Offboarding

What is Offboarding?

Offboarding is the formal process of transitioning former employees out of the company. Offboarding is expected to happen regardless of the employee's voluntary or involuntary departure, but the steps taken may differ depending on whether the employee is resigning, retiring or being terminated. This may include: 1) Transferring that employee’s job responsibilities, 2) Deactivating access rights and passwords, 3) Turning in equipment, 4) Conducting exit interviews to gather feedback.

Why is onboarding important? 

• Respect: Employees are the backbone of any company. Ways to show respect is with the offboarding process, listening to the employee when conducting the exit interview, and looking for ways to implement the advice given by the employee.
• Company Culture: The way an employee is offboarded highly reflects the culture at the company. 
• Brand Ambassadors: Employees who transition from your company become brand ambassadors for your company. It is important to not burn any bridges with past employees as they can advocate for the company. 

Benefits of offboarding 

1. Protects employer brand: The employer brand reflects all parts of the employee experience, including offboarding. Strengthening connections between employers and employees should be a continuous process, not just an entry on the onboarding checklist.
2. Allows employees to give feedback: Offboarding allows employees to be candid about the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of their experience at your organization, allowing HR to implement feedback. ‍
3. Allows opportunities for boomerang employees: When an employee’s career path leads in a different direction than your organization can provide, a careful and thorough offboarding process can leave the door open for reconnection.