Card ideas
What to write
in a leaving card.
A leaving card comes round the office with four names already in it, and you have about ninety seconds before the person holding it starts hovering. Here is what to put, sorted by how well you actually knew them.
If you worked closely with them
- Nobody else was going to tell me the database was down at 7am. I will miss that.
- Four years of you covering for me when I was late. I do not think I ever said thank you properly.
- You made the worst part of this job the best part of my day.
- I have learned more from watching you handle difficult clients than from any training we have ever had.
- Whoever gets you next has no idea what is coming.
If you barely knew them
- We only overlapped on the Tuesday project, but you were the only person who replied to my emails. Good luck.
- I do not think we ever properly spoke, but you always held the lift. Small thing. Noticed it.
- Enjoy the next one. This place is better for you having been in it.
- Sorry we never got round to that coffee. Genuinely meant it.
If they were your manager
- You told me on my first day that nobody actually knows what they are doing. Best advice I have had.
- Thank you for backing me in that meeting when it would have been easier not to.
- You are the first manager I have had who noticed when something was wrong before I said anything.
- Best boss I have had. That is the whole message.
If you want it funny
- You are the only person here who ever restocked the milk. The building will collapse.
- Fifteen years and you have never once passed to me at five a side. Go well. Please pass to someone.
- Taking your chair. Have been eyeing it since March.
- Leaving is a strong move. I respect it. I am also furious.
If you want it sincere
- You were kind to me at a point when I really needed someone to be. I have not forgotten it.
- I hope the new place knows what it has got.
- Thank you for making a job feel like a place I wanted to be.
What makes a good one
Be specific
One real moment beats three compliments. The Tuesday they stayed late. The thing they always said.
Do not write for the room
You are writing to one person, not performing for whoever reads it next.
Short is fine
Four true words land harder than three vague sentences.
Say the thing
If you have been meaning to thank them for something, this is the last easy chance you get.
Questions
Say exactly that, lightly, then name the one thing you did notice. 'We only overlapped on one project but you always replied to emails' is honest and specific, which is more than most of the card will manage.
Not if the joke is about the situation rather than about them. A running joke you shared is the safest funny thing there is.
Skip 'good luck in the next chapter'. Say what they were good at and that you will miss working with them. Warmth beats optimism when the leaving was not their idea.
Or do not use a card.
A card gets four names and no stories. Send one link instead and everyone writes properly, on their own, without reading what the person above put. Free, and nobody you send it to has to sign up.