Why Should Anyone
Have a Farewell?

As the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. 

And as we all move from one phase of life to another, we often look back at least once and assess what it is we leave behind.

What we see, can:

•  add baggage to our future, or
• encourage us to move forward, or
• show us where we can enhance our personal growth.

The first point above is the least desirable, the last two points are the most useful.

Life just ebbs and flows, there are naturally beginnings and endings, and farewells are just part of coping with change.

This is where a farewell becomes important:

 A farewell will reduce our baggage, as we leave on a good/better note.

• Whether you'd rather say goodbye privately, or gather people around you in a send-off, you will look your friends or family in the eye and see the good in yourself.

• To bid goodbye to those we don't like is a challenge, and can be the reason people avoid a send-off. Sometimes, to reduce baggage, we can dare ourselves to say goodbye and 'live and let live' to those people, in order to at least have a neutral energy toward the past.

Either way, it's your choice who you say goodbye to, but you'll feel better for doing it!

The Office Farewell - the business of saying goodbye at work

So why should a workplace say goodbye to an employee?

• A co worker farewell can improve morale in the workplace.
  The event itself provides a break, and should lift the mood and boost workplace productivity for the rest of the day.
  
  
• A goodbye presentation from management is a platform to represent the company and management well, for the rest of the workers left behind.  It can remind people of the good things about the organisation. Use this opportunity to express how far the company has come during the time an employee worked there, and indicate the future direction of the company (but only keep this to a few words - try to stay focussed on saying goodbye to the person leaving).
  

• Acknowledging how valued people are in the organisation, will help create a positive workplace culture in the longer term. A going away presentation is one opportunity to do that. This includes being gracious to the person leaving if they have left for negative reasons.
  

On the other hand, if an organisation doesn't provide a leaving presentation, it sends the message that it doesn't care about its workers nor appreciate the time they spend there.

This is likely to increase the probability of people leaving.

Even an excruciatingly boring send-off is better than none.

In fact, from my personal experience, an embarrassingly cringe-worthy, albeit nice goodbye speech (my boss was a very bad speaker - he should have used this speech) may actually prevent people leaving, if they know they can’t avoid it.

“Bek, that speech was an incentive NOT to leave”
Jon, ex-colleague, still at the company.

The farewell to co workers is an opportunity for everyone to be on their best behaviour and show a nice face.

Embarrassing people or talking about sensitive issues will lower workplace morale and leave a bad taste in the mouth. Everyone wants to be remembered well.

And if you are leaving the company, try to leave on good terms when bidding goodbye to co-workers, because your last days are usually what people remember about you, and may affect your career.

Why have a Social Farewell?

For similar reasons to the office adieu, a social goodbye event strengthens social bonds.

Some people view them as an opportunity to have a reunion, to get together all the disparate people that have drifted away and have everyone catch up.
In this sense, when everyone (good or bad) is invited, the farewell can provide some closure on a chapter of one's life.

Everyone puts on their party face, has a good time, then moves on.

It is also an opportunity to say thank you to your community - and saying thank-you for enriching our lives is not something we do often enough.

The other compelling reason is...to party!
Just like birthdays and weddings, when else are you going to have your own love-in? It's not like we get to go to our own funerals to find out how much people miss us!

So find out now! And you'd probably be surprised at how much you will miss them.

So get the word out that there's another excuse to have some fun!

Now live up to the buzz you've started with these

Creative Farewell Party Themes

Actually I am broken-hearted about this farewell.  I don't want to cry in front of everyone, I will be very emotional and that is why I don't want a farewell - I'm just avoiding the intense emotions.

If this is you, click for ways to cope with a sad goodbye.