Does your offboarding procedure need to be updated in light of rising turnover, the uncertain state of the world economy, and the “Big Quit” movement that shows no signs of abating?
HR professionals work hard to find exceptional candidates, induct them with strategic training and employee onboarding programs, evaluate performance, and acknowledge achievements. But whenever it comes to offboarding, even if it is implemented, many firms frequently fall short.
You see, the fact of the matter is that every employee you bring on board will end up quitting. So, why should you not accept the fact and make the most of it?
Below are some key offboarding guidelines you can follow to optimise the offboarding phase for a memorable employee experience.
Celebrate Your Departing Employee’s Contributions and Achievements
If an employee is leaving on good terms and has been an asset to the company, make sure to give them a warm and memorable farewell celebrating their service and contributions to the organization.
It’s crucial to treat employees with respect throughout the offboarding process. The most recent experience an employee had with your organization will stand out. Departing employees will surely tell others about their experience in your organization, and they’re more likely to speak positively about it if they receive a warm and respectful sendoff.
Although offboarding is an opportune time to uncover what made exiting employees unhappy, it is also a time to build them up, demonstrate your gratitude for their service and talents, and show support for their future.
Maintain a positive outlook through the offboarding phase, at par with employee onboarding, and be cognizant of the fact that ex-employees can maintain their role as your company’s brand ambassadors for the foreseeable future.
Collect Feedback and Follow Up
You can’t just accept a resignation letter from a worker and call it a day; efforts have to be made to understand their motives for leaving so that your company can rectify mistakes on their part (if there are any).
To deal with this phase you need to ask appropriate offboarding questions and listen intently. You can find out the reason behind their departure and set up a healthy atmosphere for them to be transparent — only pay close attention to whatever they have to say.
To collect priceless insight from a worker, you can engage in a direct, face-to-face conversation — the crucial aspect is to attempt to understand their underlying reasons for departing. You should also know that exiting employees will only be candid as long as they that their inputs will be respected.
It’s critical to take action after gathering inputs about their experience at the organisation.
If it’s a matter of the company doing less in terms of remuneration, bonuses, performance appraisals, benefits, learning and development etc., can modifications be made? If there’s something the exiting employee’s superior can do to better their experience in hope to overturn their decision, then it needs to be deliberated and acted upon immediately.
It’s important that HRs and supervisors collect feedback, follow up on time, and make necessary modifications and adjustments to retain the employee and to lower attrition. Not performing such an action might eventually lead to more turnover as a result of the same reasons.
Stand Behind Them and Ask If They Can Vouch
As the employer, you must do everything in your power to assist outgoing workers in their careers after you’ve established the grounds for their exit.
Ideally, you should appoint a professional to directly assist the employee with their exit and offer all available resources to further their careers.
While you’re at it, make it a point to provide the employee with your organisation’s contact information. If the departure is amicable, let the outgoing employee know that there is always a place for them in the team (if the right opportunity presents itself), and that they are more than welcome to get in touch if they ever need any assistance.
If the outgoing employee has had outstanding impact at your company but is being let go as a result of circumstances beyond your control, you should endorse them and let others know through various media that this particular individual is open to work.
For instance, in the case of mass cutbacks, you can inform your followers on professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn so that they can start scouting and/or evaluating the candidates for vacancies within their company.
Conclusion —
It is possible to discover how to boost productivity at every stage of the employee lifecycle by improving employee exit activities. Your HR team should analyse your current employee exit strategy and identify the areas for optimisation.
While certain advantages might not materialise immediately, your organisation will eventually benefit.
