Goodbye Mails By Employees Leaving The Org.

Hi!

I am woking as a HR Manager in a US based IT company. The employee strength of this company is 220 and all the employees have experience ranging from 0 to 2.5 yrs. So attrition rate is high as some employees are leaving because of marriage,relocation and few engineers are leaving for higher studies.

There are 4-5 resignations every month. Now the problem is on their last working day the employees leaving the organization send very sentimental/emotional mails thanking people who had helped them and about their experience in detail. Some even use hindi words and write some unprofessional stuff. This practice is not appreciated when the same email also goes to the US Management and other mentors there.

I told the employees that they can personally meet their friends on their last working day instead of emailing everyone.I have tried hard to tell the employees that this practice is not appreciated and I make sure that the same person does not use their system after the exit formalities are completed. But somehow next morning again I find long 'goodbye' mails (somebody else log in to their system to send the mail).Or they send the mail to everyone else in India and US except the HR.The average age of employees here is 23 yrs and most of them are fresh Engineers from college so sometimes it becomes difficult to make them understand few things.

Anu suggestions please on how can I curb this practice.

Thanks
Sonal

Sonal...This is a regular practice observed almost in all companies...instead of asking them not to send self drafted mails...you can propose a standard template which can contain basic informations like personal mail id, contact number etc., ...As exit employee behaviour is quite dynamic...they tend to make it more emotional one...hope this advise is of some help...as part of exit process make sure that the mail id is disabled/blocked on the same day of exit/

Thanks for your suggestion Ram .i can look into the option of drafting a standard template because blocking email id may not be possible everytime because of time difference as this is again handled from US.

Create a list of Dos and Don'ts at the time of induction.
Send out an email from the HR wishing the outgoing employee acknowledging his contribution and copy all concerned (his team etc). THis way you may only expect a reply and avoid him sending another message to all.
Aternatively, upon receipt of the resgination, send out an acknowledgement of regisntation with the dos and don'ts.
regards,
Savita

Dear Sonalduhra,
Ur prob is almost existing in all companies which can be controlled not by being friendly instead by taking leadership activites that if in case this practise continues there should be a policy in the system that their papers will nopt be realeased if things continue like this.
This remedy is not 100% sure even i am trying to implement but certain areas we have to be rude & rigid so that companys morale is not affected.
Thanks
Vishnu

Hi Sonal !
You may take the following steps regarding this issue :
1. Frame a policy regardinng use of emailing system and make it known from the beginning
2. Remind the policy at the time of resignation (specially of not sending any personal mails)
3. Take strict action on defaulters (and set it as an example for others)
And on a personal level, you may talk to the employees and spread the word that this behavior is not appreciated by the US team and they look down upon such employees (Bringing in the patriotic factor might also help ;) ).
And tell us what happens !!
Thanks
Ananya

1. A policy informing mails cannot be sent a more than 5 people disturbing them (if it is not work related). If there is default, the policy should state the course of action, and adhere to it strictly.
2. Encourage them to personally meet with people whom they wish to thank and provide time for the same.
3. Monitor/curb bulk mails/work unrelated/more than 3, etc., going to many after the papers are put down, through the technical department.
4. Most important, once a person resigns, have a session on the code of ethics to drive home the point.

Hi Sonal,
I read the whole thread. I would say YES to what all AnanyaB suggested except for the 3rd point as hardly an action could be taken on members who have left apart the deduction from salary(as offender of policy rules) that doesn't sounds professional to me and leaves ver bad impression in terms...if teh employee goes for 'Word Of Mouth'. So go ahead to apply the addition in the organizations policy and reminders while a member puts the paper down.
+1 for Ananya
:)
Prix

Pls follow the advice given by ram2jo to block the email id at the earliest so that such mails are not sent. More over there is nothing to worry even if they give mails as at time of esit they take out their frustrations. you can always say to the concerned that why they didnt point out the problems when they were in service to the HR as HR is always there to help them out from the problems and why only at exit they throw out their problems. Nothing to worry dear.
sk

Hi Sonal,

Considering the average age and the years of experience of the engineers in your organization, employees at this level tend to get too rebellious and do not follow the policies set especially when they know they are quiting the company and its their last day.
Also, you have spoken to employees every time about this but people do not listen.

I would suggest the following,
The requirement of computer system or official id is only when the employee has to complete his/ her assignments for handover purpose. Hence discuss this matter with managers and above level and try to complete the handover process by the employee to the manager one day in advance. Once the handover is completed, disable his/ her official account and do not give access to the computer system. Keep the last day of the employee to complete the f&f part with other support groups. If you are questioned by the employee why this action is taken, then share your concern about the goodbye emails floating on the last day when the employee leaves.

I am not sure how this suggestion will work but if employees behave immaturely then strict action should be taken by HR.

Regards,
Maithili