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Goodbye and Thank you

Dear colleagues

Just a quick note to bid my fond farewell to the Forum. Retirement in 8 days time means that I am unlikely to be in any way active on the Forum moving forwards as I will have far too much to do (according to my dear wife!). Spending time with our 3 month old grandson (our first grandchild) will take centre stage.

This is a special place where posters can feel confident in asking pretty much any question or seek words of advice, and where replies are provided in a supportive, non-judgemental way that demonstrate the huge breath of knowledge and experience that exists amongst Forum members. 

Time to move on to the next chapter(s) in my life, and leave the frustrating, challenging, infuriating, wonderful and stimulating world of human resources behind me.

Thank you for your collective hospitality and I wish you well for your futures.

Kind regards

Bob

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  • Steve Bridger

    | 0 Posts

    Community Manager

    12 Dec, 2023 15:14

    Bob, 

    Thank you for sharing your news with us in true 'community' style.

    You have been a valued member of this Community for (at least) 14 years, and I know I speak for all of us at CIPD (and I'm sure everyone here, too) when I say 'thank you, Bob'. Thank you for the experience, support and advice you have shared with others in this [insert one of your adjectives here] profession of ours!  

    Wishing you the very best on your retirement and good luck with the (by the sounds of it) long list of things you'll be doing next. 

    Very best... and all good wishes to you and your family this Christmas!

    Steve

  • Wishing you the very best for a fabulous retirement, with more than a little envy! Thank you for all the contributions you've made, and from which I have learned a great deal. This is the kind of community where you do feel like you get to know people through their posts, and it's been a pleasure connecting in this way across many years. Best of luck for the future.
    Nina
  • Congratulations on your retirement Bob, and wishing you all the best for this next chapter of your life. Thank you for all the contributions you have made, really invaluable to have this advice and experience from fellow HR professionals.
  • Johanna

    | 0 Posts

    CIPD Staff

    12 Dec, 2023 16:20

    Wishing you a very happy and fulfilling retirement Bob, thanks so much for coming onto the Community to share your news and leave us with such a positive viewpoint of the value of this forum. Thank you too on behalf of the CIPD for all you've done for the profession in your career and as a Chartered Fellow. All the best for 2024 and beyond!

  • Best wishes for a long and happy retirement

    I always enjoyed your thoughtful and insightful interventions.

    Best of luck

    Keith
  • Wish you all the best for your Me-tirement Bob! Always noticed your replies because of your very dapper profile pic :)

    Thank you in particular for your fog-clearing reply to a recent post of mine about flexible working. Like I said on my thread the answer seemed so obvious once you said it, but when someone is in the grips of an over-thinking episode, 'obvious' isn't, well, obvious!

    Enjoy!!
  • I am going to ignore all your many contributions to this forum and instead talk about being and grandparent and retirement.

    I spent a few years working at Age Concern, one of the things they were fananatical about was in retirement, keep doing stuff, does not matter what but keep moving and keep the brain busy.

    As for being a grandfather, this is quite simply the best job in the world. It is really all the best bits of being a parent without the guilt and anxiety.

    There are only two rules, keep him safe and utterly spoil him.

    Oh, I would start reading up on dinosaurs now, this will give you a fighting chance to keep up by the time he is 4.

    Good luck.
  • In reply to Steven :

    Utmost good wishes, Robert!
  • Happy Retirement Bob,

    Although we don't know each other, your experience has helped me through your informative postings.
    I thank you for this and your presence will be missed.

    Enjoy your next chapter.
  • How have you only made 321 posts? It must have been a question of quality over quantity because I have always appreciated your contributions to discussions over the years.

    What a gift to be able to retire just in time for grandchildren!
  • Steve Bridger

    | 0 Posts

    Community Manager

    13 Dec, 2023 08:28

    In reply to Robey:

    The post counts reset on one of our upgrades as we archived threads from pre-2013.
  • Wishing you all the very best for a happy and healthy retirement and I hope you enjoy every moment with your grandson and wife.
  • All the best for your retirement and congratulations on your first grandchild. As a child I loved spending time with my grandparent's and love the fact that my own children have a great relationship with their grandparents too.
    You will be missed here but happy retirement.
    Tracey
  • In reply to Tracey:

    Have a great retirement and finally an excuse to start playing with lego again
  • Good Luck Robert. And enjoy your retirement.

    If get lonely or bored you can always come back and answer the odd query.

    NB - that is not why I answer questions........:-)