Effective Offboarding Strategies for Seamless Transitions in 2024

Most small business owners are familiar with onboarding, the process of training a new employee and integrating them into the company. However, what about when an employee leaves? Handling departures with care and respect is equally crucial. Effective leave management and offboarding are vital, yet only 29% of companies have a formal offboarding process in place.

With a solid termination process, your company can protect itself from safety or reputational risks, gather valuable feedback, and ensure a smooth transition for both existing and departing employees. Integrating effective recruitment management into this process also helps streamline hiring, ensuring that new employees are better prepared to fill the vacated roles seamlessly.

What is offboarding?

Offboarding is the process of a former employee leaving your company. Offboarding procedures should be followed any time an employee leaves, whether they're quitting, retiring, or being terminated.

The goal of offboarding is to ensure that the separation process is handled professionally and that your company and your former employee are treated with respect.

The exact steps vary depending on why the employee is leaving, but the main goals of offboarding are:

• To meet any government and human resource requirements related to an employee's departure
• To get honest feedback about the employee's experience
• To ease the transition from one employee to the next
• To capture the knowledge the employee gained during their employment
• To minimize the impact of the employee's departure on the rest of your company

The difference between offboarding and onboarding

Offboarding and onboarding are opposite processes, but both are important steps in an employee's lifecycle. Onboarding ensures an employee is properly integrated when they begin their employment, and offboarding ensures a stress-free departure.

Onboarding occurs at the beginning of an employee's lifecycle at your company, familiarizing a new employee with their role, responsibilities, and the culture of your company. A well-planned onboarding process is proven to help prevent employee burnout, reduce turnover rates, and create a stronger company culture.

As mentioned above, offboarding occurs at the end of an employee's lifecycle. It prepares an employee to leave your company with minimal disruption for everyone involved.

Why do companies need an offboarding process?

A clear, consistent offboarding process has many benefits for your company. First, it helps you maintain positive relationships with departing employees. If you part on good terms, the risk of litigation or a negative experience from a former employee is reduced. Plus, a careful separation means employees are more likely to act as brand ambassadors or be hired as a boomerang.

Second, offboarding an employee can be a great learning opportunity. The insights gained from exit interviews can help you improve employee engagement and retention, as well as your hiring process.

After all, saying goodbye to an employee brings with it quite a long to-do list. With an effective termination process, you can ensure nothing is forgotten and that you are compliant.

How long does offboarding take?

How long it takes to fire an employee depends on why they're leaving, how long they're giving notice, and a few other factors. Regardless of the circumstances, the offboarding process can be broken down into three phases:

• Before an employee leaves
• The day an employee leaves
• After an employee leaves

Each phase involves a series of steps that should be handled carefully and respectfully. Let's look at the steps in each phase so you can set up a solid onboarding process for your company.

Checklist for your employee offboarding process

Best practices recommend creating a checklist or offboarding document to help your management team and other employees understand and complete key tasks. This checklist will help you understand all the necessary steps when an employee leaves and ensure that all areas are covered.

Offboarding steps before an employee leaves

Issue a resignation

The first step is to issue a formal resignation (if you are firing the employee) or request a formal termination (if the employee decides to leave the company).

A resignation letter is the official confirmation of an employee's departure from the company. It should be in writing and include the reason for the employee's departure, their last day of work, and final details about salary and benefits. The formal resignation should be signed by both you and the employee.

Notify everyone affected by the offboarding process

Once the formal resignation has been given, you should notify everyone involved in the offboarding process. This includes, for example, your supervisor, your business manager, and your employees' supervisor. E.g., the employee's manager, those responsible for documentation and payroll, the person responsible for managing key cards, uniforms and other company assets, and the person who conducts the termination interview.

Start the documentation process

Give the employee any documentation related to their departure, such as state-specific separation forms or requests for unused PTO. Don't forget to address any concerns about unpaid wages or the return of company assets. Complete any required business and accounting forms and prepare an experience letter or employment reference if necessary.

Schedule an exit interview

Set aside some time on the employee's last day to conduct an exit interview. This will give the employee time to reflect on their experience with your company and think about any questions they may want to address. You should also choose your interviewer carefully - employees may be more open with someone they don't have a close relationship with.

Plan for work handover or coverage

Discuss with the employee their current responsibilities and determine what needs to be done before they leave. If you have a replacement or cover in mind, determine what kind of training that person will need and begin the process of getting them up to speed on their new role. This way, work can continue as usual when the employee is gone.

Inform other employees

No one needs gossip that gets ahead of them. Inform your team about the employee's departure and keep the lines of communication open.

Start the knowledge transfer

Ask the employee to document any knowledge they have gained on the job, especially if it is not included in your current training materials. If possible, have the employee help train their replacement so there is an opportunity to pass on the knowledge directly.

Offboarding steps on the day an employee leaves

Return company property

Gather any items that were given to the employee during their time with you, such as a passport, a receipt, or any other documents. E.g. key cards, laptops, cell phones, name tags, uniforms or other items that belong to the company.

Remove personal items

Have the employee clean out their cubby, locker or desk so they can take their things home.

Have an exit interview

Exit interviews help you gain insight into the employee's experience and find out what they really think about working at your company - whether it's good or bad. Thoughtful questions should help you find out: You should also choose your interviewer carefully - employees may be more open with someone they don't have a close relationship with.

• Why the employee is leaving (if they quit)
• Where did things go wrong (if they quit)
• What the employee thinks about your culture and policies
• How they felt they were treated
• What they liked or disliked about their job
• What they would change about their experience
• The dynamics with their manager and coworkers

Depending on the circumstances of the employee's departure, they may be hesitant to answer honestly. In such cases, offer them a detailed questionnaire. You can give it just before they leave.

Confirm the employee's contact information

Maintaining a connection with an employee after they leave can be very valuable, so it's important to have an up-to-date phone number, email, and address. You never know when you might need an advocate or a referral.

Tie it all together with respect

At its core, the offboarding process is about managing a relationship with another person. Show the employee that you value them and their contribution to your company. Consider a thank you note, parting gift, or going away party if appropriate.

Offboarding steps after an employee leaves

Disable access

Immediately disable the employee's access to the building and company systems such as email, team communications, and scheduling apps. This is the best way to protect important data and information.

Notify external contacts

If appropriate, notify any vendors, clients, or other external contacts the employee had a relationship with. There is no need to provide details about the employee's departure, this is just a courtesy to those involved in your company.

Implementing a comprehensive offboarding process, such as that offered by IceHrm, ensures smooth transitions, maintains positive relationships, and protects company interests. By adhering to best practices, businesses can gather valuable insights and minimize disruptions.