Want to ensure a smooth transition for the departing employees in your company? Follow this guide to understand and create the perfect offboarding checklist.
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A formal offboarding process can help companies retain 71% of their employees. On the contrary, companies that do not have an employee offboarding policy can only retain 57% of their employees. Yet, many businesses overlook this essential task. This hurts the company’s reputation and makes former employees hesitant to recommend them.
However, having a clear offboarding checklist, covering elements like technology, alumni groups, customized and standardized skeleton can ease this process to a great extent. It ensures a smooth termination of the employee, with no step missed.
This guide will walk you through every detail of offboarding employees to help your company leave a lasting impression on the departing employees. So, let’s get into it!
An employee offboarding process is a structured tool that helps HR professionals and management in handling every detail of the offboarding process. Whether the employee gives a resignation or the organization decides to terminate the employee, an offboarding checklist really helps reduce the chances of misunderstandings.
This checklist helps reduce risks like data breaches, protects the company’s reputation, and maintains a positive relationship with departing employees. Terminations are generally emotional for the employees, so it’s essential to treat departing employees same respect and care as they first joined.
Employees' exit can truly feel chaotic, especially without a clear plan. Not having a formal offboarding process in place can damage your company’s reputation, lead to project disruptions, and risk security issues.
One mishandled offboarding can cost thousands of dollars in lost productivity and data mishandling. So, why take that risk? An offboarding checklist can prevent all such costly mistakes.
It helps with:
With an employee offboarding checklist, you can ensure every detail is handled smoothly. That said, you can properly revoke access to sensitive systems to finalize payroll without stress and have training videos for the new employees. Moreover, a structured checklist can leave departing employees with a positive impression.
Offboarding employees on a good note is super important for both the company and the employee. Here’s how a general offboarding process looks like:
When an employee decides to leave, handle it professionally with empathy. As you receive the resignation letter, confirm the acceptance in writing, mention the last working day and any next steps. Remember that resignation can be emotional, so maintain a supportive tone throughout the process.
Open communication is key here. Make sure the HR and the manager are on the same page about what’s next. Discuss the transition plan and request employee assistance in handling over tasks and projects.
In the end, thank the employee for their time and contribution. A simple and sincere ‘Thank-You’ can leave a lasting impact.
Informing the teams about the departure of a team member makes things really convenient later. Because offboarding is not just HR’s job; it’s a team effort.
So, the first few people who deserve to know HR, IT, and the employee’s manager. This gives them time to prepare for necessary changes.
Timely notification allows HR to start the paperwork, like clearance forms and final settlement processes. Meanwhile, IT can schedule the deactivation of accounts, company tools, email access, etc.
If the employee deals with the clients, inform them politely and share who will take over their responsibilities. Always remember to document everything to avoid any confusion. Having an offboarding checklist really helps in tracking tasks efficiently.
The last working day of the employee should be well-planned. So, start by confirming the date with the employee and communicating it to the team. Plan for a proper handover before this day. Ask the employee to document ongoing tasks, share all the important files, and train someone at work if necessary.
Schedule time on the final day for the employee to return company assets like IDs, laptops, and keys. IT should assist the employee with data backup and any account closures. At the end, there should be a final meeting or an exit interview with the employee’s manager or HR.
Exit interview is more of your chance to learn about your company through the employees’ points of view. This can be scheduled on or before their last day. While 91% of the companies now conduct these interviews, it’s important to create a comfortable setting so they feel free to share their honest feedback.
Source: Talentlyft
You can ask employees about:
And anything else that you deem necessary.
The real deal is to use this feedback to improve workplace policies and processes. For instance, if multiple employees leave due to a heavy workload, you can consider redistributing the tasks.
During all this time, keep the discussion professional, thank them for their honesty, and explain how their feedback will be used.
To ensure timely and accurate payroll processing, begin by clearing any outstanding dues like bonuses, unpaid overtime, or unused leaves. Make sure all of these are included in the final paycheck. If the employee has any health benefits like retirement contributions or health insurance, explain to them what happens next or provide written documentation for clarity.
Meanwhile, verify the employee’s bank details to avoid payment details. At this point, coordinate with the finance team to ensure everything is processed before the employee’s last day at work.
Everyone wants to feel valued and appreciated, and it becomes a big deal when the appreciation comes from the workplace, where you have given your all as an employee. Therefore, it’s the company’s responsibility to make the offboarding process memorable.
