A kind farewell letter could make people remember you fondly. Saying thank you to coworkers is #8 on the list of 15 things to do before leaving a job. It isn’t always easy to say goodbye to coworkers, and I’ve had to do it a few times.
When to send your farewell message depends on how much interaction you want with your coworkers before your last day. Sending your email on your last day is an option, but if you want to give your coworkers more time to prepare, send it a few days or a week beforehand.
How to write an appreciation letter to a departing employee
Keep your letter of appreciation encouraging and upbeat as you wish the employee luck and express your gratitude for their hard work. To write an effective thank you letter to an employee quitting their job, follow these steps:
1. Think about your time with the employee
Consider the time you spent with them before writing your letter of appreciation. These may include activities like working together on a project, getting help with a difficult task, or having conversations in the break room. To help you organize your thoughts and compose a thoughtful and personal message, you can write down any memories, assignments, or events you’d like to discuss in your letter.
2. Customize and personalize your message
You can write a tailored letter to the employee once you have ideas for what you want to say once you address them in your letter. When an employee receives a personalized message in response to their diligent work for the company, they feel special and appreciated. Use their first and last name at the top of the letter. You may only use the employee’s first name if you are closer to them personally.
Make the message more personal by mentioning any noteworthy tasks they completed or interactions you had with them. They feel like they are speaking with close friends or colleagues when they receive a personalized message as opposed to a generic farewell template, which serves as a reminder that they were a part of a strong and supportive company culture.
3. Thank the employee
Gratitude for an employee’s contributions to the company is the best way to demonstrate your appreciation for them. If they’ve helped you with any tasks, projects, or assignments, thank them for their assistance by mentioning that particular project in your message.
You can say one to three things in there to show your appreciation for their commitment to the role. This gives them the impression that they’ll be missed and that the extra time and effort they invested in completing their tasks was worthwhile and improved the performance of the business as a whole.
4. Ask the employee to stay in touch
By requesting that they stay in touch, you can keep up a strong network of former workers with whom you can later get in touch to discuss job opportunities or resources. Connect with them on social media platforms to keep up with their accomplishments.
Maintaining communication with staff members also enables you to keep in touch with them on a personal level outside of work. This communicates to the employee that you valued their company and would like to keep conversing with them. If a former worker maintains contact, they might feel inspired to approach team members about potential opportunities if they ever decide to return to the business.
5. Wish them luck on their next opportunity
Congratulate the employee and wish them luck to show your support for the upcoming opportunity they are working toward. Even though the employee is leaving their current position, it’s important to continue to be optimistic about their professional aspirations and career advancement. By doing this, you can demonstrate to them that you are concerned about more than just the work they produce.
6. Sign your name
Finish the letter by bidding them farewell or wishing them luck once more. You can then leave space for your professional signature after writing your name at the bottom of the page. You can further personalize the letter in this way to show the recipient that you took your time and wrote them a special note.
Before emailing or handing it to the employee, carefully review the letter’s content to make sure it’s free of any spelling or grammatical mistakes. Think about giving the letter to the employee personally so you can wish them luck and show your appreciation in person.
What is an appreciation letter?
Employees or managers can express their gratitude and acknowledgement of staff members’ contributions to the company by writing them an appreciation letter. You can create a letter of gratitude and hand-write it, email it, or print it out for the employee to read.
Employees may receive letters of appreciation for their contributions to a challenging project, successfully finishing a task, recognizing their long tenure with the company, congratulating them on a promotion, or recognizing their efforts when they decide to leave the organization. It’s crucial to send farewell letters of appreciation to departing staff members in order to maintain good relations with them and to welcome them back should they decide to do so in the future.
Example of an appreciation letter to a departing employee
You can use the following illustration to help you write an effective and considerate thank you letter to a worker quitting the company:
Dear Blake,
I want to sincerely thank you for all the effort you have put in over the years. It was fun having you on the team to come up with original and cutting-edge marketing campaign concepts. We appreciate you sharing your impressive work ethic and positive outlook with us as you tackled challenging projects. Your spirit of cooperation and motivating leadership helped to make a number of campaigns successful and productive.
Good luck with your future endeavors. I have no doubt that you will approach the following opportunity with the same impressive amount of tenacity and talent. We met through social media, so I hope we can stay in touch so I can keep up with all of your amazing achievements and goals.
Once again, I want to thank you for everything you did for the marketing team and the entire business.
Sincerely,
Tania Evans
Letter of Appreciation to an Employee-Appreciation Letter/Letter writing
FAQ
How do you thank an employee who is leaving?
- Dear Blake,
- I want to sincerely thank you for all the effort you have put in over the years.
- Good luck with your future endeavors. …
- Once again, I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for the marketing team and the entire business.
What to write when an employee is leaving?
I’m writing to let you know that [employee name] will be leaving the company on [departure date], dear [company name] team [or department name if not addressed to the entire company].
How do you write a thank you letter to an employee?
Dear [Employee Name], I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for your dedication and commitment to the [Include details about the project, meeting, report, or other endeavor that was a success. ]. Your work is admirable, and [Company Name] sincerely appreciates how it has helped us grow and endure.
How do you write an email to an employee who is leaving?
Dear [department or organization] employees, On [date of departure], your colleague [employee name] is leaving our company. The success of [company name] over the past [number of years of employment] has been significantly attributed to [employee name], and we wish [him/her/them] well in their future opportunities.
