With emotions running high, bidding goodbye to co-workers is not an easy task, especially if you have had a good bonding with them. In such a situation, a farewell letter can help you preserve this bond. Here is a sample letter for your perusal.
When you leave an organization, either to take up a new job or when you are retiring, it is very important to leave on good terms. While a letter of resignation will help you on the professional front, it will take more than such a formal letter on the personal front.
You can always opt for a casual way to bid farewell to your co-workers, and taking some time off to write a farewell or goodbye letter would be your best bet. While the option of an email always exists, it won’t pack the punch of a hard copy. In fact, nothing can surpass a warm farewell letter when it comes to a goodwill gesture.
A Sample Farewell Letter
| Dear Co-workers:
As most of you must have already known by now, this is my last day in the office. After some serious bit of thinking, I have finally accepted an offer from the Papyrus Group, and would be joining them from the beginning of next month. I would like to take this opportunity to let you know that working with you people was one of the most interesting phases of my life. While leaving from here, my mind has been flooded with mixed feelings. I am happy about joining a new venture on a better position and package, but at the same time, it’s saddening that I am leaving an organization where I made so many friends and got a handful of lessons on professionalism. As for now, I can only hope that things would be same at my new workplace, and I will be able to enjoy every moment I spend there as I have been doing here. Thank you for making my tenure at the Miller Inc., so wonderful. I know that the support and timely guidance I got from you people would indeed help me to deal with the new challenges that come my way as I start a new phase of my career. Lastly, my new job requires me to relocate to New Orleans, which I will be doing over the next couple of days. I have added my contact details below so that we can stay in touch even after I have relocated. Thanks once again for everything. I wish you guys all the luck in your future endeavors. Yours sincerely: Stephan Davis (Personal Number) |
Things to Consider
When writing a farewell letter, you have to take a few things into consideration.
⇒ You can use a formal, or informal salutation, based on the relationship you share with the recipient. If you are sending it to a co-worker, ‘Dear’ followed by his/her first name would suffice. If you are sending it to your senior, you will have to follow the ‘Dear’ with his/her surname. If you are addressing it to everybody, or your team, you can say ‘Dear Co-workers’, or be a little more liberal and start with ‘Hello All’.
⇒ You can start by announcing your decision, and your reason for leaving the firm. However, you need to make sure that you don’t get too deep into the matter.
⇒ Your letter should have a positive tone; negative comments should not be included, even if you are leaving after having a fallout with the organization.
⇒ You can include some good memories, which you shared with the person/people you are addressing, or the organization as a whole.
⇒ Adding a dash of humor to the farewell letter, or a mention of some hilarious incident from the past, would definitely make it friendlier.
⇒ You should also make it a point to express your gratitude for the people who helped you throughout your stint in the organization.
⇒ It’s always better to end the letter on a good note, like expressing best wishes for everybody in the organization.
⇒ You can also include your contact details, like your personal number and email address for people to keep in touch with you. These can either be included at the end of the letter, after your name, or in the content itself.
Writing a farewell letter is a respectful way to express gratitude and ensure that you stay in touch with your co-workers after leaving the job. You can even go a step further and write a letter to your organization. Your farewell letter should ideally include your reason for leaving, good memories, gratitude, best wishes for co-workers, and contact details. It should not include your opinions, which are likely to come across as negative remarks; these opinions are best discussed in person with the HR.