Offboarding

Sooner or later it will happen – someone will quit or you decide to fire an employee. 

Whatever the reason, you’d better be prepared. It is never easy to split ways and the way you do it (offboarding experience) has a strong impact on your team as well as your employer brand.

The way you design your offboarding process will differ, depending on your culture. Here are some suggestions that you might want to consider:

Your employee quits:


Action plan.

Set up a standard offboarding process. What happens when an employee hands in a resignation? Who should be informed? When and how should that happen?


Big picture.

Think strategically. Can it be an opportunity for an organizational development? Don’t try to keep an employee only to avoid facing a gap.


Training.

Have all your managers trained in handling these conversations? It is not a rocket science but they should feel confident and know how to fight for an employee they want to keep.


Understand.

What is the reason? Is there anything you or the company can do about it?


Timelines.

Have the person on board as long as needed, but don’t necessarily stick to the initial notice period.


Communication.

When should the team and company be informed? Who is going to do that? Agree on the communication with the employee.


Exit interview.

Have someone impartial (e.g. PeopleOps) run an exit interview. Dig into positive and negative sides of working for your company and see how you can improve. Let the person be completely honest. Ask questions and don’t judge the answers. Just try to understand. If they are emotional, let them be.


Security.

Be aware of potential risks and handle them accordingly (e.g. should access to some data or tools be limited?)


Keep it professional.

Keep the employee informed about next steps.


Thank you & farewell.

If you are ending on good terms, you might think about a goodbye gift. Try to find time to shake hands and thank the employee for the time spent together and the contribution he or she had.

offboarding

You fire an employee:


Do not surprise them.

The employee should be warned up-front that the things are not going well, especially if you are considering firing them because of performance. There are lots of good moments to address the problem and look together for a solution. Failing to do so and firing a person who does not expect it is a serious failure on the side of the company and will not only hurt the person more than it would otherwise but also eventually lead to mistrust from other employees (you never know).


Action plan.

Set up a standard offboarding process. What happens when you know that the person should be fired? Who should be informed? Who will do it?


Training.

Depending on the experience of your managers (and local legislation), they can handle those conversations on their own or accompanied by HR. Make sure they feel confident about doing it, they know different scenarios and are prepared to handle them.


Timelines.

Decide up-front if you want the person to stop working for you right after your conversation or whether they should still come to the office for a certain time period.


Knowledge transfer.

If you fire someone with immediate results, make sure you have all the knowledge, data, and accesses needed to continue.


Communication.

When should the team and company be informed? Who is going to do that? Agree on the communication with the employee.


Security.

Be aware of potential risks and handle them accordingly.


Keep it professional.

Keep the employee informed about next steps.


Thank you & farewell:

If you feel not everything was bad, try to find time to shake hands and thank them for the time spent together and the contribution they had.