Introduction:

In hiring and managing employees, most organizations have a well-documented onboarding process to make sure a new hire’s transition into the company is smooth. But an employee’s transition out of a company is equally important. Exit Management or employee offboarding is a process to manage employees’ full and final settlement when they exit from an organization. When an employee resigns, retires, or is being terminated from work, the required paperwork and formalities associated with employee exit need to go through a systematic process. Exit interview, clearance from various departments, replacement of the departing employee, full and final settlement of employee dues and more – HR has a lot on the plate during employee offboarding. Whether or not that employee leaves voluntarily, it’s important to establish offboarding guidelines to instill a clear exit path that shows mutual respect for all parties, both in the shortand long term.

Impact of Poor Offboarding:

Offboarding is the process at the end of an employee’s tenure. It involves logistical details like returning company property, transitioning work and projects to others, and letting key stakeholders know about personnel changes. It’s also a way to gain insights and feedback that can help the organization and employees in the future. Treating existing employees as of lesser importance than current ones is a sure way to damage your reputation, given that many individuals maintain contact and friendships with those they left behind. Knowing a colleague was treated well when they left creates a positive ripple effect for those left behind, knowing that they can expect the same when they leave.

Goals for Offboarding:

Beyond simply transitioning an individual from current to former employee, there should be certain goals established to maintain a clear, strategic offboarding process.

1. Gain Feedback and Insight – Offboarding is a way for an employee to give honest, constructive feedback on their employee experience, identify any red flags, and find closure for a particular job. This can provide valuable insight for an organization regarding its corporate culture and help determine whether any concerns discussed were one-off incidents or could be symptoms of a larger systemic problem.

2. Maintain a Positive Reputation- This goes both ways, but it’s never wise to burn bridges. Word of mouth spreads quickly and reputations can be quickly damaged. The more an organization can do to positively influence the last impression it leaves with an exiting employee, the better the organization’s talent brand will be served.

5 Key steps to be considered in your Offboarding plan:

1.Create an offboarding checklist – The checklist covers all the steps we’re about to share in the employee offboarding process, exit interview questions, and a company property collection list.

2.  Initial Documentation & Collection of Information – The first thing that needs to be done upon the news of an employee leaving is to have them sign a formal resignation letter. Following this, the HR manager or supervisor can review documents the employee has signed throughout their time in the company. As an example, these may be non-disclosure agreements, benefits documents, etc. Make sure that on the resignation letter, the employee clearly states when their last working day is, and the date they are communicating their leave. 3. Inform Accounting – At this stage, you can inform accounting so they can prepare tax documents, the last payroll, calculate any outstanding reimbursements, vacation days, and prepare compensation if required. 

3. Collect Company Property – During the employee’s time in the company, they may have acquired several company items. In the days before they leave, you will need to collect these items. Company property can be anything from computers, mobile devices, ID badges, uniforms, keys, parking permits, or company credit cards among others.

4. Plan Handoffs – The important piece at this stage is to focus on the creation of a handoff plan to ensure the best possible transition. This plan is focused on wrapping up any existing tasks, whilst also laying the groundwork for the new employee entering into the role. A clear understanding of how to transition the workload and shift priorities is key! This is the stage of knowledge transfer.

Conclusion:

Employee offboarding isn’t a permanent goodbye. Make sure to treat the exiting employee well with gratitude and leave an unforgettable milestone in their professional voyage. Try out the best exit management practices and end an employee’s journey with your organization on a good note.

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