Employee layoffs and voluntary departures are common, and the people who remain are watching what happens. SHRM's March 2025 Current Events Pulse found that more than one in seven HR professionals had been through a round of layoffs in the previous 30 days, with workforce reorganization driving about half of them. Resignations, retirements, and performance exits add to that volume. Letting someone go and handling their final days well are two separate decisions, and the second is always in your control.
Three practitioners quoted in that SHRM article point to different places where the process breaks down:
It’s important to keep in mind, as Josh Bersin points out in his guidance on layoffs, that someone you let go today may turn up later as a customer, a reference, or a candidate you want back.
Harvard Business Review, drawing on Visier data (pulled from its own customer base), reported that about one in five people who quit during the pandemic hiring wave returned to a former employer. Boomerang hires now account for more than a quarter of the new hires that organizations record.
The person leaving this week is a plausible applicant next year, and a referral source in the meantime.
The work a departure leaves behind gets picked up by someone. When there is no planning, the work tends to fall on whoever is most conscientious, and that person is usually already carrying more than their share.
Before the announcement, sort the departing employee's responsibilities into three groups:
Assign an owner and a review date for everything in the first group. If you tell your team the workload will be sorted out later, you're signaling that you didn't have a plan beyond the initial announcement.
Write down the work you're dropping, too. When a task disappears, and nobody says so, it’s likely to come back a few months later with no owner attached, and someone ends up absorbing it by default. Being clear about what you've decided to stop doing keeps people from assuming their workload just went up permanently.
When the departure was involuntary, hold the workload conversation on a different day from the exit itself. If you announce someone's exit and hand out their work in the same meeting, it can look like the point of the exercise was to trim headcount and spread the load. Even when that had nothing to do with it, your team may walk away thinking their own job is one budget review from the same outcome.
Most of what an employee knows about their job is tacit knowledge: the judgment and context that’s not written down. Trying to collect it during a departure period puts the employer in a weak position and puts the departing employee in an awkward one.
Ongoing documentation works better. Have the team write down which projects they manage, how they do them (including links to all relevant resources), document any relationships inside or outside the company that play a role, and explain any obstacles or pitfalls.
When documentation is routine, the team already has what it needs on the day someone gives notice.
Put project review sessions on the calendar. Have a dedicated place, such as project management software, to document and manage all projects and work in progress. Review the projects regularly to ensure they are on track and fully documented so the team knows what’s happening and can step in as needed.
Collect exit feedback in writing. Talent analyst Sarah White notes that people answer an online survey more candidly than they do in an HR interview, particularly when their experience was poor. Create an exit survey before you need it, so you can use it when the time comes.
Brief the team the day a departure is announced. Say what happened, what will change about their work, and who is picking up which piece, even temporarily. Give your team confidence by communicating clearly and setting expectations throughout the process. Write up your step-by-step process for what you’ll do at the next departure and have it ready to use.
If you only do one thing, start with project documentation. This will reduce the disruption of any departure, planned or unplanned. It will also improve your daily workflow, help your team clarify and streamline their processes, and allow leadership to decide which projects to continue or cut.
It’s a win-win for everyone on the team.
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