Offboarding – how to do it right?

Offboarding is a key element of team management, often underestimated in the employee management process. Effective offboarding can not only provide a smooth transition for departing employees, but also benefit the organisation by maintaining good relationships and gaining valuable feedback.

From this article you will learn:

• What is offboarding?
• What are the differences between offboarding and onboarding?
• What are the reasons for offboarding?
• What are the elements of offboarding?
• What does the automation of offboarding look like?
• What are the consequences of bad offboarding?

Offboarding – definition

Offboarding is nothing more than when an employee leaves an organisation as a result of resignation, redundancy, retirement or other reasons. It often includes returning company equipment, handing over responsibilities and projects to other employees, closing access to company systems and transferring knowledge. It is also the time when so-called exit interviews are conducted, in which the employee can share his or her experiences and suggestions, regarding the company.

Offboarding is the process of managing an employee’s departure from the organisation, including all activities related to their departure, from handing over responsibilities to conducting exit interviews.

Definition of offboarding

Offboarding is an essential part of employer branding – a corporate image and reputation as an employer and its ability to attract and retain talent. It serves to preserve professional relationships, gather feedback and secure company data and resources. It also enables a smooth continuation of work and can contribute to building professional networks.

Offboarding versus onboarding

Offboarding and onboarding an employee are key processes in personnel management – you could say they are two sides of the same coin. Onboarding is the process of introducing a new employee to an organisation – through onboarding, new employees should understand their roles, their employer’s expectations, the culture within the company and gain access to the necessary resources and training.

The way offboarding is managed can affect the perception of the company by current and potential employees. If they leave the organisation with negative perceptions, this can discourage potential candidates – former employees often share their experiences externally, which can impact on the employer brand. Both processes are also important in the transfer of knowledge within the organisation – onboarding focuses on transferring knowledge to new employees, offboarding helps to secure it, which ensures continuity of work and minimises disruption.

They are also opportunities to gather feedback – onboarding allows you to understand how new employees perceive the company, while offboarding allows you to find out the views of exiting employees on topics such as work atmosphere or organisational culture in a company. The information can be used to improve both processes and enhance the working environment.

Reasons for offboarding

Offboarding can be the result of a variety of reasons, which often overlap with an individual employee’s motives for leaving. Employees may resign because they have decided to look for better development opportunities – reasons for this could be a promotion not realised at the old company, a desire to change career paths or to learn new skills.

One of the most important factors for leaving a job is inadequate working conditions – low pay, poor working environment or team conflicts. This is confirmed by a report prepared by No Fluff Jobs (even though it relates to the IT industry, its conclusions are fairly universal) – 78% of people leave for financial reasons, with dissatisfaction with organisational culture, poor communication and a toxic working environment being the next most important reasons^[1].

Employees may also leave in search of a better work-life balance, especially if the current job does not offer flexible hours or remote working opportunities. Also, a change of residence, either for personal or professional reasons, influences a change of job.

Also, health or family problems that require more time and attention can be a reason for leaving a job, as can retirement. It is also worth bearing in mind the problems caused by the work itself, fatigue and burnout, especially when the employee does not see the possibility of improving the situation, can lead to the decision to change jobs – as reported in a report prepared by the Association of Employers and Entrepreneurs, this problem can affect up to 31% of white-collar workers^[2].

Each reason for offboarding requires a tailored approach from HR department, both in terms of understanding the motives for leaving and ensuring that the offboarding process is carried out in a professional manner.

Elements of offboarding

Offboarding is a comprehensive process that involves various steps and activities to ensure a smooth transition of the employee from the organisation. Here are some of the key elements of offboarding:

• The offboarding process begins with formally informing the appropriate people in the organisation that the employee is leaving. It is important that the information is structured and professional.
• A plan should then be developed to describe how the departing employee’s responsibilities and projects will be handed over to other team members or a designated deputy to ensure continuity of work.
• The employee should return any company equipment (laptops, phones or access cards) and other items belonging to the company. Care should also be taken to ensure that he or she passes access to company systems – it is good practice to block or delete the departing employee’s accounts.
• Another element is for the employee to complete what is known as a ‘work-circuit’, i.e. all necessary documents, such as financial statements, employee benefits documentation or documents related to the termination of employment. The company should also prepare the necessary documentation – if the employee had an employment contract, an employment certificate should be issued; for other contracts, it is good practice to issue references and certificates.
• An exit interview (exit interview) should then be conducted with the departing employee. This will allow you to understand his or her reasons for leaving and gather feedback on the job and the company, which can be used for future improvements.
• It is a sympathetic custom to provide support in the form of career development advice or assistance in finding a new job.
• One of the final stages is to organise a farewell to the departing employee in a way that recognises their contribution to the company and encourages them to maintain a positive relationship in the future.
• Once an employee has left, offboarding does not end – continually updating procedures and policies and analysing and improving the process are equally important.

Automating offboarding

Automating offboarding involves using technology to streamline the process of an employee leaving the organisation. All systems should be integrated as far as possible to ensure a smooth flow of information between departments and minimise the risk of errors – this not only makes the process easier to manage, but also helps to keep procedures consistent and professional.

Human resource management systems (HRMS) are often used for this purpose – they help to manage the documentation, timelines and procedures associated with employee departures. For example, during an offboarding, notifications can be automatically sent to the relevant departments, such as IT, finance or security, to ensure that all necessary steps are taken.

Project and task management tools also work well in automating offboarding – they can help plan and monitor, for example, the process of handing over responsibilities and tasks. Conversely, asset and licence management software can be used to manage the return of equipment and the disconnection of access to company systems. Tools for creating online surveys and forms can be used to conduct exit interviews.

Consequences of bad offboarding

Bad offboarding can have a number of negative consequences for an organisation, both short and long term. One of the biggest is the risk of loss of knowledge and experience, as the departing employee may take valuable skills and information with them without passing it on to successors or colleagues, which can lead to disruptions in work and an increased burden on remaining employees.

Companies can also miss out on valuable feedback – exit interviews conducted as part of an offboarding often provide valuable insights into how to improve management, organisational culture and retain key employees. Missing this information means a missed opportunity for growth and improvement.

Poorly conducted offboarding can negatively impact on the morale and engagement of remaining employees. Knowing that comrades are leaving in negative circumstances can lower their level of trust in the organisation, which can lead to higher turnover and difficulties in the staff recruitment process – negatively affecting the brand image.

The threat to data security should not be forgotten either. Without a proper offboarding process, former employees may retain access to sensitive information, creating a risk of data leakage or misuse.