Why is it important to announce an employee’s departure?

Remember the Great Resignation? One of the most important lessons from it was that how you navigate a team member’s departure is judged not just by the person leaving, but the remaining employees. So it’s a great chance to show your team that you care about them.

It’s a crucial part of your offboarding process that can create a positive impact not only for the person leaving but for your EVP, too.

To ensure a smooth transition, consider using our Employee Exit Interview Template. This resource will help you manage the departure effectively and gather valuable feedback.

When should you send the employee departure announcement email?

Your departing team member is likely to be a point of contact for many customers, ongoing projects, and tasks. Once you’ve confirmed their last day with them, make sure you notify your team.

To save you time, we’ve provided templates for you, including one to announce their departure and one for the departing employee to put in their auto-reply.

How else can you prepare for an employee’s departure?

Do you have an offboarding process in place? If not, you might want to check out our step-by-step guide on the employee offboarding process.

Make sure you wrap up some employment administration such as:

• Final payroll
• Disconnecting any relevant accounts
• Returning of equipment
• Reviewing documentation and work filing
• Allocation of existing responsibilities
• Organising a final handover meeting

If your company conducts exit interviews, make sure you block time well before the departing employees’ last day so that you can have a face-to-face meeting to ask any questions. Remember to make sure that the interviewer is not their direct manager or close colleague, so they feel able to speak their mind openly.

For a useful resource, refer to our Employee Offboarding Checklist Template. This checklist ensures you cover all critical steps during the offboarding process.

Should you organise a farewell party for departing employees?

There’s no one rule on whether or not you hold a farewell event. This really depends on the nature of the resignation and the timing of the departure.

There are a few things to consider when it comes to who to invite. You may choose to organise an intimate one with their immediate team, or depending on how big the company is, a wider company event.

If it’s a small business, and the employee leaving has a good rapport with the entire company, chances are you may want to send an RSVP to everyone and share the exact details of the leaving do, where it’s taking place and the date.

3 common questions you might receive after an employee departure announcement

A few things are likely to happen if an employee resigns. On top of wishing someone the best in their future endeavours, be prepared for some common questions you’re likely to face when you announce an employee is leaving.

Will there be any plans to hire a replacement?

Their immediate team are likely to want to know any details you may have, such as the timeline of any hiring plans you intend to kick off, and whether or not there might be any changes to the role.

Who is the best point of contact for any ongoing projects?

If the departing employee oversaw a few projects that are still live, or may have some outstanding tasks left on their to-do, you may want to clarify who the best new point of contact is, and whether or not it is being addressed in a handover.

Has there been an agreed leave date?

If you have a leaving date worked out, you may want to share this with their immediate and wider team, to give team members ample time to organise any important tasks that need to be addressed in the handover.

Simplify employee departures with Employment Hero

Employment Hero is the world’s first employment OS that can simplify your employee departures. Saying goodbye isn’t easy, but make sure you give the leaving employee nothing but your best wishes and a positive note to end on. Use our employee departure email template to get you started.

If you’re ramping up operations after a stand-down period, our Notice to End Stand Down Template can be extremely useful. It provides clear guidelines on how to communicate the end of a stand-down period to your staff.

Download the email template for employee leaving procedures now.