Left job after 25 years, all I got was flowers 🫣

[BruceLeTerror]

i did get a few gifts (chocolate, alcohol) from colleagues, but after 25 years all I got from the company was a box of flowers?!

Previously when people have left, there’s always been a collection of sorts. I know I shouldn’t expect anything- but I realise now how under appreciated I was - it has left a sour taste (and not filled me with confidence to start my new job tomorrow)

What were the circumstances of your leaving and what kind of role were you in?

Collections aren’t a present from the company, Theyre a gift from colleagues. Youve said you got gifts from some colleagues.

Collections are often being cut back on because of the perceived pressure to contribute and cost of living squeeze.

Companies typically make more of a fuss of retirees than leavers. Essentially Youre dumping them.

I would take that as confirmation that leaving is 100% the right decision.

If it's any consolation my dad got a certificate to mark 25 years of service on which they'd spelled his name wrong.

That's really awful. But at work you are just a number to them. Replaceable whatever the role, however good you are. Never make work your number one priority.

I had a similar thing a few years back I had worked at the same place for many years and contributed to loads of leaving presents in that time. When I eventually left myself, I also only got flowers.
I didn't expect loads but even a card would have been nice.

In contrast, I only worked at the next place for 18.months and when I left, I was totally blown away by the generosity of my colleagues who had only known me for a short time.

The response to you leaving isn't a reflection on you, but a signal that it really was time to move on and that you were doing the right thing by going!

Tactical?
Flowers are a generic present.
out of interest what do men get when they leave?

What type of company was it? Do they have a budget for leaving gifts or is it more down to collections? I think based on previous posts a lot of people are fed up with collections at work for every occasion which then means anything bigger does get missed or people don't feel like contributing if they have only just been asked for something else (possibly assuming the company/others will contribute instead). It's also the run up to Christmas so a lot of people will be thinking of that, especially as for a lot of people there is also November's pay (as December pay is often in the holidays or paid right before).

Amazon vouchers usually

Most companies don’t really care. Collections and gifts are organised by colleagues but to be honest in case of my company even that has gotten worse after covid. All recent colleagues of mine who left after years of service only got e-cards. There were collections attached to them by their bosses but somehow most people just didn’t contribute. It’s as if going to office less during covid somehow depersonalised and dehumanised all relationships. I am not talking about everyone. Just my colleagues. Company couldn’t care less.

Yeah, I had similar last year when I retired. I'd had all the "oh no, whatever shall we do without you? The place won't be the same" (you'll cope, yes it will). Lots of lovely messages from individuals. And I know previously, when people retired, slt would either bump up the collection or send a gift(flowers, booze, etc) just from them. (Because id been sent out to get it)I got an odd amount in vouchers from the staff collection. (Which corresponded roughly to a quid per person, not including slt.(think 74 pounds) and generic message in my card. It really wasnt about the money, but only two slt came up to wish me well. One actually said, "oh you leaving, why?" I walked out thinking "fuck you" 20 years and not even a handshake and a bunch of daffs.

My husband got an Amazon voucher 😂 and not very much either, maybe £15-25. I can't remember. It was a large company he worked for and he'd been there many years

What were you hoping for / anticipating?

Depends where you work - I work in a school and all we can do is contributions from staff as school money, rightly so, can’t be used for that purpose, it’s there for children’s education.

You are but a line on a spreadsheet and your colleagues will have forgotten about you in a month.

I’m sorry that you were so unappreciated OP.
Please don’t take it personally.
I think there should be some company policy so it tells everything about the company.
As to collection from colleagues… at my DH’s place there’s been a huge movement of staff in the last 5 years for various reasons so contributing to all of them became a bit tricky financially. They also cut office staff who usually organized these sort of things and guy who is in the office now is not so socially clued so I suspect that people who are leaving now feel very differently then it was 10 years ago.

Why don’t you seek work as a counsellor? Your tact, empathy and human kindness shines through!

My Mum worked her way up from the bottom in the council to senior management, she too was there around 25ish years and also only
received flowers. It made her realise leaving was the correct decision.

At our firm you wouldn’t get anything unless you retired (and even then it would probably only be branded merchandise) unless there was a colleague whip round

These days, lots of us are virtual and in different countries so we don’t even do that. I don’t miss the collections but I do miss being part of a team that would celebrate stuff. I still do virtual coffee / cake with my team etc for stuff but it’s not the same

It’s called being real, after having been in the workplace for almost 40 years.

I used to work for a company. I'd had run in's with my manager as she was a power hungry micromanager and constantly looking to pick holes in our work.

The week before my wedding one of her favourites from another department had a milestone birthday and they were given £150 in shopping vouchers, plus small gifts like chocs and alcohol.

In the meeting the following week, she congratulated me on my upcoming wedding and gave me a tablecloth from the Asda down the road.

Brutally put, though. You can say the same thing in a less cruel way.

And I’ve never experienced this in any of the ‘longer’ jobs I’ve had. I’ve still got friends and still get invited to staff events from way back, so it’s not a universal truth that people are just a line on a spreadsheet.

That’s more than I got, didn’t even get a card after 12 years, their excuse was Covid. Dh on the other hand got an expensive (for us) watch from the company plus things from colleagues when retiring

My company generally has a supportive culture and people stay a long time. However im not aware they give leaving presents, after all it is your choice to leave. The norm wouod ne a collection by your team, but will not be that much as it depends how much individuals contribute. I agree that flowers sounds like not much, but if this was in addition to presents (alcohol etc) from colleagues i would say this is good. But i work in retail which is a pretty poor industry!

What was she anticipating? It was a council, so publicly funded. She was senior so her gift was a whip round of people mostly receiving a lower salary than herself.

What would have been appropriate?

Genuine question as I had to organise similar for a long serving colleague and had to put the lionshare in myself - I absolutely would not expect it and to be fair I don't think he did either, but couldn't leave it like that. Yet when it is my turn, I want to just quietly slip out the door. Personally, I don't even want flowers - they are quite environmentally unfriendly yet we persist in gifting them.

I retired during Covid and got nothing