Farewell email to colleagues

One of our middle managers retired after almost 40 years. Something he said stuck with me.

I’m sure my retirement will leave a hole in this company like taking your hand out of a bucket of water.

If you’re leaving, just leave. Surely those worth knowing outside of work are people that you already know outside of work.

http://www.appleseeds.org/indispen-man_saxon.htm

“The Indispensable Man”

By Saxon White Kessinger

Sometime when you’re feeling important;
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom
Sometime when you take it for granted
You’re the best qualified in the room,

Sometime when you feel that your going
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions
And see how they humble your soul;

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop and you’ll find that in no time
It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example
Is do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There’s no indispensable man.

Leaving email? Sounds a bit…

It would seem good manners to leave a short note.

Why? What’s the point?

I struggle with goodbyes at the end of a bike ride.

Just put this in your email. Says all you need to say imo.

Goodbye-ee Goodbye-ee wipe a tear, baby dear, from your eye-ee. Though it’s hard to part, I know I’ll be tickled to death to go. Don’t cry-ee Don’t sigh-ee. There’s a silver lining in the sky-ee. Bon soir old thing. Cheerio, chin-chin. Nahpoo. Toodleoo! Goodbye-ee!

After over 17 years of being universally relied upon throughout the company, most managers actually came to my office to say thanks and goodbye, which was nice. I just left an out of office along the lines off you should have figured it out by now and thanks for the last 17 years. Surprisingly no-one wants to talk to me any more (been blanked by a couple of people I’d normally chat to outside of work) and another ex-colleague who I lent a bike to for his step son, won’t answer my calls. OK, so I went to another producer in the same sector down the road, they might feel a little betrayed, but it’s nothing I wasn’t warning about for years!

People (particularly work colleagues) are fickle don’t waste too much time thinking about it. Look to the future.

I still meet up with ex colleagues for the odd beer and occasionally someone’s funeral etc. Got on pretty well with nearly everone I’ve worked with.

We went and stated in France the other week with some of the wife’s ex colleagues who’d retired there. You spend so much time at work, if you don’t get one with your colleagues and genuinely enjoy their company, you need to move job and find somewhere where you do.

I’ve only done it once, and that was because of a total breakdown with my employer and they wanted me to leave on a Friday without telling a soul about it, and find out on Sunday, via e-mail that I was going to be made redundant. I sent a 600 word diatribe to everyone in the business explaining how much I’d be shit on and all the dodgy shit I was witness too they didn’t know about.

No one really cared, but it made me feel better.

But in general terms, for most people it’s a huge moment in your life to leave a job after a long time, but for everyone else, you’ll mostly be forgotten about in a few weeks. People move on.

Why? What’s the point?

Basic manners.

Basic manners.

Is it? Most folk I work with I’d be saying cheerio in person, for the rest of the 800 odd person site I doubt they either know or care who I am or what I’m up to. I have no illusions that I’m anything more than a grunt and utterly unimportant.

Do you send everyone on the street a letter when you move house? Because that’s the level of interaction I have with about 90% of the site.

Is it? Most folk I work with I’d be saying cheerio in person, for the rest of the 800 odd person site I doubt they either know or care who I am or what I’m up to. I have no illusions that I’m anything more than a grunt and utterly unimportant.

Do you send everyone on the street a letter when you move house? Because that’s the level of interaction I have with about 90% of the site.

The OP said nothing about contacting every single employee, so I’m not at all sure what point you think you’re responding to. Maybe it was clever in your head.

Not saying goodbye to colleagues just seems weird to me, but each to their own.

I sent a relatively lengthy one to our 70-strong editorial team in which I matched up my colleagues to different members of The Muppets – in a nice, humourous way of course.

Mainly for my own entertainment but also out of genuine sentiment.

Bit risky in hindsight, considering I was relying on getting freelance work from several of those people. Think it went down quite well though.

The OP said nothing about contacting every single employee, so I’m not at all sure what point you think you’re responding to. Maybe it was clever in your head.

Not half as clever as you think you are. Did you miss the bit where I said:

Most folk I work with I’d be saying cheerio in person

Did you get out of bed in the morning with the express aim of being a complete walloper? Oh I’m sorry, did you say something about basic manners as well? Two for two, didn’t do well there did you?

Maybe try winding your neck in and thinking before engaging your brain, sounds like it needs to do some heavy lifting so best give it some time to do its thing.

Not saying goodbye to colleagues just seems weird to me, but each to their own.

If you’ve had a normal notice period then I’d expect to have had those sorts of conversations in the weeks/months leading up to departure, not in an email I send out while I’m waiting for the clock to tick down on my last day.

There’s no indispensable man.

Woman however…

Definitely not. In any circumstances. Its attention seeking cringeworthy fake drivel. Read this slowly; No one cares.

Did you get out of bed in the morning with the express aim of being a complete walloper? Oh I’m sorry, did you say something about basic manners as well? Two for two, didn’t do well there did you?

Maybe try winding your neck in and thinking before engaging your brain, sounds like it needs to do some heavy lifting so best give it some time to do its thing.

Doesn’t take much to get you going, does it? Though I am seeing why you wouldn’t think to say goodbye, social skills clearly aren’t your forte.

If you’ve had a normal notice period then I’d expect to have had those sorts of conversations in the weeks/months leading up to departure, not in an email I send out while I’m waiting for the clock to tick down on my last day.

Depends where you work. I’m mostly WFH these days and even beforehand, across multiple sites. I wouldn’t necessarily see people in person.

Pretty standard in every organisation I’ve ever worked for to have a bit of a gathering/speech around one’s desk in your last week or thereabouts, and also for the leaver to send a farewell email. As others have said, the latter seems like basic courtesy to me.

