Onboarding and Offboarding Process: Does Quality Experience Matter? Part 2 of 2

In my previous blog, I addressed the onboarding process for new hires joining organizations. In this blog, I will discuss how gracefully companies need to learn to exit employees with respect and dignity (offboarding). The quality and experience of that step are essential, especially for employees who have worked and served the company for an extended period.

Once again, from personal experience, I have witnessed long-tenured employees exiting companies due to restructuring of internal departments or new leadership coming in place that created a ripple effect across departments or due to cost-cutting. I was also the one who resigned and left a department or an organization. Although the choice of leaving was my own, I had bared the retaliation treatment of making such a decision during my two weeks’ notice as the standard professional thing to do when you resign from a job.

So, why does the off-boarding experience seem so awkward?  How does one eliminate the awkwardness, remove the bitter emotions and create a smooth, graceful existence when companies and employees cut ties or vice versa?

The answer is simple – the reality is employees and companies making decisions to break the relationship is not an easy decision. Emotions will always run high; employees will experience the five stages of grief; one day, they will feel okay; the following, bitterness sets in; sadness, happiness in seeking a new adventure, etc. The key for both sides is to handle it professionally to protect your brand, whether it is of the company or the employee leaving.

What should happen if an employee leaves the company on good terms? The steps involved in following their notice and the last days remaining to serve their resignation notice can help their department, manager, or team members with workload and leave a lasting positive impression.

• In the first step, the employee serves their notice via written letter in person and via email for documentation purposes
• The manager should handle communication announcements or, if the employee has direct reports, to be communicated to the team or department
• If the role needs to be filled, an HR Consultant or recruiter supporting the line of business should immediately be notified to post the position
• Before posting the position, job descriptions need to be revisited, and an understanding of roles, responsibilities, and structure expectations needs to be reviewed. This is where the hiring manager can update what the role does or create new responsibilities to adjust the role for future business demands and stay competitive in the market.
• Once you take the time to review the job descriptions and determine compensation, then you are ready to post the position.
• The departing employee should immediately create a list of projects or items they were working on with specific details of milestones ahead. These deadlines still need to be met, individuals who are part of the project or resource for the group, etc.
• The employee should begin clearing out their desk and files in case this has not been done or maintained over time.
• Exiting employees could gracefully offer to help with job description feedback or screening interviews if time allows and if the hiring manager values their feedback.
• The employee will start getting busy with tying loose ends and saying their goodbyes to business partners and colleagues
• The employee may be invited to coffee meetings and lunches with team members they have worked closely with, leading up to the last day for a final get-together with the whole department.
• The employee might need to have a final update meeting with their manager if the new replacement was not hired by then for the manager to understand what is pending.
• The exiting employee should hand over their pass card access and keys to their desk, list any applications and share folders they have access to, company phone, and corporate card, and submit a final expense report to close the account and return equipment to the hiring manager.

In a perfect world, all the points listed above would be an ideal offboarding experience when exiting a company on your terms.

However, what happens when someone is forced to leave? Do the above-listed points take place? Unfortunately, no, the experience is quite different.

There is secrecy involved; the employee may sense changes in the air and not be sure what is happening around them. They may have a gut feeling something is happening but are unsure what? Why? What gives?

The employee may notice changes in the manager’s behavior, frequent HR meetings, and closed doors discussions. The employee may notice many questions regarding projects or other items and tasks that all of a sudden were not of interest to the manager but somehow became important to them now.

Perhaps it’s a meeting with the employee to find out where they are with tasks and being asked what projects they are working on and to provide a list. The employee may notice slowly that the manager is removing duties, responsibilities, and tasks from the employee and giving them to others on the team.

When confronted and asked by the employee about the recent changes, management may drum up justification regarding new strategies, a shift in focus, etc.

 

It does not matter for what reasons companies make those decisions on offboarding an employee. You can’t change the reasons, primarily if they are guided by cost-cutting or a change in leadership. We all know that those reasons cannot be reversed for the most part. But that is not what I want to address; I want to address how companies can treat those employees they release with dignity and respect, as it matters to both sides.

