Notes On Effective Off-Boarding

Veteran HR professionals will have seen numerous variations on the employee separation theme and know just how stressful the circumstances can be for HR staff, line managers, the affected employee, and the colleagues left to carry on with business as usual. 

A considered off-boarding plan will help ease the process for everyone involved. 

Structure an off-boarding plan  

Recruitment and onboarding tend to get a lot more attention than offboarding, but an employee separation represents full-circle closure of a professional relationship that started with mutual trust and respect. Shouldn’t it also end that way? 

The objective of a structured plan is to ensure an employee’s smooth separation from the company and positive transition to the next job. From a corporate perspective, successful offboarding should reflect a positive company image, preserve professional relationships, and ensure efficient business continuity. 

In the case of individual separations, your plan might be a simple, but specific list of off-boarding steps. Larger-scale restructuring calls for more complex planning and broader executive consensus and involvement in legal, ethical, organisational, cost and reputation management decisions. 

Cover the basics

Offboarding plans can be as simple or as detailed as necessary, but consider these basic guidelines:    

Documentation checklist

What information does the employee need from you along with that final paycheque? Details about their pension fund and medical aid, severance benefits, as well as confirmation on the discontinuation of other perks, such as gym, corporate memberships, or discounted rates. 

And what do you need from them? It’s useful to have an updated list of company property that must be returned by a specified date, such as a phone, laptop, keys, access cards, or any other home office equipment. Make sure IT is added to your checklist; close / redirect the employees business email, terminate their system logins and security codes, access to databases and corporate social media accounts, etc.
And, finally, have a documented plan on who in the company is responsible for ensuring the safe return/deletion of each of these items.

Plan fair and appropriate severance

Severance packages vary from bare minimum legal pay-outs to generous, supportive packages and many variations in-between the two extremes. With 189 retrenchments, for example, employees may be offered a percentage of salary for a specified period, other benefits might include extended medical coverage or outplacement services of a defined type and duration. 

Ensure compliance

Individual separations have fairly straightforward legal criteria, still, it’s critical that your team knows exactly how to properly document and manage the process. Major restructuring is more complex and potentially damaging to the business/business continuity. 

Train managers 

Most HR practitioners are skilled in handling sensitive employee situations. This is not necessarily the case for line managers and others in the organisation who may be involved in the separation process. 

Affected employees will be experiencing emotions ranging from anger to despair at losing their jobs. This is not a time for criticism or blame. Line managers, in particular, need to know how to conduct themselves professionally and respectfully in what could be an emotionally awkward or unfamiliar situation.

In the uncommon, but possible event that physical security may be a concern, have a process in place to deal with potentially dangerous circumstances. 

On a less threatening note, emotional stress or resentment may spill over from the affected employee to other staff on the team, casting a pall on morale overall. 

You can help avert these situations by coaching managers on how to conduct respectful, positive separation conversations and support the entire team through the process. 

Retain outplacement support 

Increasingly, South African businesses are adopting the international practice of retaining an outplacement provider to support both the business and the affected employee through the separation and transition process. 

Depending on needs, services may range from group training sessions to one-on-one coaching, on transition subjects such as CV, interview techniques, how to deal with difficult questions, networking strategies, and other soft skills. 

Individuals benefit from confidential, expert guidance on how to find opportunities and market themselves effectively, enabling them to re-enter the job market with renewed confidence. 

Businesses benefit from the understanding and experience an outplacement provider can bring to the team in managing sensitive or potentially volatile employee separations. 

Proper closure 

While you can’t prepare for every departure scenario, a well-considered off-boarding plan or checklist is an effective way to minimise the emotional strain on everyone concerned, as well as mitigate the legal, financial, and reputational risks that come with a poorly handled employee separation.