You’ve heard of onboarding, but what about offboarding? What is it and why is it so important to your business? There are a million reasons why a person can leave your business and they will either become an advocate or an adversary in the future. What you want to do is preserve your brand and reputation by eliminating the chance for a misunderstanding once the employee is no longer in your company. Here are some of the things you need to do and the reasons why.
Resignation and Documentation
Once you have the resignation in hand, you need to make sure everything is documented. File the resignation letter and create a checklist to help you transition easier during this time. The employee may also need to sign some paperwork to make for a smooth transition. You also want to communicate how they will receive their final paycheck and ensure they’ll get their tax information.
Conduct an Exit Interview
As an employer, you want to know as much as possible about your employee’s reason for leaving. There are thousands of possible reasons someone will quit. What you want to find out is if there are any actionable items you can address to prevent similar reasons for coming up again in the future.
Notify Team and Essential Departments
You will want to notify departments such as HR, IT, as well as the coworkers the resignation affects directly. If the individual will be staying to train their replacement, you can allow them to communicate their reasons for leaving at their discretion.
Plan the Replacement Process
Your employee needs to provide information on their daily tasks and processes. This includes the location of important files, both hard copies, and digital information. If you hire someone, give time for them to shadow your outgoing employee. Or work with your current staff to redistribute the role across the department.
Obtain Company Equipment
If your employee has any company property, such as laptops or phones, make arrangements to get these back. If your employee is onsite, ensure they drop those off. For remote employees, find a way for them to safely ship the equipment back to your headquarters or IT department.
Show Appreciation
Former employers can be your worst enemy or best cheerleader. While we often give workers the advice not to burn bridges, it’s important to know that bridges go both ways. Make sure you show appreciation for your employee. Some companies have a going away party or give their departing team member a small gift of thank you.
Do you need to replace a departing team member? Call Nextaff today.
