On welcomes and farewells

Over the past few weeks, three important people in my life have made career changes. Beyond the excitement that comes with change, I’ve had the opportunity to read the internal announcements shared by their employers.

How you announce the addition or departure of a team member matters.

In August, my husband decided to part ways with Bonell Aluminum to pursue an opportunity at National Aerospace Solutions. The farewell announcement written by his boss showed appreciation for Garrett’s contributions to the team during his time at the company, it talked about why Garrett was pursuing this new challenge, and even mentioned us, his family, by name, as he wished us all well. This farewell announcement was so personal, I sent Eric (the boss) a note thanking him for the positive impact he had on our family and my husband during his tenure at Bonell Aluminum.

Today, I saw my sister’s official welcome to OptimizeRx by one of my favorite people on earth, Rebecca Whitney. That welcome announcement showed excitement, it was personalized, it acknowledged the contributions Maira has made to the company as a contractor, and set a tone for what is to come for my sister in her new official role at the organization.

On the same token, I have dear friend who shall remain nameless at this time. The message sent by her supervisor to announce my friend’s departure from the company was cold and thoughtless. For Pete’s sake, it even had grammatical errors! The silver lining in this story was seeing the announcement made by her new employer; it was enthusiastic and even suggested asking her questions about a recent goal she crossed off her bucket list!

Take note of how you welcome and say bye to people on your team. It sets a tone and an expectation. How these announcements are executed sends a message, not only to the person coming in or leaving, but to those reading or hearing about them. 

Poorly executed welcome and farewell announcements leave a lot to be desired. They leave blanks for hyperactive, creative minds to fill. Why leave to chance the opportunity to welcome someone with open arms, or help them go out with a bang?

Karol Hernandez