Alumni or Alvida?

Fast forward 5 years, and your company announces an alumni meet on social media; what's the likelihood you will be attending?

Forget 5 years; let's say they do it now; what percentage of your ex-colleagues would show up? Can you think of faces who would turn up and the ones who wouldn't?

For those who wouldn't attend, we might contemplate the following reasons:

• They didn't have a memorable experience with the company.
• If we delve deeper, maybe some didn't feel appreciated, rewarded, or fairly compensated.
• Some may have had a not-so-pleasant exit, possibly facing issues like Performance Improvement Plans (PIP), delayed relieving, Full and Final settlements (FnF), and lack of proper send-offs.
• The most critical factor would be their relationship with their manager.

Reporting on my last week...

a) One ex-employee took a day off to relax and ended up spending 4 hours in our office with their ex-colleagues.

b) A colleague, on her last day, called to bid farewell and got emotional as she reflected on her journey from a rookie to a specialist.

c) Someone who left 4 years ago and was on holiday in India wanted to visit us tomorrow.

Despite the inconveniences many of us face to be in the office, I'm sure it also brings new energies and new relationships. Maybe some of these relationships are the ones which decide if you become part of alumni, gangs or just say Alvida eventually.

Not sure if office presence leads to better relationships and teamwork. By seeing each other daily, we might make new foes at work; remotely, many of our whims and “nakharaas” were ignored by peers/reportees/bosses. In the office, feedback is instantaneous through body language, frowns, and other means of expressions/exclusions.

However, just like in college days it was our best friends gang who attracted us to college more than the classes; now, it is the closer circle of colleagues who pull us to the office.

Every Send off that I am part of people talk about the offsites, dinner meets, movies, the trips they went together than the actual work at office. Think of all the employers you worked so far and imagine they are all organising Alumni meets. I am sure some companies alumni meet may be more compelling for you to attend. Would it be the bosses/founders or ex colleagues who are current friends that will influence you to attend them?

As I prepare to attend an alumni meet of one of my ex-employers, I realized that the people with whom we hung out the most are the ones texting and asking, "Dude, I'm coming to see you"!

So, whom do you hang out with at work beyond work, and why?

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