The time has come for my parents to close their Florida jewelry store. They have decided it is their time to retire and enjoy the good life. Fortunately, our store in North Carolina is doing great and I have asked them to help me expand in my area. The first thing they want to do is tell their employees. How do you do it and get them to stay until the very last day? Like my folks, any business owner would want to pull out as much cash as possible with some sort of going out of business or retirement sale--of course they will need the staff to stick around until the very end. Consider these tips to breaking the news to your employees:

1. Deliver the news in a truthful manner.
2. Offer compassion, but state the facts and resist temptation to soften your language.
3. Allow them to ask questions and answer those question to the best of your ability.
4. Offer future help such as providing references or calling potential employers on their behalf.
5. Finally, if you'd like them to stay until the very last day--you might consider help in the form of a weeks worth of pay while they hunt for a new job.