Over the past twelve years in my current job I have had the great fortune to work with some great people who have moved on.  These folks have moved out for many reasons and all of them were great reasons including love, money, promotion, new challenges or a better institutional fit.  (note: none, so far, have left with the “royal flush” of change to all of these things!).

Regardless of the circumstances, Liz Gross’ post reminded me of how important the idea of letting people “leave with grace” is from the supervisor’s perspective as well.  As a supervisor you are definitely impacted by the departure of one of your staff, so let’s talk about the role you play in letting a staff member leave.

A graceful exit for your staff member may start with you, or it may not.  I hope for your sake that your staff member has told you they were on the job market before the point where they resign.  If you are the first person with the news, be sure that the news stays just with you.  You may need to share it with your supervisor depending on the circumstances, but be sure that you’re not the one sharing it with anyone on your staff.  If the person considering leaving shares it, that is their decision.  You, as a supervisor, need to maintain the trust that the staff has in you as the potential keeper of their career news someday.

When a staff member informs you they are leaving, an honest and balanced response is the goal. No one expects you to be a robot, but overly emotional reactions at this point aren’t helpful either. As far as notifying people, we know that news of resignations travels fast. Work to determine the best approach for informing those who need first-hand information and gently urge your staff member to do it quickly. As an aside, be sure to respect the need for your students to hear news first hand information just as we expect for our colleagues.  In many cases, they will be hit harder with the impact of the person’s departure.

For the group, your role is to slow down the “what happens next” questions. You may not have answers and shouldn’t feel pressured to respond.  You also don’t want to miss the chance to assessment of roles and responsibilities.  Sadly, in our field it typically takes someone’s departure to really allow us to change things up. Don’t forget to look for opportunity in all of this.

For the individual, work to negotiate realistic departure time frames. Some may disagree, but I think the “new” institution has the upper hand here. Expecting someone who has just accepted a new job to be excessively pushy in negotiating an extremely long time frame is just unreasonable.  Granted, there will be unique circumstances like major events or the end of a semester that may factor in.  If it does, try to get creative if you have to, but know that extended departures are difficult for all involved.  After you know someone is leaving, everyone just needs to get started on the next steps.

For the individual leaving, talk about a plan for transfer of knowledge. You have even more responsibility to assure that things are left “well” than the departing employee. I know many supervisors who just leave it up to the departing staff member, but then the supervisor gets stuck with results that may not meet expectations. Talk to your staffer about what meetings you want them to stop attending and why, just so you can lessen the awkwardness of involvement in future planning.  Do this with kindness and respect for their prior contribution and know that it will make their departure easier if they don’t have to ask your permission to skip meetings.

Speaking of goodbyes, ask the staff member what kind of farewell celebration they are comfortable with.  Not everyone wants a big hoopla and not everyone is comfortable with combination student/staff gatherings.  You may want to avoid the awkward farewell cake in the conference room in the name of a group of close coworkers meeting after work for a dinner. Or, you could go with hoopla and I have a great, long list of fun ideas to share for that too.

On the last day of work, be sure that you expect nothing other than transfer of files, changing of passwords, and goodbyes.  In addition, for your staff member’s sake, I hope that this is the last day of your work related conversation with your staff member.  So many student affairs people are so kind to offer help after they leave, but out of respect for their transition to the new job it’s a good idea to work to avoid it except in emergency situations.  This day is when your relationship with your employee can be unburdened by supervisory roles and shift into one of those great friendships rooted in professional connections or… not. (awkward silence).

I am proud to have seen many great staff members pass through our department during my time at my institution and know that so many of them are at new places doing great things.  I am lucky to stay in touch with most of them, I believe in part to a focus on letting them leave on the best possible note.  (and also partially thanks to Facebook, let’s be honest!)

What did I forget on this list?  What other things should supervisors do to help staff members make graceful exits?