For that, you can organize a small gathering where you can share the employee’s stories and achievements during their time at the company. If the team can’t gather in person, a video call or email works just as well.
Such farewells are more about leaving on good terms than just goodbyes!
If the question about the ideal employee offboarding process is lingering in your mind, you’re not alone. Since 71% of companies don’t have a formal offboarding process, they typically face issues in developing good relationships with their alumni and protecting the company’s data.
So, here you have the offboarding checklist, containing everything you need to see off the employees on a positive note.
The departing of one person usually affects the entire team; therefore, each one of the team members deserves a heads-up. This is to prevent any kind of delays or confusion. Also, the way you communicate about the offboarding employees matters a lot.
Communication with the departing member is of equal importance, particularly in staying transparent about timelines and expectations. Addressing concerns this way reduces uncertainties for both the employee and the team they leave behind.
A formal resignation letter intends to protect both parties, hence it’s an important part of the offboarding checklist. Without it, a lot of misunderstandings about resignation terms can arise.
It’s a lot easier to ensure accountability with a resignation letter and to process final paychecks, benefits, and other legal requirements. The resignation letter should contain:
Not recovering the company assets after the departure of a team member can result in a costly mistake. According to a report by TechRepublic, 20% of organizations say that they have encountered data breaches by ex-employees. Similarly, another research shows that 60% of leaders agree and 16% strongly agree that employee offboarding represents a security threat.
Source: Torii
That’s why it’s essential to ensure all assets, including laptops, ID cards, credentials, and other relevant things, are returned. This step also reflects a company’s professionalism in handling the offboarding process responsibly.
Exit interviews are just the perfect opportunity to appreciate your employees for the work they have done and the difference they made in the company. This is also the time to discuss everything about payroll checks, asset retrieval, and other company information.
Source: HR Vision Event
Keep everything short and to the point, and let the employee talk about their experience in the company. This is a good way to get insights into why employees leave and help you address the issues before they affect your team.
Stay in touch with the former employees by engaging them in alumni groups, as it has long-term benefits. For instance, a good and trusted alumni network can go a long way in connecting you with like-minded professionals.
To build that authentic relationship, consider organizing a thoughtful farewell as a part of the offboarding checklist and inviting the employee to join alumni groups. Such a warm goodbye ensures your employees leave as advocates, and not critics, of your company.
It’s essential to plan the replacement of leaving employees as soon as you can because failing to plan for replacements can disrupt the workflow and lower team morale. It can even result in team burnout as they have to bear the extra responsibility of the missing team member.
So, if you really intend to fill the position, do it even before the departure of your employee, so it’s easier to maintain balance during the transition.
This is one of the most important parts of an offboarding checklist, and it prevents productivity loss during employee transitions. That’s why it’s important to either provide training directly or create a handover document or a video that contains everything that the new team member will need when taking over the role.
The document should include the following information, but not limited to:
The benefit of a good employee offboarding is that the departing employee will be even happier to help later in case any confusion arises.
About 42% of employees admit payroll mistakes negatively impact their experience, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say final payrolls are a sensitive aspect of offboarding.
So, it’s essential you reflect professionalism and respect with accurate and timely payroll. This also helps close financial obligations without much chaos and reduces the chances of disputes or legal complications.
Ensure the payment you make is correct, and don’t forget to consider if there are any holidays or reimbursements that you need to pay.
With a good offboarding checklist, you are not just tying up loose knots. You are basically maintaining your company’s reputation to the highest standards and leaving a lasting impression on the employees. Such a thoughtful employee offboarding process can even turn former employees into advocates for your brand.
A well-planned offboarding process offers a smooth transition and helps maintain strong relationships with former employees.
But why stop there? Consider investing in tools that smooth out the processes for you beyond offboarding. Try Coursebox.ai to transform how you train and develop your workspace. So, move forward and explore Coursebox.ai to take your business to the next level.
An employee offboarding process usually includes resignation acceptance, task handover, exit interviews, retrieving the company’s assets, revoking system access, and final payroll. Such a process makes offboarding smooth, ensures proper closure, and makes the employees feel valued.
The payroll offboarding is an important part of an offboarding checklist that ensures tax documents, final payments, and benefits adjustments are accurate. After that, the employee is excluded from the payroll program.
An onboarding process includes pre-onboarding, welcoming the new employees, setting up tools and training, and finally transitioning into the new roles with team introduction.
