Employee Offboarding Checklist Guide for 2023

A well-planned employee offboarding process aims at:

Smooth knowledge transfer: The departing employee’s knowledge has to be transferred to other team members to ensure there is no skill gap once he/she leaves the organization.

Understanding organizational issues: Exit interviews reveal the pitfalls in the processes and ways to improve or correct them.

Gauge former employees’ perceptions of the brand: Any negative perceptions of the brand can be gauged during the exit interview and can be clarified before they leave the organization.

Open the door for boomerang employees: A smooth and productive exit interview leaves the door open to boomerang employees who might return to the organization at a later stage.

Employee offboarding is not just about bidding goodbye to employees, but it is a chance to understand the reason behind resignation and take corrective measures (if any) that might contribute to organizational growth.

Preparing the Employee Offboarding Checklist

As with any process having a checklist ensures systematic execution of the process, employee offboarding is no exception.

Here is a comprehensive employee offboarding checklist that has it all covered.

1. Communication of departure:

As soon as an intimation of resignation is received, all stakeholders need to be updated. Before rumors start floating, the team needs to be informed that the employee is leaving the organization. The team manager, teammates, client, payroll, and IT team need to be informed about the resignation.

2. Knowledge transfer and training:

To avoid any skill gaps, the departing employee needs to transfer his/her knowledge to the person replacing him/her. Proper knowledge transfer and training of the successor need to be completed before the employee leaves the organization.

3. Recovery of assets:

During the work tenure, the assets provided by the company like laptops, mobile phones, ID cards, and other equipment need to be recovered in an undamaged state from the employee. Someone in the HR or IT department may be assigned the task of recovering assets from the employee.

4. Updating company records:

References to employees who aren’t part of the organization often lead to confusion in internal communication. So, once the exit process is complete, the organizational charts and records must be promptly updated.

5. Resetting and revoking access:

Security breaches occur when employee access to the company’s systems is not revoked at the time of exit. Resetting and revoking the access is done by the IT department upon intimation from HR.

6. Compensation and benefits:

The employee’s final payout of compensation and benefits needs to be completed before the employee’s last day at the organization. This ensures a smooth exit and earns the goodwill of the employee.

7. Exit interview:

This is the most important step in the offboarding process. It helps HR understand the reason for exit and derive useful insights from the feedback. The insights from exit interviews help in rectifying pitfalls in company processes and make them more employee-friendly.

8. Reference letters and documentation:

Reference letters and employee certificates may be provided to employees on request.

9. Appreciation:

Ending the employee exit on a positive note by appreciating their contribution to the company is very important. This makes them look at your organization favorably in the future and boosts the morale of the team members who may be apprehensive of the separation.

10. Maintaining contacts:

Former employees are valuable assets for any organization. Staying in touch with them is important. Alumni groups can be formed to maintain contact with former employees.