Why good off boarding? A good finish is just as important as a good start. Saying goodbye to employees is never fun, so you better make the most of it. It is often the case that when an employee announces his or her departure, he or she is no longer taken into account. However, this is a missed opportunity for you as an employer.
You want employees to remain ambassadors for your company. They may return later or recommend the company in their network. By means of a good offboarding process you ensure that your employees remain ambassadors.
Offboarding is the process that is initiated when an employee leaves the organization. When you have a good offboarding process, the employee will continue to work with a positive feeling until the last day. This keeps them motivated to complete it as well as possible. A good offboarding ensures a better reputation and you can enjoy each other for years to come. So make it work! Read 9 tips for a good offboarding of your staff in our blog.
Working on positive offboarding
Ensure good offboarding by means of a clearly structured process. Good communication and time for each other is very important. Start recording the process. Make a kind of step-by-step plan and go through this every time an employee says goodbye to the company. Below we give examples of the steps that are important to go through.
Also Read: Ways to manage organizational change in the company.
1. Thank the employee
It is of course never nice when an employee leaves, but this is part of the process and can always happen. Thank the employee for the effort and energy he/she has delivered. If the employee moves to another company, congratulate them on the new challenge.
Employees often find it very exciting to have a dismissal interview. Put them at ease and show understanding. Show that you want to think along and make it a good work-out period. The last contact is the one that will last the longest and this must also be positive to ensure that your employees remain ambassadors.
Do you want to finish the conversation extra well? Ask if you can write a recommendation. Companies regularly ask for references.
2. Make clear agreements
It is important to make clear agreements to ensure that the development process runs smoothly. For example, think of saved vacation days. Are these paid out or withdrawn? Would the employee like to include them? When will they be included? This is very important to know, so that the current projects can be completed and transferred in a good way.
In addition, communication must also take place when the last payment of the salary and accrued allowances will take place. The pension overview and the annual statement must also be arranged.
3. Communicate the departure
When clear agreements have been made, it is important to communicate the news. Tell your immediate colleagues first. Do not leave the communication entirely to the employee. Support them in this, but make sure that they are always present when you tell them.
Communicate the news from the inside out. You start with direct colleagues, then you move more broadly to other departments and then to external parties. Always give a clear reason for leaving to avoid speculation.
When communicating with external parties, it is important that you immediately communicate who will be the new contact person in the future.
4. Ensure a clear transfer
Often the departing employee has a lot of knowledge that has to be transferred to a (new) colleague. However, in many cases there is not immediately a new colleague to whom it can be transferred.
This makes it all the more important that you put a clear transfer on paper and also discuss this with your team. With the support of the document, they can train the new colleague in the right way with the necessary knowledge.
5. Arrange administrative work
It is important to arrange administrative tasks before the employee leaves. After the employee leaves the company, it is important that he/she no longer has access to internal systems, accounts or programs.
In addition, set up an out of office, so that external parties are informed that they can now turn to someone else. Make sure that e-mails are automatically redirected to the e-mail address of the replacement colleague. This is always done a short period after departure so that no important customer information is missed.
Is the departing employee listed on the ‘about us’ page on the website? Then make sure that this data is removed from the website.
6. Hold an exit interview
Take the time for an exit interview with the departing employee. Give the employee the opportunity to be open and honest about the reason for leaving and his or her experience within the company. It is important that you mainly listen and do not talk too much yourself.
This is very relevant knowledge for the company. By genuinely listening to this and acting on it, you can prevent employees from leaving in the future. In addition, the employee will feel heard and leave with a good feeling.
The question here is ‘could we have done something to prevent this departure?’ very important. Do not see this as criticism, but convert it into an area for improvement. Don’t leave it at that, but actively get started to actually do something with this.
7. Returning Company Assets
Is the employee in possession of company property such as a laptop, telephone, card or key, car, company clothing or other property? Make sure that the employee can hand this in neatly on his or her last working day.
Create a standard checklist that is used with every departing employee to check whether everything has been handed in again.
8. Take the time for a nice goodbye
Every departing employee finds appreciation important. A rushed goodbye makes the company feel bad. Therefore organize a personal and appropriate farewell.
The form of the farewell can differ from a nice lunch, a nice speech from direct colleagues or a grand farewell with a drink. What you choose depends on the person and the role he or she had within the company.
It is of course logical that the farewell of an intern who has only worked there for half a year will be less extensive than the farewell of an employee who has worked there for more than 10 years.
9. Stay in touch with each other
You want to continue to bind valued former employees to the company. These people may be very valuable in the future. So make sure that former employees don’t forget about the company.
You can do this by inviting them to company drinks or by sending them a nice gift during the holidays. It also works well if you ask them once in a while how they are doing. See what suits you best, but put some energy into it, because this can be very valuable.
Always leave the door open for a possible return of former employees. This is especially important in a tight labor market. Connect on LinkedIn and stay connected. Also make it clear that they can always come back.
Say goodbye with Good off boarding
Good offboarding is just as important as good onboarding. When employees leave the company with a positive feeling, they remain ambassadors for your company and you have a good reputation.
Make a clear plan of the process you will enter when an employee leaves the company. Make sure you always go through this plan completely and take your time with it.
