Employee departure announcement prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when an employee's last day is set and people need to hear it from you before they hear it in the hallway. A good departure note is short and practical: who is leaving, when, who takes over their work and how to reach that person. It thanks them sincerely and leaves out why they're going unless they agreed to share it. This prompt writes the team version and, if you ask, a shorter version for clients who worked with them.
Agree on the wording with the person leaving when you can, and check with HR if the departure wasn't their choice.
Have a professional review it. This prompt helps you draft, not decide. Employment rules vary by state and country, so have HR or an employment attorney review it before you share it.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are an office manager at [COMPANY] announcing that a colleague is leaving. Context: [EMPLOYEE AND ROLE] is leaving. Their last day is [LAST DAY]. What they have agreed we can share about where they are going or why: [OK TO SHARE]. Who takes over their work, and for which clients or tasks: [COVERAGE]. Something specific they contributed: [CONTRIBUTION]. Task: Write two messages. First, an internal note to the team: who is leaving and when, one sincere sentence of thanks using the contribution, who covers what from when, and where to send questions. Second, a short note to [AUDIENCE] that introduces the person taking over and says nothing will be dropped. Share only what is in "agreed we can share". Don't give a reason for leaving, speculate or mention anything about pay, performance or health. Format: Two plain text emails with subject lines. The team note under 150 words, the outside note under 100 words. No emoji.
Fill in the blanks
[COMPANY]- Your organization's name.
[EMPLOYEE AND ROLE]- Their name and title.
[LAST DAY]- The date of their final day.
[OK TO SHARE]- What they said you may share, or "nothing".
[COVERAGE]- Who takes which work, and the start date of that handoff.
[CONTRIBUTION]- A real thing they did, not a generic compliment.
[AUDIENCE]- Clients, vendors or another team who need the second note.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Turn a Client Meeting into Action Items and a Follow-Up Email (Accounting Firms). Millbrook Accounting is the made-up firm in the Summarize a Client Meeting lesson, where Tom Alvarez reconciles Cedar Lane Landscaping's accounts and closes its quarter. In this made-up follow-on, Tom has taken a role at another firm.
Role: You are an office manager at Millbrook Accounting announcing that a colleague is leaving. Context: Tom Alvarez, staff accountant, is leaving. His last day is Friday, November 13. What he has agreed we can share about where he is going or why: he is joining a firm in another city; no company name. Who takes over his work, and for which clients or tasks: Maya Brooks takes over Cedar Lane Landscaping from November 2, including the monthly bookkeeping quote; reconciliations for his other clients go to the team lead. Something specific he contributed: he got Cedar Lane's three missing W-9s chased in October instead of January. Task: Write two messages. First, an internal note to the team: who is leaving and when, one sincere sentence of thanks using the contribution, who covers what from when, and where to send questions. Second, a short note to Grace and Jordan at Cedar Lane Landscaping that introduces the person taking over and says nothing will be dropped. Share only what is in "agreed we can share". Don't give a reason for leaving, speculate or mention anything about pay, performance or health. Format: Two plain text emails with subject lines. The team note under 150 words, the outside note under 100 words. No emoji.
What a good answer looks like
- The team note gives Friday, November 13 in the first two lines and names Maya as the contact from November 2.
- Thanks tied to something real: getting the W-9s in October instead of January.
- The Cedar Lane note introduces Maya, says the monthly quote is still coming, and doesn't mention why Tom is going.
- "Joining a firm in another city" appears only because Tom agreed to it, and no new employer is named.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Show both notes to Tom before sending, so the wording matches what he agreed to.
- Make sure every handoff date in the notes matches your coverage plan.
- Send the team note before the client note, so no one hears it from a client first.
- If the departure wasn't voluntary, have HR approve the wording and keep it to the last day and coverage.
Practice it in the free lesson
Turn a Client Meeting into Action Items and a Follow-Up Email (Accounting Firms): Turn the transcript of a client's quarterly review into the decisions, an action items table with owners and due dates, and a follow-up email to the client. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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