The Definitive Guide to HR Communication: Engaging Employees in Benefits, Pay, and Performance

17. Leaving the Company

In this chapter, you learn how to

• Manage an employee resignation as you deal with your disappointment that the employee is leaving

• Fire an employee as gently and respectfully as possible

• Communicate during a layoff

• Ensure that the employees who remain are kept informed and feel valued

“You Say Good-bye, and I Say Hello”

And now we come to the end—of your relationship with your employee. We’re devoting this final chapter to communicating departures—from a resignation to a firing to a layoff.

As always, our focus is on how to communicate, not on the legal, financial, and logistical aspects of separation. (Quite a few books have been written about those topics, including Employee Termination Source Book by Wendy ...