Protecting Your Organization After Employee Separation

Recently, a post appeared on Burger King’s Instagram page announcing that they were firing their social agency of record, Dentsu, for failure to perform. The kicker? Ad Age reports Burger King denies any such thing. We can only speculate, but it seems possible the post was created by a disgruntled employee—current or former—from either the Dentsu or Burger King social teams.

It was a gasp-worthy incident with possibly serious ramifications—like people losing their jobs.

We thought this would be a good opportunity to discuss best practices for protecting your organization when a communications professional leaves your team, whether voluntarily or through termination.

1. Remove Access (Immediately!)

Communications professionals have access to your most public-facing channels, and it’s critical to remove the ability to post content.

If you're terminating employment, remove the person's admin access before notifying them of their termination. This includes social media accounts, email, website CMS, CRMs, email marketing tools, file repositories, and any other communication tools they’ve used.

If the employee resigns on good terms, remove access the moment they are no longer part of your organization. Even if you think there is a low risk for bad faith actions, it’s important to remove any risk as it is appropriate. 

2. Lock Down Shared Passwords

If your organization still uses shared logins for any tools, change those passwords immediately. Better yet, use a password manager that allows you to revoke access without changing credentials for everyone.

3. Forward Their Email (and Monitor It)

Set up an automatic email forward to another colleague who can monitor for any critical business communications. If appropriate, set up an auto-reply informing external contacts of their departure and providing an alternate contact.

4. Communicate Internally

If appropriate to your organization, send a company- or department-wide communication informing staff that the employee is no longer with the organization. Keep it professional—no need to get into the details, but make sure everyone knows who to direct questions to moving forward.

5. Remove Public Traces

If you have a staff directory on your website, remove their name and bio. Check team listings on social media, your press contacts page, and any automated signatures or chat tools they may have been listed on.

6. Review Scheduled Content

If the departing employee handled content scheduling, do a thorough review of what’s queued up in your social media and email marketing platforms. You don’t want an awkward or off-brand post going live after they’ve left.

7. Conduct an Exit Interview (If Possible)

For voluntary departures, conduct an exit interview to document processes, gather insights, and ensure a smooth transition. Ask them to walk through active projects, key relationships, and any pending deadlines.

8. Keep It Professional

Even if the departure was contentious, resist the urge to vent. Keep all communications—internal and external—professional. Any negative commentary could come back to haunt you (or worse, become a viral moment for the wrong reasons).

A smooth transition when a communications pro leaves can save you from potential disasters. Take these steps, and you’ll be far less likely to have a Burger King moment of your own.

9. Have a Crisis Plan in Place

Despite best efforts, things can go sideways. It’s good to have a crisis plan in place before you have an incident. Plan for scenarios including:

• A current employee taking damaging commentary or private company information to their public channels.

• A former employee doing the same (your process may look different).

• A current or former employee using company channels to post damaging information. 

At the end of the day, you have a responsibility to protect your organization’s reputation from employee attacks. You need a plan in place to act quickly, regain control of your channels, and mitigate risk.

Your Role in Mitigating Risk

It’s likely you’ll encounter a sour former employee at some point in your communications tenure. Most communications professionals are fully aware that actions as drastic as what happened in the Burger King incident would result in a ruined career and would never take that risk. But, as we can obviously see, it’s not impossible. Your role is to mitigate reputational risk as much as possible, and having some simple process steps in place can prepare you for the worst.