At my job, we have a monthly tradition to put on an event called hail and farewell. In my organization, it is very common to have people constantly rotating in and out, with members leaving every month and new members to fill their place. It is the nature of the military. At these events we open with members who won awards and got promoted to a new rank, then we move on to say the goodbyes. The member’s supervisor or coworkers can stand up and say a few words about working with the outgoing member, and then the member gets a few minutes to share fond experiences and to say their farewells to the organization as a whole. After all of the outgoing members say their last goodbyes, we introduce the new members to the organization. We learn a little bit about them; where they’re from, their last duty station, and a couple of fun facts. Afterward we play a couple of games and enjoy refreshments as we mingle.
This event is one of the ways that we boost morale. Can you bring everyone together old and new to celebrate the time that they have together? The building of camaraderie is such an important aspect to nourish while leading an organization. Being able to talk to the people in your organization no matter what section you’re in is key to building a team, gaining trust, fortifying the “buy-in” when tackling difficult tasks together, but most importantly it creates a family.