Tools & Resources: The Narrative Rights Checklist
What to hand back to someone leaving, so the official story is not the only one they carry with them.
Most companies hand a departing employee a single sanctioned line and expect them to use it. That line protects the company, rarely the person. This checklist names what a company can hand back instead, specific latitude that lets someone carry their own account of their departure. Use it before the next reduction is announced, not during.
HOW TO USE THIS TOOL
Review each section with HR, legal, and the leader delivering the news, and put the final answers in writing so managers are not making these calls individually in the moment.
I. What They Get to Say Externally control over their own account once they are no longer inside the company
The instinct is to standardize how a departure gets described publicly. The better instinct is to let the person most affected decide.
□ They choose their own language for how their departure is described on LinkedIn and in conversation, not a company issued script.
□ They set their own timeline for when and how they share the news, within reasonable bounds.
II. What They Get to Ask For specific, honest support rather than a generic form letter
A reference that says nothing is not neutral. It is a cost the person carries into every future conversation.
□ A specific, honest reference from someone who actually worked with them, not only a dates of employment confirmation.
□ The option to flag if the company's standard departure language does not fit their situation, with a real path to change it.
III. What the Team Hears an internal account that does not contradict the one leaving
Survivors compare notes. If the internal story and the departing person's story do not match, the internal one loses.
□ What the remaining team is told does not contradict what the departing person is saying about their own experience.
□ A named point of contact exists for former colleagues who want to check in, separate from HR intake.
IV. What Continues After the Last Day support that does not expire the moment someone leaves
Most of what a company owes a departing employee is backloaded, useful only months later, when the reference gets checked or the network gets used.
□ Access to a professional reference is available for a defined period after departure, not only in the first weeks.
□ They remain eligible for any alumni network or referral pipeline the company maintains, regardless of the circumstances of their exit.
MINIMUM VIABLE COMMITMENT
Which of these are we already doing consistently, for every departure, and who owns making sure the rest get followed instead of only the ones that feel high risk?
The people leaving are going to tell their own story regardless.
The Narrative Rights Checklist© 2026 Arcana Communications. All rights reserved. Not for distribution, reproduction, or resale without permission.