So, then what should happen when decisions are made at the management level with the help of HR:

• An early morning meeting is scheduled with the employee to terminate (it’s ALWAYS been the case). It’s the first sign that employee knows once they walk into that meeting room that it’s the end of the line for them. Can this be handled better? Maybe, by choosing a different time or allowing the employee to say goodbye to their team members and gather their things. That would be a good start! (Provided the employee does not pose a behavioral concern) Employers might not change the scheduled meeting time, but to release with respect and grace, you should allow the employee to gather their belongings and say their goodbyes to their team. How to do that? During the terminating meeting, make arrangements and agreement with the employee and HR rep that they are allowed to return to their desk. In contrast, the HR rep is present to gather their items and say their goodbyes quietly, with very little info to be told in front of the team.

• One way to handle the team goodbye for a leader is by HR gathering the team in a meeting room while the employee is packing. Once they are done, they join the gathering by making a few remarks (agreed in advance) “they have decided to pursue other career opportunities,” and they would like to say their goodbyes and thank the team for all their support during their time here. It’s about preparing a speech, but rather than the manager or HR giving that speech, you allow the existing employee the opportunity to do it. Note: Most companies are advised by HR not to let a released employee interact as they walk out the door to avoid a meltdown or fear negative employee behavior. I believe if the delivery and representation of the company when releasing an employee were respectful, compassionate, and kind, you wouldn’t have to fear those sorts of out-breaks (it’s all in the delivery, so learn to be a good steward of kindness in your approach as these are people lives you are dealing with)

 

• In addition to the payment owed to the offboarding employee, it helps to offer out-placement support for four months to assist the exiting employee with job search, resume, and interview techniques

 

• Offering a list of networks for them to reach out, to soften the blow helps

 

• Provide a letter of recommendation. For the love of God, they must have done something right for your company, so do not release them empty-handed for those tenured employees who served the company for many years; give them what they deserve.

 

• Could you not make it personal? If you know they are good workers overall but disagree with their work or management style, don’t treat the exit as an opportunity to stick it to the employee. Just do the right thing and take retaliation out of the equation. That goes for all levels, whether the manager or HR and the employee were not getting along personality-wise, but the work ethic was strong. Do the right thing “in the forefront” of everything you do!

 

• Have a termination checklist of items that need to be returned or removed. While you are having that meeting, you should have already notified the Executive Assistant, IT, payroll, and benefits to coordinate a proper respectful release of the employee….(some companies will do this step after they release the employee, which does not feel good for the employee as it causes so much confusion and stress). You don’t want to add to their stress and anxiety when you release them.

 

• Granted, there are cases where you must release and let go of the employee immediately for security reasons. That all depends on two grounds: what damage have they done to the company? Or the type of position and access they have? For obvious reasons, it’s HR’s responsibility and legal dept. To protect the company from further damage to its brand and reputation and secure its clients or company information.
• I know there are costs to this service, but if you know the employee is decent, loyal, and with high integrity, you can help show the value you had for that employee in what they represent by at least offering a counseling service for job loss. Most companies have those in place as part of the benefits as employee assistance programs. Your HR rep could arrange for counseling for the exiting employee to help support and manage their job loss for 4 to 6 months….it will make all the difference to the employee and their family. You are saving face with grace!

 

• The same goes for medical coverage; if you could arrange for four months, that would also go a long way. It’s a huge gesture of good faith!

To summarize the off-boarding experience, don’t we all deserve to be treated with respect even if personalities or performances are not on the same page? The opposite of this is to feel as if you are a real criminal to be treated, walked out, and released in such a manner.

Companies have a lot to lose as these offboarding employees will share their experience and accounts of their release on social media and their network, which may hinder the brand and reputation of the company. (Companies like Glassdoor allow anonymous postings for those concerned by an NDA).

The existing employees will still be in contact with a few internal current employees. They would share the details of their experience with the current employees, which may create shock and mistrust between current employees and the company if the incident is terrible.

The mentality of “everyone’s replaceable, we are all numbers, it’s business, or if they treated a long-time employee in such a way what makes me think I will get a different treatment, etc.” is as strong today as it ever was. Your current employees will doubt your leadership, your value, and what is important in silence, creating a culture that puts their guard up and their armor high.  You lose morale and connectivity, and an uptick in gossip begins due to a lack of transparency.

Companies cannot mess up with onboarding or offboarding, as a lot is riding on those two steps. I hope that in the future, this will evolve and change to create a more thoughtful and mindful approach on both sides, with companies and HR spending more time understanding and working towards genuinely better-quality experiences for employees, not just their clients.

Everyone matters; it depends on how much you care and your values. What will your legacy be? How will you impact the world around you?

Mindfulness is the key to understanding all involved with a clear lens of creating a ripple effect of kindness, compassion, and empathy while remaining professional.