It happens to us all...whether in good situations or bad, your company will lose employees. If those employees are client-facing, not only do you have to worry about filling their spot, you also need to make sure client requests don't fall through the e-mail crack.

If you're using Google Apps mail, or the "outsourced" mail service through Google, take these steps to make sure nothing gets lost in the mail:

• Log onto the web interface for your Google Apps mail -- www.google.com/a/yourdomain.com -- using a username and password with administrator privilege.
• On the top, left-hand side of the screen, click the "# users" or "user list" link (next to "create new users".
• Click on each individual account, reset the password, then save the profile.
• Log out of Google Apps with your account, then log back in as each of the users in question, using the new password you just set.
• Click on "Mail", then click settings in the upper right-hand corner of the mail display.
• Click on "Forwarding and POP/IMAP".
• In the Forwarding section, click the radio button next to Forward to, then enter a manned e-mail account. We recommend also keeping a copy in the original mail box, just so you have a separate record of what came into that account, at least for a period of 1-3 months.
• Depending upon the situation, you may wish to enable an "Out of Office" auto-response (labeled Vacation responder, found under the General tab in each mailbox), instructing those sending mail to the account that their inquiries should be directed to the address to which the account is forwarded in the future.