Maximizing Your Offboarding Process

New hires also bring a fresh perspective and new ideas. While much care and attention are devoted to new employees and most companies have an onboarding program in place, the opposite can be said for when an employee is “offboarded”. Offboarding is the process in which an employee leaves a company through resignation, termination, or retirement. According to research done by Aberdeen, only 29% of organizations provide an offboarding program. How an employee departs a company is just as important as how they begin. In looking at the life cycle of an employee, it is important to create a cohesive strategy from when the employee enters as a new hire to when they leave the company.

The good news is that opportunity exists for nearly three out of four (70%) of companies to improve their offboarding initiatives, and BenefitElect can help. To develop an offboarding program or upgrade an existing one, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Set clear goals and outcomes.
   Keep your company’s brand and values in mind as you create the goals and desired outcomes for offboarding. Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said, “We reinforce our culture every chance we get. Our Business Principles are at the forefront of everything we do, and we need to make these principles part of every major conversation at the company.” Reinforcing your company’s culture should be part of the offboarding process as well. Use the following questions as a guide:

• What do you want employees to say about your company when the leave?
• How do you want the offboarding process to be perceived?
• What would make the process smoother for all parties?

2. Create automation for the administrative tasks involved in offboarding.
   While discontinuing an employee’s access to technology and company information and collecting any outstanding company equipment are key during offboarding, one important area that can sometimes be overlooked is the termination of benefits. BenefitElect’s automated processes can make this aspect of the offboarding process a breeze. In addition to ensuring compliance, we automate your benefits administration and administer COBRA to eligible employees. BenefitElect uses automated text messages and emails to communicate significant dates and action steps. In addition, with our automated processes, HR never has to worry whether a terminated employee is still on coverage.

3. Ask for feedback.

   Conducting exit interviews with each outgoing employee gives HR staff an opportunity to end on a high note. Offboarding is the ideal time to ask outgoing employees about their experience with the company.

   Employees who leave your company, especially voluntarily, are ambassadors of your company’s brand. Moses Balian, an HR consultant at Justworks, said, “A smooth and amiable offboarding is so valuable in maintaining employees beyond active employment. You never know when you want to rehire someone.”

   Once employees leave, they feel free to share their opinions about the company, and there are a plethora of platforms and sites where their voices can be heard. Reviews on Google, LinkedIn, and Glassdoor, for example, can have a big impact on the opinions formed by potential hires, competitors and partners alike. In every interaction with outgoing employees, it is important to stay positive throughout the offboarding process.

   Creating an affirmative offboarding experience combined with seamless automated administrative processes will bring a positive completion to the employee life cycle.