The end of a contract should not be the first time someone hears what you contributed.

Recognition delivered at an ending arrives too late to be useful. It cannot affect a reference, a renewal, a next role, or the person’s own sense of how they were doing while there was still time to act on it. Praise saved up for the farewell is mostly for the comfort of the person giving it.

Say what someone is contributing while they are still contributing it, and say it where it counts rather than only to them. If a stint is ending, put the specifics in writing early enough to be used somewhere.