Thursday, August 15, 2013

Mails while leaving the organizations I have worked with

Thanks and goodbye!

All,
 
As you might know, today is my last day at Lehman and I want to take the
opportunity to thank you all for the great cooperation and support over
the last 12 months. After a brief stint of just under a year in the
corporate world, I have decided to pursue further studies. It has been a
pleasure to work for Company and with such dedicated and talented people,
I truly hope our paths do cross again.
 
Below, I have enclosed my contact details.  Please stay in touch!
 
All the best, and take care.
 
Thanks,
Name
Email-id
Phone number
---------------------

Thanks and goodbye!

All,

As you might know, my internship ends today and I want to take the opportunity to thank you all for making the summers a great experience for me. I have learnt a lot over the last 2 months, things which would be useful throughout my career. It has been a pleasure to work for Company and with such dedicated and talented people, I truly hope our paths do cross again.

Below, I have enclosed my contact details.  Please stay in touch!

All the best and take care.

Thanks,
Name
Email-id
Phone number

-------------------------

Dear All,

As you might know, today is my last day at the firm and I want to take the opportunity to thank you all, for the great cooperation and support over the last year and a half. After a brief stint in Consulting, I have decided to make a career switch.

I have learnt a lot during my stint at the firm, things which would be useful throughout my professional life. It has been a pleasure to work for Company and with such dedicated and talented people, I truly hope our paths do cross again.

Below, I have enclosed my contact details.  Please stay in touch!

All the best and take care.

Thanks,
Name
Email-id
Phone number



Mail from my co-boss in my first job


Ash

You have been a phenomenal member of the team.  You had among the steepest learning curves of anyone whom I have had the pleasure of working with. You (with some help) set out some goals for the year that were a stretch to say the least.  You more than met them.  You have an ability to analyze oil markets that is superior to people with many years of experience. You have really taken to the subject matters with which we deal and they have clearly seized your imagination. 

You have an incredibly promising career before you and whether you return to Company or go elsewhere you will be able to count on my support and highest possible recommendation.

You are seeking feedback on areas where you could work harder.  There is only one that comes to my mind -- oral presentations.  You need coaching in this area to help you overcome your natural modesty and shyness.  That requires both training and experience and I hope you get the former at graduate school.  If we were in closer proximity we could help you with this as well.

E

Parting mail to my first boss in my career and his reply

Hi,
 
Sometime back you had asked me for my view on the whole setup of our group and what things are working and things which required improvement. So, here are my two cents on this.
 
First and foremost, you are the best boss that anybody can ask for. I sometimes feel it is kind of unfortunate that you were my first boss, as I would naturally be comparing all my futures bosses with you and I seriously doubt if any of those guys would be anywhere close to you. You are the best when it comes to managing people and your commitment towards the group (supported by your actions and efforts) is unquestionable. While deciding between IIMA and my job one of the important things in my pro-Company list was that my manager was a person like you. Be it terms of publishing of names, or lead coverage from within our group, or mobility, your efforts were greatly appreciated by the group and everyone benefitted from them.
 
You handpicked gems from various places to make a necklace which we called Equity Research - India. The team was perfect and being managed by someone of your caliber made it amongst the best teams one can find. There was little or negligible office politics and other vices which, I suppose, are common elsewhere.
 
One of the good aspects of the team was that the individuals were working in different sectors. Personally, I felt that this diversity was very helpful in getting knowledge about different sectors. At the same time, it would be helpful if people belonging to the same/similar sector (as oneself) are within the group so that things relevant to one's sector could be discussed.
 
There was no dearth of learned people in the group. I got to learn a lot from Shuklaji and other team members and in general, everyone was approachable and ready to help. I felt that a lot of the group members were fully committed to their work and enjoyed working even if there was no sword hanging.
 
Now for some things which could be looked into. As you know, I do not have much work experience and so a few points may not seem as relevant to you. However, I felt I should write everything I feel and leave things for you to discard.
 
In general, there is a lot of transparency in terms of the policies, decisions etc. However, there is always scope for improvement when we talk of transparency. For e.g., it is inevitable that people would leave the group and new people would join. If someone is about to leave, I feel that, if possible, the team should know details about the same. I understand that this is not so simple and not always possible but whenever feasible, the group should be made aware (just as it happened in my case, though my case was slightly different as I am going for further studies).
 
Though within our group, things are great, the story is little different when we want to talk about other groups (with whom we have to interact). I am talking about Finance, HR, IT etc. For e.g., a person travelling is not as much concerned about his travel, accommodation as he/she is concerned about completing the T&E for the travel and submitting the documents within deadlines (a little exaggerated), which do not care if the person is still travelling and would not be able to submit the documents. A lot of effort has to be put into things which have a lot of room for simplification. I am not sure what/if we can do anything about this, but the main point is that people should be approachable, understanding and should reciprocate on issues raised, rather than ignoring things or passing the buck. I am not saying that the entire system is pathetic but there are bottlenecks (sometimes in the form of individuals) which can be removed/tackled.
 
Within our group, for administrative issues, things can be more streamlined if set procedures are in place. However, I believe this would happen with time and there is some lack of manpower to get this done immediately.
 
Finally, in terms of the weekly meetings, while the idea is good for improving presentation skills etc., people look less interested. I suppose, something like a NY morning meeting the Commodities team used to have can be better, wherein everybody speaks for a minute or so and gives the main things which happened in their field/sector and what are they working on.
 
I apologize for the long email, but thought I should present my point of view. I hope you will look at this mail as a constructive feedback and forgive me if you feel that I have crossed the line somewhere.
 
Also, it would be great if you can provide me some feedback about things which went right/wrong, things which I could have done better and aspects which I should concentrate on.
 
Thanks much for everything,
Ashutosh

--------------------------------------------
Reply


Ashu, thank you - it was one of the best compliments I have ever received in my job and if I'm able to make even half as much impact on people around me as you say, then I would have consider myself effective.
 
On you, all the feedback has been hugely positive- whether today from T via E or earlier, you have impressed all of us with your sincerity and hardwork. You were and I'm proud to say so, my handpicked hire from delhi and I am delighted by your success. Frankly, if you had not been selected for iim abd, I would have been disappointed as I had been expecting it. 
 
I'm sure you will come out with flying colours, do keep us posted and we would be delighted if you come back to Lehman after two years- preferably in our global offices.
Best