Every hiring manager and HR person knows that the first few weeks of employment are critical to the success of the employees. But what about the last two weeks?
We know the last two weeks matter from an employee’s perspective: This is the time to secure references for the future, train people to take over their role and influence how their coworkers remember them. Almost every employee knows they should work diligently and efficiently during their last two weeks on a job, even if they’re counting down the minutes until they head out the door.
But the last two weeks should be equally important to you as an employer. The way you react and treat departing employees is reflective of your culture as a whole. Here are five reasons why you should make sure the last two weeks are a positive experience for employees:
To keep reading, click here: Your Employees’ Last Two Weeks Matter as Much as Their First
Hi Evil HR Lady, I am so glad that you wrote this post!
I was at an organization for 6 years and gave 110% to my work. When I submitted my letter of resignation, I discussed my notice and offer to assist in any way possible as there had been many administrative changes. While I was walking to car that evening, I was chased down by HR and told that that day would be my last. (I should add, there were a lot of politics involved at my workplace and the Executive Director did later contact me and we had a great discussion) But, I think it is important for employers to know how hurtful it is to the employee to disregard them in that manner and not allow proper closure or assistance. My evaluations were excellent, I did not have write-ups or anything along those lines and there was no need to treat me as though I had been fired. It is important for both entities to be mutually respected in the first two weeks as well as the last two weeks of employment! Thanks for allowing me to vent!
Exactly. Glad you vented here. It’s a silly practice that many companies do.
Yep, the same happened to me at one company (well, not the running after me in the parking lot bit); when I handed in my resignation to my manager I sort of expected to be “let go” immediately since they had a reputation for doing so. Well, okay it took them a couple of hours to get their act together – good grief, you’d think no one ever resigned from there before.
I offered to help write up some instructions on some procedures, where to find certain computer files, etc.
Nope, I was told. You’re services are no longer needed. They weren’t mean or cold about it; it was just their practice to let people go right away. (stupid policy; but, hey! it’s a free market). Okay, no problem as long as they paid for the remaining two weeks, which they did.
The real problem started after the two week period, I was getting VMs and email asking “where is such and such file?” “How did you handle this”? etc.
I never returned phone calls (and boy, did I screen my calls for about a month!) and never responded to any emails (and by no means was I going to give them my network password!) I offered to help out when they were willing to pay me; but, I do NOT offer consultation services for free afterwards.
Hi Suzanne! REALLY liked this piece! Small typo: “goes” in the last paragraph should be “go”.