases of job termination, the HR personnel must ensure that full and proper reasoning for the termination is relayed to the employee in a suitable manner that will cause the least upset or offence, because otherwise, the repercussions on general staff morale could become quite negative. 

About Author:

Mudassar Waseem is an MBA graduate and has about ten years of experience in the Human Resource industry (Oil & Gas). He has been working with China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation (CPECC) in the Middle East for over five years attracting and retaining the best talent. He provides end to end recruitment services and advises on hiring strategies.

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Special Credits: Thanks to Mr. Walter Salmon on writing tips and suggesting improvements.

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