When Good Employees Give Notice

The Association for Accounting Marketing invited me to write a guest article for their Growth Strategies quarterly publication. The topic I explored was how accounting organizations handle employee departures – in particular when good employees give voluntary notice.

This subject was of interest to me because of the variety of practices I’ve observed with the different firms I work with. On a mission to explore how and why firm leaders handle resignations the way they do , I set out to do some research. 

The article begins:

When good employees leave, relationships change. CPA firms face the challenge of balancing a positive relationship with future alumni; protecting their intellectual property and confidential information; and processing the emotions that come with losing a trusted team member.

And continues with what practices firms are taking related to departures:

• 86% conduct exit interviews
• 57% give verbal or written recognition of service from leadership to the firm, department or team
• 25% or less give departure gifts, have alumni-focused emails or events, or invite alumni to firm events

Separately, 57% of respondents rated their firms as neutral or negative when asked if ‘firm leadership is well prepared to handle departure notifications from staff and respond in a positive way.’ [This] highlights an opportunity to grow as a profession in how we handle resignations from employees who have a positive history at an organization.

If you’d like a copy of the full article, including four best practices for receiving employee resignations in a manner that benefits your firm and your relationship, please email me!