The ultimate offboarding checklist with tips for every HR professional!

What is offboarding?

Onboarding is hot – every HR professional knows that. But are you paying enough attention to offboarding?

First, let's take a step back: What is offboarding exactly? And what is the difference between onboarding and offboarding?

Offboarding concerns the end of the employer journey. It has everything to do with the moment an employee leaves the company.

Although you might be tempted to get this process over with as quickly as possible, it is not advisable to let someone leave quietly. Offboarding is at least as important as onboarding.

It is a valuable investment in the future, and here is why:

• Receive valuable feedback that you can benefit from in the future
• Turn a (former) employee into an ambassador for your organization
• Make an impression on the employees who are staying behind
• Ensure that the administration is in order
• Keep the door open for a potential return

A whole list of benefits, as you can see! We will explain these in more detail in this blog.

Want to know more about how to turn your employees into ambassadors? Then check out this blog about internal branding!

HR offboarding process example

The offboarding process often begins the moment your employee asks:

“Do you have a minute?”

Especially towards the end of the calendar month, this question sets off loud alarm bells in your head. Because you already know what is coming. Your employee has found a new challenge, as they say. Sometimes it comes at a convenient time and you do a little victory dance inside. But usually, it doesn't. In many cases, it is exactly that employee who you could always rely on and in whom you have invested through training or an extra salary step, who is leaving.

While you are in the conversation, your thoughts are already wandering. Maybe about disappointment in the employee, or how to get that vacancy filled as quickly as possible. And what was the phone number of that staffing agency again? Hit the brakes. Put yourself on hold! Stay in the moment and, above all, stay with your employee. We give you a few tips to guide the offboarding in the right direction. Your employee deserves that. But so do you!

Tip 1 - Schedule the exit interview

This offboarding tip is at number 1 for a reason. Conducting a good exit interview, also called an offboarding interview, yields a lot. Your employee not only gets the chance to blow off steam, but can also provide the organization with good tips. About where they lost interest during their employment, but also what they have been happy with recently. You can put this input to good use for your future policy. Because now you know exactly how to keep other employees engaged and motivated!

Note: do not use the moment the employee announces their resignation as the moment to conduct the exit interview. It is better to let all the emotions around the departure settle first and to really take the time for the conversation. A few days before the planned exit interview, have the employee fill out an online exit form as a basis. Grab a nice cup of coffee and have the conversation together, calmly and honestly. 

Tip: Search online for an example exit form for inspiration.

Make it a good habit to review the results of your exit interviews (anonymously) at the management level every six months. Is there a trend to be discovered? Can we learn something from it? Which tips and tricks should be picked up and which should be developed into policy?

Having a sensitive conversation about someone's departure can be difficult. Especially if COVID-19 circumstances force you to hold the conversation online. How do you keep it personal despite the computer screen between you? How do you make sure the exit interview has its intended effect when the network connection lets you down every now and then? Then read our blog, full of useful tips on holding an online conversation.

Tip 2 - Make agreements about internal communication

All news travels fast - can sometimes be an annoying side effect when offboarding does not go as desired. Before you know it, there is noise, unrest, and gossip surrounding the resignation. A departure is always fodder for personal interpretations, conspiracy theories, and uncertainty. The tip: make clear agreements about communication, right from the moment someone waves their resignation letter. 

Agree on a clear routing. Who needs to be informed further, when, and how? What can be answered when colleagues ask about the reason for the resignation? 

Draft an information email together, to be sent to all colleagues within the organization as soon as possible. What will the employee's very last working day be? What do you want to be given as the reason for the departure? May the new employer be mentioned, or is that sensitive?

Also consider a special letter or email to external relations the employee was in regular contact with. If a (temporary) successor is already known, mention them clearly by name and number, so the contact knows where to turn in the future. 

Tip 3 - Make an offboarding checklist

‍A major advantage of good offboarding is that it prevents misunderstandings and hassle. You do this by making sure everything is in order administratively. It is handy to draw up an offboarding checklist for yourself, so you don't forget anything. Of course, we don't have to tell you that you shouldn't take a single step until you have the employee's resignation in black and white. An old-fashioned resignation letter with a flamboyant signature on paper is still preferable. Judges are becoming somewhat more lenient about accepting resignations by email, but there must then be proof that the notice has arrived. 

Agree on when keys, phone, laptop, and car keys must be handed in, and to whom. When the time comes, have both parties sign for receipt and add the document to the personnel file. Better safe than sorry.

Together with the departing employee, go through the employment terms and conditions carefully:

• How many vacation days are left, based on the end date? Can these be taken before the last day of employment?
• What happens to bonuses, year-end payment, and vacation pay?
• Are there still repayment obligations for a course of study? Or for items purchased through the employer?
• Does the employee have to take a non-compete clause into account? If so, how strictly will it actually be enforced?

Better to have it all clear, right?!

Tip 4 - From offboarding to onboarding

‍The show must go on. It is of course best for all parties if the work can be handed over “warm.” But unfortunately, especially in the current labor market, a successor is not always immediately available. So agree with the departing employee that they will write a clear handover document for those who stay behind.

This document must contain a number of things that are essential to keep everything running after the departure. These include a list of internal and external contacts, important deadlines, working agreements, and the location and structure of digital files. An overview of outstanding action items should not be forgotten either. If you combine all this with some information from the exit interview, you already have a wonderful onboarding program. 

Need help with onboarding too? Download the Onboarding Checklist now! Good news: you can now download the Onboarding Checklist with just a few clicks. This document contains several crucial points that are part of a new colleague's onboarding period. This way, you won't forget anything and can get started right away!

Tip 5 - Announcing the resignation to colleagues

Give every employee a good departure. You undoubtedly share many good experiences. Even if there has been some irritation, or if you have not yet gotten over the disappointment about the resignation.

Assume that your employee has done their best for the organization. That deserves some appreciation. 

Ask your employee how they would prefer to say goodbye. A grand reception, a fun round of drinks, or an intimate dinner with only close colleagues? A few people prefer an Irish Goodbye; but often a party is a good way to wrap things up. If house rules have been drawn up for this, follow them as much as possible. But always leave room for personal wishes. 

Pay sufficient attention to internal communication regarding the employee's departure. Don't leave the employee to figure it out on their own; take charge of organizing the farewell gathering. This is a great relief for the person leaving. Furthermore, it gives you the chance to incorporate positive surprises. For example, invite a former manager with whom the employee has fond memories. Put together a 'memory book' where everyone writes down funny anecdotes, or pass the hat around for a nice farewell gift.

In short: make it a celebration. If the employment relationship ends on a positive note, the employee won't leave on bad terms, and the door will always remain slightly ajar. This is a great bonus, especially in an era where networking and positioning yourself well as an employer are becoming increasingly important! A good offboarding process therefore has nothing but advantages. For the departing employee, but also for the organization.

Tip 6 - Digital offboarding

‍Finally, we offer you what we consider the most efficient tip: go digital! It makes things so much easier for you. Pluvo offers all kinds of features to support you in this. From exit forms and handover options to organizing a party, creating a memory book, calculating remaining vacation days, or managing an offboarding checklist: it can all be done digitally.

Want to know how to do that? Feel free to contact us!