Why Offboarding Matters: What HR Needs to Know

Effective onboarding eases the stress of starting a new job and assists new hires in finding their position in the organization.

But leaving a career behind might be just as confusing. Additionally, while many businesses set up a thorough onboarding procedure for new workers, others need to remember the value of employee offboarding when that same person decides to leave.

Offboarding a worker entails more than just giving them a cupcake and a recommendation. Employee offboarding may enhance your employer brand, increase morale, and offer priceless insight you couldn’t acquire from any other source.

What is employee offboarding?

The process of an employee leaving the people and the company they worked for is known as offboarding.

An offboarding time serves two purposes: reducing the impact of the leaving on the company’s operations and assisting the organization in making better hiring and employee experience decisions.

However, it also shapes employees’ final impressions of the business and the public persona they will project.

The processes of onboarding new employees and offboarding existing ones are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Offboarding is more like a divorce on friendly terms where the ex-lovers remain close friends, as opposed to onboarding, which we previously referred to as the honeymoon time of the workplace.

The goal of onboarding is to ensure that new employees are familiar with the structure, personnel, and corporate culture. In addition, it involves laying the groundwork for a solid, enduring relationship.

Offboarding is the procedure by which employees formally quit both their workplace and their coworkers.

Offboarding is about saying goodbye and facilitating an easy, stress-free exit for employees, in contrast to onboarding, which concentrates on the seamless integration of new hires.

Why is offboarding important?

When a worker quits a company, they could leave some unfinished business behind, posing a risk for security breaches and potential data leaks.

But when the procedure is run correctly, it ensures that nothing is lost and that there are no chances for a data or security breach.

Offboarding employees is crucial for managers and business owners. They ought to be aware of how offboarding fits into the lifecycle of an employee.

The entire process should be defined by HR, who should establish appropriate plans and long-term strategic adjustments for the organization.

The following are some of the critical advantages of offboarding:

1. Former employees may reapply for employment

Companies lose employees for a variety of reasons.

Some leave because there aren’t enough prospects for professional advancement, others because their employer won’t let them work remotely, and others do so because they have a better cash offer.

Not everyone leaves a firm because they dislike it or its culture. This is why some of them return after spending some time in another organization. But, of course, this is all assuming they had a satisfying offboarding experience.

The practice of rehiring former employees provides benefits for the firm. First, it saves money because your ‘new’ hire will start working and producing sooner, and you already know they fit with the company’s culture.

Additionally, most businesses nowadays won’t turn down a boomerang employee because hiring is complex, and there is a skill gap that is only getting worse.

2. Former workers serve as ambassadors

First impressions matter because they often linger. But final impressions are also valid. For example, personally and professionally, people will never forget how you bid them farewell.

There are various “moments that matter” throughout your employment with a corporation. These are experiences that will likely stick in your memory and that you won’t soon forget.

Consider your first day of work, enjoyable team activities, and offboarding.

If you have positive memories of your last days working for a corporation, you’ll be complimentary of them. Although you no longer work for them, you will likely have a pleasant attitude when people inquire about your time there.

As a result, the company’s employer brand and its attraction to prospects will benefit indirectly.

3. Former coworkers are also customers

Both your recruits and your former employees are frequently your customers.

As a result, while your candidate experience is crucial for ensuring that rejected candidates continue to be pleased customers, your offboarding process is critical in ensuring that your former employees continue to be devoted clients.

What could possibly serve as better brand promotion than a former employee who continues to use your product even after leaving your company? They actually act as a living testimony to how well you handle your clients.

4. Security

To put it more practically, a proper offboarding procedure is essential for security concerns.

Even though it’s unpleasant to consider, if someone leaves an organization against their will, they might act out of hatred or desperation and try to harm the company. For example, opening up the customer database of the business or removing files.

In fact, 20% or more of firms report having dealt with data breaches caused by former employees. This comes as no great surprise when you consider that at least one-third of ex-employees still have access to corporate information.

By using your offboarding procedure to ensure that workers don’t have access to corporate systems and networks after they leave, you should be able to prevent it from happening.

5. Gain valuable feedback

Examining and refining your offboarding procedure can start a positive cycle where your company learns from its failures and makes improvements in the future.

And offboarding can demonstrate to your past, present, and prospective employees that your company supports their advancement and is interested in improving, whether your employees return with new skills or part ways as friends.

To summarize

The health and success of companies depend heavily on the offboarding of employees.

Offboarding enables companies to:

• Make sure teams can carry on doing quality work even after members leave
• Secure data that is essential to the organization while adhering to legal requirements
• Provides insightful information on the reality of working for your company
• Maintain and improve the brand and reputation of your employer
• By designing an excellent offboarding procedure, you can make sure that your company uses employee departures to strengthen, innovate, and resiliency

Looking to improve your offboarding experience? Give your HR staff time to refine your strategy. Then, let Hezum, a complete HR solution, manage tasks like onboarding and time management. If you’re interested in our solutions, visit the website today.