An exclusive excerpt from Acceleration Partners founder’s newest book.

 

[Excerpted from Robert Glazer’s Rethinking Two Weeks’ Notice: Changing the Way Employees Leave Companies for the Better, released November 19, 2024]

What Is an Open Transition Program?

Put simply, an open transition program (OTP) is a system for a company to create a safe and trustworthy environment for the management of inevitable personnel changes. The aim of an OTP is to identify and solve problems that cause employees to leave and, if necessary, provide a way for employees to exit companies in a respectful, mutually beneficial manner. As much as possible, this should be done on their own terms.

There are four core aspects to making our OTP work:

Psychological safety, or trust at scale

Open and honest communication

Mutual respect

Commitment to mutually beneficial outcomes

A good OTP comprises all four of these elements, not simply the external transition itself. If you’ve ever seen an amicable breakup, divorce, or employee exit, you’ve probably seen these four elements put into practice:

Both people had healthy trust in each other, which allowed them to assume positive intent and believe they were not trying to harm each other.

The relationship featured open communication: problems were discussed early, before they could fester, and neither person was punished for their honesty.

The relationship, even as it neared its end point, featured a respectful bond forged over time that kept things cordial and civil.

Both people wanted what was best for the other and were willing to be flexible to create a better outcome for each person.

We weren’t the first company to create a program containing at least some of these elements. However, I believe we integrated them into a scalable, replicable, comprehensive system.

To understand the principles behind an OTP, consider the case of Netflix. The streaming giant’s former chief talent officer, Patty McCord, worked hard to make parting ways with employees as open and respectful as possible. Netflix has deep pockets, so one way they did this was by providing a combination of transparent feedback and a generous severance package (a minimum of four months of full pay). If an employee was no longer a good fit for the company, they might be told, “We’re parting ways, but in light of your spectacular service, we’re going to give you a spectacular severance package.” No doubt this greatly softened the blow of needing to find a new job.

Most companies, especially small and medium-size businesses, don’t have the economic  resources to shell out Netflix-size severance packages. This was certainly the case for my company when I first led the effort to reconsider our transition process. But even if a company can’t replicate McCord’s gesture of hefty severance packages, they can follow Netflix’s lead by leaning into transparency and open communications.

In my company’s case, our leadership team recognized a potential opportunity in making it as easy as possible for our employees to discuss whether they were feeling engaged or eyeing the exit. As we explored how we might put this into practice, an opportunity to test our hypothesis presented itself in the form of one of our most well-liked team members.

Case Study: Turning Theory into Practice

This is the story of the first employee we tested our OTP on. Let’s call him Jim. Everyone at the company loved Jim. Despite his popularity, however, Jim’s performance had been steadily deteriorating for some time.

Initially, we put Jim on a performance improvement plan (PIP). This approach improved things temporarily, but after a few months, the same issues surfaced. Objectively, Jim’s job performance hovered between mediocre and average. It was becoming a problem.

We could have simply fired Jim, and frankly, we considered that. We could have put Jim on another PIP, but after our experience with the first one, we had little faith that it would lead to permanent improvement. But we felt there might be a better way for everyone involved. We decided to engage Jim in a transparent conversation that started something like this:

“We’ve noticed your job performance has declined recently, and we’re concerned you’re no longer engaged. How do you feel about your performance?”

From this opening, we started a dialogue. It became clear that Jim wanted to do something different with his professional life, and his listlessness had bled into his work. We came to a mutual decision that it was time for Jim to find a job that better fit his ambitions.

Once we reached that decision, the normal course of action would have been to terminate Jim’s role and offer him a small severance. Of course, this would have left Jim without a job and income while we struggled to cover his work and alleviate the concerns of his former clients. Instead, we experimented with a different approach.

We asked Jim to continue tending to his accounts but gave him the flexibility to simultaneously look for a new job. We also made it clear that we intended to support him during his period of transition. In return, we asked Jim to regularly update us on his job search and let us know when he needed time off for interviews. We actively encouraged his efforts.

Eventually, Jim found a new job and left our company. He departed on far better terms than he would have if we’d simply fired him when it became clear he didn’t want to continue in his role. His replacement had plenty of time to transition successfully into the role, and we avoided the many downsides of an abrupt employee departure.

Following our experience with Jim, we knew we were onto something. Was our approach perfect? Far from it. We made mistakes, such as not setting a clear end date at the outset of the process. But our ability to turn what could have been a frustrating and troublesome experience into a surprisingly pleasant and positive one provided clear proof of concept for the idea that bloomed into the OTP.

Over the years, we came to know Jim as “Patient Zero,” the first test subject of our OTP, which we initially called the Mindful Transition Program before later changing the name to Career Engagement Program and finally to OTP. This OTP put us on a path to resolving a complex problem that had previously perplexed us, along with countless other company leaders.

Employment Isn’t for Life Anymore

Two common objections I often encounter when discussing the concept of an OTP are “This could never work in my business” and “This is more trouble than it’s worth.” These concerns can be valid in some cases. But while the OTP is not a one-size-fits-all solution, it is at least a one-size-fits-most option.

Another common objection to the idea of an OTP is this: “Why would I make it easier for people to leave? Shouldn’t I be entirely focused on retaining people?”

Yes, you should always strive to retain good employees. However, acting as though people will stay with your company forever is a misreading of the professional landscape. Employers and employees today need to recognize that the rules of the employment game have changed dramatically.

Some employers cling to the belief that if they create an outstanding company culture, they can reduce unwanted turnover to zero. Not only is this belief inaccurate, it also sets up false expectations. Even at companies on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work list, the average employee remains in each role for only twenty-four to thirty-two months. People change, interests change, companies change, and people move on. It’s a natural part of our professional evolution.

Today’s employers and employees tend to form more of a short-term alliance than a lifetime partnership. Most companies, however, haven’t really evolved many of their practices in response to this shift; they keep the same norms that were designed when departures were less frequent, even as those exits have become routine. This is where an OTP comes into play: once you accept that employees leaving is an inevitability of modern business — no matter how great your culture is — you’ll want to make them as productive as possible.

In the next chapter, I will identify which companies are well suited for the OTP and maybe surprise you by explaining why it works in more businesses than you might expect.

[Copyright 2025 Sourcebooks, LLC & Robert Glazer. Used with permission. Click here to buy the book.

Robert Glazer is a #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author.

The above excerpt from Rethinking Two Weeks’ Notice is the second part of Chapter 1. Social Capital Insider published the first part of Chapter 1 on November 21: “Saying ‘Buh-bye’ to Two Weeks’ Notice: Rethinking the Dreaded Employee Exit”]