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    Debriefing the Departing

     
    http://www.workindex.com/editorial/staff/sta0509-02.asp
    The tricky art of debriefing top execs as they are shown the door.
    9/26/2005

    Few HR professionals look forward to the exit interview with a fired or laid-off employee. But doing it the right way ensures that key information stays in the organization and helps new employees come up to speed that much more quickly.

    This article from Human Resource Executive magazine, posted on Workindex.com, is a fairly detailed look into the modern exit interview, which increasingly involves CEOs and other top executives.

    “While saying goodbye to senior execs can be hard enough, trying to transfer their knowledge and insights about the company to their successors requires nothing short of a Vulcan mind meld,” the article notes. “Facing pressure from all sides, some HR executives step in as chief of staff during leadership transitions or introduce best practices that drive the knowledge shift.”

    Those top execs are likely to have in-depth personnel files that contain everything from salary information to suggestions from board members to notes taken during conversations with subordinates. “Upon exiting, I've always insisted we go through their notes and agree together on what's going to be transitioned and what's not," the article quotes HR professional Lisa Haneberg as saying.

    The article also underscores the need for the HR professional to play an active role in bringing the new executive up to speed.

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