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Organizations need to realize that creating a respectful and efficient exit for employees is just as important as onboarding when an employee is hired.
Onboarding programs give new hires the tools they need to be successful. They welcome the new hire to the organization, provide knowledge and training, and create a roadmap for success.
Offboarding is the process associated with employee departures. The great news about offboarding programs is that they can in some respects mirror the onboarding process. Organizations can even use their onboarding technology for offboarding.
Regardless of whether an employee is leaving the organization voluntarily or involuntarily, the exiting employee should be treated with respect, provided information, and given a checklist of things that need completion. If your organization doesn’t have a formal offboarding process, here are a few activities to get started:
- Get buy-in from the management team. Like onboarding, offboarding isn’t a “human resources program”. Many individuals play a role in the offboarding process: department managers, payroll, IT, security, and HR. Offboarding employees becomes an important piece of today’s recruiting strategy regardless of the unemployment rate, especially when rehiring employees is common.
- Include contingent workers. Organizations have increased their use of freelancers, contractors, and consultants. This often means there are more non-employees with security badges, company technology, and software licenses than ever before. Don’t forget to include this group when it comes time to craft an offboarding program.
- Have a policy. Speaking of programs, outline what needs to take place when an employee (or contractor) leaves. This is a great “sticky note” activity. Call a meeting of key stakeholders (#1 above) and give everyone involved in the offboarding process a package of stickies. Have them post on the walls all of the things that need to happen when someone leaves. You can use this information to craft a checklist.
- Create a checklist. With the information from the policy (#3 above), group the activities by time and department. Start with when an employee gives notice or a consultant’s contract is ending. Outline what needs to happen right away and those activities that need to take place closer to the individual’s last day.
- Educate employees. The last group of people the company needs to get onboard with the program are employees. There are probably going to be things on the checklist (See #4) that the employee needs to do, like make sure their address is current with payroll. When someone announces their departure, take a moment to share the checklist with them and describe how things are going to happen. It will give the employee and/or contractor the information they need to understand the transition.
One final thing. If organizations are trying to get honest feedback from employees (and contractors) during an exit interview, it only makes sense to treat exiting employees with respect. Even when the organization might be disappointed that the person is leaving. Because you never know when they might want to come back. Or when they might share a job opening with a friend. Or maybe even refer a customer.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Nashville, TN
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