3 ways to stop a former coworker from trashing your company

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After a coworker leaves your company, it’s totally appropriate to maintain a friendship or professional relationship. Some of my closest friends and colleagues are former coworkers. 

Often, when you meet up with a former coworker, you may provide updates on what’s happening in the company—changes in staffing, updates to programming, and more. While this should stay on a superficial level—after all, you still work at the company—some former employees will use this forum to talk trash about your company—especially if they departed bitterly. When this occurs, you can keep your cool while addressing several issues by following these simple tips.

1. Set the record straight by correcting any gossip. 
2. Remind the person that you still work at that company. 
3. Explain how such trashing of your company makes you feel.

If this person is a respectable colleague or a true friend, she’ll understand your point and honor your wishes. If she can’t do that, it’s time to reconsider her role in your life. 

Have experience with former coworkers trashing the company that still employs you? How did you handle it? Share with us in the comments below.