Famous last words

By VICKI JAYNE

There are many ways of saying goodbye. Some have all the gracelessness and finality of a slammed door.

Ella received her redundancy notice from the company manager by email and after the initial shock wore off was furious at being treated in such an offhand manner. Sure, she hadn't been at that company long and realised it was a last-on, first-off situation, but someone should have fronted.

While a fair redundancy payout helped to sweeten the situation, three years later she still harbours fairly negative feelings about her former employer and wouldn't want to work for the company again.

Such is the sour taste left by bad endings - and it works both ways.

The toll taken by high-pressure jobs or frustrating management practices may inspire a spontaneous urge to tell the powers to be precisely why you no longer want their work - like, right now.

However, once the letting-off-steam buzz has faded, it can be hard to backtrack from such ultimatums and find a more constructive solution to the work stress. It takes maturity on both sides to reopen the dialogue.

Sure, there are probably times when the employer/employee relationship is so beyond salvation that neither wants to see the other again. But even fairly strained farewells have to be handled with care so they don't rebound badly on either party.

So, how to say goodbye constructively?

Keeping communication lines open and honest is a good starting point, says Karen Russell, a career transition and outplacement specialist with Donington New Zealand.

"Communication is where you either fail or win in anything. In cases where the organisation is going through major change, management needs to ensure there is an inclusive consultation period.

"You talk to employees being affected by the change, share the vision of the organisation's future and what roles will be most impacted by the change."

After the business rationale has been discussed, she suggests those affected be given time to think of ways they might be able to alter their company's vision of the future.

"That could be 24 hours or a week, depending on how long the organisation has before it must action change."

If the intent and rationale of organisational change is well communicated, people are less likely to take it personally.

"Sure, there'll be some emotional reaction to it, but it will be seen as a business decision," says Russell.

Where things go wrong is when people feel they've been treated disrespectfully or thoughtlessly.

That's what can prompt ousted employees to head for the courts or, probably even more worrying, engage in a little creative subversion.

According to international outplacement specialists Drake Beam Morin, disrupting or sabotaging IT infrastructure has become an "increasingly popular method of avenging real and perceived mistreatment during the separation process".

But giving people half an hour to pack their things before having them marched off the premises by security guard is not necessarily the best way to protect the company's intellectual assets. Nor does it bode well for any future relationship.

Such standover farewells can still happen, says Russell.

"Usually it's in organisations where there's been some issue, either real or imagined, and it can also depend on the position of the employee. If they're heavily involved in the IT area, there can be panic about that. But with good communication, it needn't be like that."

Besides, unless there is some proven misdoing, it's a shabby way to treat a work colleague.

Undignified departures sometimes happen because a manager is ill-prepared or not confident about working through a change, says Russell.

"The only way they can do it is abruptly and badly. And the reason an employee wants to get back is they feel shattered, unvalued and untrusted."

One service provided by outplacement specialists is helping managers deliver termination notices constructively. Russell uses a tool she describes as a "pre-mortem" as opposed to a post-mortem.

It's a way of fixing problems before they happen and starts in the future - from the point at which the deed has been done and the affected employee has left.

This approach allows you to imagine the worst, brainstorm what could have been done better and then put in place practices to ensure those things are done, says Russell.

Apart from keeping communication clear and consultation thorough, other issues to cover include making sure employees are aware of their choices, financial entitlements and the time scale involved. There should also be a support plan for helping them tore-enter the job market.

In cases where wrongful termination claims have been made, research shows the two most influential factors are how affected employees were treated during the notification, and financial hardship. Employers who show they care what happens to redundant staff and help out with job search assistance are far less likely to become targets for revenge.

Which is why outplacement is now linked to career "transition" - we're not talking endings here so much as evolution. Recruiting, on-the-job training and career transition are all part of the employment lifecycle. And all require thought and preparation.

"Getting it right is a bit of an art," says Russell. She reckons it's best not to think "goodbye" but "auf wiedersehen" - German for "until we see you again". Because there's a fair chance you will, and disgruntled former employees make lousy ambassadors.

"It's a matter of treating people well when they exit an organisation so they think well of that organisation wherever they go. People may stay in the same industry and end up working for a competitor or customer of that organisation. If they're in a position to influence buying decisions, there are longer-term repercussions - you could not only lose an employee but a customer if that employee feels aggrieved."

Poorly managed partings also have repercussions inside the company. If change "survivors" feel the whole thing has been handled unfairly, their commitment to the company's new direction will be badly compromised, says Russell.

"If there's the perception that those leaving are well treated then those staying are more likely to buy into the new vision. Employers may be keen to move on, but they need to pace the change to bring people with them. As managers they're looking forward, but they really have to deal with today to make sure tomorrow is as successful as they plan."

The other side of that coin is employees who are keen to move up or change direction but find themselves stymied by their employment structure.

"They may have nothing to aspire to or perhaps the role they want won't be available because someone is already entrenched in it. It depends on the maturity of the organisation as to how that conversation happens.

"If someone indicates their future is elsewhere, it's a question working with them on an exit strategy so the employer is not left in the lurch and the employee has time to sort things out. Like any relationship, there's a shared responsibility in making it work."

The nature of today's employment market is not one that encourages monogamous work relations. With people pursuing careers across both company and geographic boundaries, farewells are inevitably more frequent. And with skilled workers in increasingly short supply, foresighted companies make sure the door stays open for former employees.

Many have established alumni programmes or networks through which people who've left the company can stay in touch both with the company and each other. These are not only a valuable recruitment tool, but can help to create new business opportunities.

Employees for their part are less likely to experience severe rejection symptoms if they see each job as an assignment rather than an ego extension, and make a point of maintaining amicable relations with former employers.

"Auf Wiedersehen" is a gentler, more positive form of farewell.