What is offboarding?

Offboarding is the process of transitioning employees out of a company due to resignation, retirement or termination. For managers, it involves finding a replacement and distributing duties to other employees temporarily. This distribution of duties isn’t always easy to coordinate, which is why offboarding can lead to disruption of productivity.

It is also important during the offboarding process to make sure that the employee returns any company equipment, and finishes any ongoing projects and documents. Making sure this is done correctly with everything being done in a way that makes the transition easy is something that you need to take into consideration. It can help to make a list of what needs to be done in order for the employee to be completely taken out of the system so that nothing is forgotten.

The last thing to do before the employee leaves is to do an exit interview. An exit interview is where you are able to sit down with the employee leaving and question them about their experience of working for the company. We will discuss this very important step in offboarding in a later section.

Why offboarding is important

Having a proper procedure for offboarding employees is important as it will protect the company from any wrongdoing while keeping good relations with employees.

One of the most important aspects of offboarding an employee is to ensure all technology is returned along with access to any sensitive information and data. If for example, the employee has a company computer then they must return this equipment so that it can be given to the employee who replaces them.

Some of the equipment that might be returned are:

• ID badge
• Laptops
• Mobile phones
• Uniforms
• Keys
• Parking permits
• Company credit cards

Part of this process is to make sure that the exiting employee no longer has access to any files or data that has been stored on the computer. Make sure to also double-check that they have been taken out of any computer system that they could access through the internet. This will make sure that your information is safe from the employee wanting to access it after leaving the company.

Waiting to close down email accounts, change passwords, or revoke access to proprietary platforms and resources leaves the company open to security breaches. It can also create confusion and communication roadblocks, like clients being unsure who to contact. Work with IT to promptly reset the employee’s accounts, including:

• Removing employee access to email and other systems and internal platforms.
• Changing passwords to any company accounts the employee had access to.
• Notifying relevant teams or points of contact of the personnel change.  
• Redirecting emails and calls to the new employee/point of contact.
• Removing the employee from company calendars and meetings  

Though we all hope for a clean break from the employer-employee relationship, you should not assume that the employee is not leaving disgruntled. It is better to keep information and data safe than to find out later that someone was using it unlawfully.

It is important as a manager to try to stay away from showing any ill feelings if the employee is exiting due to resignation or termination. Try to make sure the offboarding process is respectful at all times as it will allow for employees that are staying to see that you care for the wellbeing of the exiting employee. You do not want current staff to think badly of you due to your behaviour during offboarding an employee so make sure you help the exiting employee in any way you can.

Related: Signs of a Poisoned Work Environment (Plus Ways to Prevent One)

How to improve your offboarding process

If you think your offboarding system could be improved, here are a few tips that can make the process go smoothly.

Know and Understand the Nature of the Exit

This is mainly important when an employee resigns. Try to have a frank discussion with the employee so that you know exactly why they are leaving the company and if you could have prevented it in any way. Talking to the employee about why they’ve decided to leave can give you insight into your own managerial style which is a great way of becoming a better manager.

If the exiting employee is leaving due to a better offer at another company, try to use this information as an opportunity to learn more about your competition. Perhaps it is time for you to review how things are done in your organization so that you avoid losing more people. Look at things like wages, employee benefits and career development opportunities and see if they are comparable or even exceed the competition’s. Understanding why someone is leaving your company could be the best way of making improvements that can benefit both the employees and the organization as a whole.

Do an Exit Interview

To make sure that the offboarding process is successful it is important to do an exit interview. Doing an exit interview will help you ensure that everything has been finished properly before the employee leaves. You especially want to make sure that the employee has finished off any paperwork that they might still have to do and that they have properly organized their files for the person(or people) taking over their duties.

Another reason why an exit interview is important as it gives you a chance to see what it is like to be an employee. It is good to learn about the different issues employees might be having as it will allow you to make changes. By having a discussion with the exiting employee you might learn something about a policy or procedure that people have issues with, but under normal circumstances, you would never hear about. The exit interview should be seen as a learning opportunity so that the next person to have the position will benefit from the information you are able to get. 

Related: Exit Interview Form

Treat Them Warmly

Make sure that throughout the offboarding process you treat the employee warmly so that there is no ill will for the company. You want the exiting employee to continue to have good feelings about the organization as that will be a good lasting impression. If the employee feels positively about their interactions with you throughout the offboarding process, they are more likely to keep you in high regard and might even continue to recommend your company to friends and family.

For employees who are leaving the company after a long time of being there, think about throwing a party, buying them a small gift or writing them a thank you letter. This will show them how much you appreciated their help over the years and is a great way to end a good working relationship.

Prevent Potential Stalls in Productivity

Whenever an employee leaves a company there is a potential for productivity to slow down due to the loss. Even if you have a replacement for the position waiting to go, there is always a period where the new employee is still learning about the position and everything they have to do. To help with this, try to get some of the other employees to pick up a few of the duties of the exiting employee while the new staff member is being trained.

Before the employee actually leaves, think about having a meeting with any team members that might have been working directly with the employee on particular projects. Within the meeting, you can strategize on how to make up for the loss and guide them on how they might redistribute some of the work. By doing this the employees will feel less blindsided when their colleague leaves and the project might not see a large delay.

By following the above advice you will find that the offboarding process becomes more smooth and that the transition period is shorter.

Having a clear offboarding procedure is very important when dealing with employees leaving the company. The more time you spend on organizing everything that has to be done and thinking through the possible issues the better the process will be for you, the exiting employee and the organization as a whole.