Pretty standard in every organisation I’ve ever worked for to have a bit of a gathering/speech around one’s desk in your last week or thereabouts, and also for the leaver to send a farewell email. As others have said, the latter seems like basic courtesy to me

Well, quite. Though my director did break with convention when he got the boot: “I’ve been sacked – this is my sacking do. There will be beer, and chips if I can be arsed”.

and also for the leaver to send a farewell email. As others have said, the latter seems like basic courtesy to me

I’d say the opposite and it’s a bit rude. If they are close work colleagues/friends then I’d expect a chat either at the leaving do or on a walk around. A blanket email says I want to tell you I’m going but I don’t care enough to actually talk to you.

It’s polite to say goodbye and good luck, unless you’ve won the lottery or are completely changing industry there’s a fair chance of encountering some of these people again.
Never burn a bridge you don’t have to.

It need not be long or full of false platitudes or emotional language.

“After X Years I am leaving the company today.
I’ve enjoyed my time here working with many of you, but I am moving on to take up a new opportunity.

I wish all of you the very best of luck going forward, and hope we still keep in touch in the future.

Best Regards,
……………..”

Takes about 2 minutes.

I’d say the opposite and it’s a bit rude. If they are close work colleagues/friends then I’d expect a chat either at the leaving do or on a walk around. A blanket email says I want to tell you I’m going but I don’t care enough to actually talk to you.

Why not do both? Blanket email to everyone, the people you’ve worked closely with you have a bit of a chat to, that’s how these things typically work.

I put my leaving date in my signature about a week or so before, and I asked IT to set my OOO to identify that I had left and who to go to next.

No one cares

Funnily enough, an email popped up in my inbox today from a colleague at one of our Swedish sites. I’ve never spoken to her or had an email to/from her in the year I’ve been here. Just seems odd to me. I’ve always emailed people I’ve had direct contact with, usually in the morning of my last day inviting them to the pub at lunch time.

Alternative view.

There’s so few left where I work, over a large rural area, that leavers emails are almost essential to avoid getting mountain rescue out for a missing person search when it turns out they’ve also got fed up with management and left. Can be weeks between some of us bumping into each other.

Really want to avoid the “gathering around the desk” as I work from home.

We’ve been having virtual desk gatherings to say good bye. For one of my team who left, I gave a nice talk to say thank you, and how much I appreciated their hard work and support over the years. I also dressed up for the occasion (dinner suit – top half only of course).

We had a senior manager in Australia who left as the business he had built up over many years had been changed beyond recognition by our US overlords in under a year.

He sent a general email saying he treasured the memories and relationships he built up etc. etc.

His sign off was very good though as he said “Remember LITSTDSRW and you’ll be right mate. Life is too short to drink shit red wine”.

Where I work (Financial Services) now the turnover is shocking, and has been for about a couple of years. In fact folk have left, who I never knew had started until I go looking for a ‘name’ that’s in an email/document…

I often get invites for virtual leaving do’s, but will only join (and contribute to a leaving card/present) if I worked often with the person AND really liked them.

I’ve worked at many places, so have little/no emotional connection to work (and colleagues TBH) but many years ago when I got laid off by a vindictive Director my old team (I had about 50 staff) put a leaving do on for me, and back-charged to the Dept budget :-)

Definitely not. In any circumstances. Its attention seeking cringeworthy fake drivel. Read this slowly; No one cares

This

I bet most of the people who do this kind of ‘everybody look at me’ nonsense start their toe-curling email by saying they’re ‘reaching out…’ to their soon to be former colleagues.

Not something I would do. Personal farewell to those I liked, Nowt to anyone else ( bar a sneer at a manager who tried to bully me)

Nothing shows how much your colleagues mean to you than an email.

We’ve just had a “leaving card” and collection go round for someone who’s not leaving just moving 20 mins down the road to a different office. Almost as annoying as being expected to bring in cakes for your iem birthday.

**** hate office bull5hit like this.

Clear ya desk and drink a beer while you’re doing it. 🙂

I bet most of the people who do this kind of ‘everybody look at me’ nonsense start their toe-curling email by saying they’re ‘reaching out…’ to their soon to be former colleagues.

I bet that most people don’t think they’re a member of the Four Tops, but just feel that it’s common decency to say goodbye when you’re leaving.

Friend of mine always says ” Look, I have to work with you 8 hours a day 5 days a week, please don’t make me have to pretend to be your friend too” on these sort of occasions (works for Christmas do’s, social occasions etc.)

I left my old team at the end of October. Was invited to a meeting today from the Manager’s PA. She didn’t know I’d left.

😂 Indispensable.

Maybe I should have sent an email…

Friend of mine always says ” Look, I have to work with you 8 hours a day 5 days a week, please don’t make me have to pretend to be your friend too” on these sort of occasions (works for Christmas do’s, social occasions etc.)

i’m guessing his colleagues aren’t too bothered…

I think there might be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy here.

If you don’t care if your work colleagues live or die and expect the same from them, then yeah, going to the effort of saying personal goodbyes and sending a quick email (or reading one if you’re on the receiving end) does seem a bit of a stretch.

“I’m leaving to follow my dream…………………of not working here anymore”

I’m quite well versed in leaving companies (my choice!) and always send a note to the people I’ve worked closest with just saying “lovely to work with you all, blah, blah, blah”. I just view it as courtesy plus theres always a chance you may go back at some point in the future (I’ve recently rejoined a company I left a few years ago) so your parting shot being a friendly email rather than just waltzing out the door may be a good move.

“Cake’s in the fridge”

(The fridge at Sainsbury’s)