First Day, Last Day

​There are two days every employee remembers: their first and their last.

​The first sets the tone for everything that follows. The last shapes what they say about you afterwards.

​Most of our energy goes on the first day, and rightly so. The laptop and account access ready on time. The right work-from-home kit, not just whatever's in storage. Maybe some company merch so they feel expected. Someone on hand to show them how the coffee machine works and get them onto the wifi.

​None of that happens without People and IT working together. That seam between the two is where employee experience quietly succeeds or falls apart.

​Then on the flip side, the last day gets a fraction of the attention, and it's usually where things come unstuck.

​Who tells IT someone is leaving, and how long after the fact? Whose job is it to get the laptop back? How many dormant accounts are still open, has handover been carried out, and how many licences are you still paying for months later?

​And underneath the admin there's the human part. Someone who gave you three good years shouldn't spend their final afternoon chasing a returns label. People who leave well become referrers, boomerang hires and the reason a candidate says yes. People who leave badly tell that story too.

​What this is

​A roundtable lunch for six People and Culture leaders from London startups and scaleups. One table, one conversation, and a few prompts to get us going:

​• What did day one actually feel like for the last person who joined you?
• When someone leaves, who's really holding the list?
• What part of it would you hand to someone else tomorrow if you could?

​What this isn't

​No slides, no panel, no sales pitch of any kind. 3 of us from Seeto will be at the table as fellow participants, not presenters. We run workplace IT for startups, so we see this seam from the other side, which is exactly why we're curious how it looks from yours.

​Chatham House Rule (what's said at the table stays at the table).

​The details

​• Wednesday 30 September, 12:30 for a 12:45 sit-down. Finished by 14:30.
• Lunch and drinks on us.
• 7 seats. We read every application and aim for a mix of company sizes and sectors, so the stories in the room aren't all the same.

​No prep needed. We'll send the questions a few days beforehand so you can arrive with a story if one comes to mind.