People do not usually give much thought to employee offboarding, yet it is absolutely vital for a company’s long-term success. When offboarding is done right, it safeguards your company’s assets, helps retain valuable know-how, keeps team spirits up, and leaves departing employees with a genuinely positive impression. This detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) walks you through building an offboarding process that covers all the necessary steps while never losing sight of the human side of things.
No matter the company, people coming and going is simply part of how businesses evolve. According to research, the median tenure for employees aged 25 to 34 is just 3.2 years, which is less than a third of the 10.3-year median tenure of employees aged 65 and older. Even so, just one in ten CHROs at Fortune 500 companies feel confident that their organization manages employee departures well.
A well-designed offboarding process is not just about checking boxes. It is about creating a positive final chapter in the employee's journey with your organization. This is important because people who leave your company today might one day return as top-notch advocates, future hires, or even customers. On top of that, handling offboarding the right way helps shield your company from security risks, prevents important know-how from slipping through the cracks, and keeps you out of legal hot water.
Offboarding really starts as soon as someone hands in their resignation. The very first thing to do is set up a one-on-one meeting between the employee and their manager. In this meeting, aim to get a clear sense of why they have decided to leave and see if there is anything that could be addressed to make them reconsider.
After the departure is set in stone, make sure you have all the paperwork in order. Give the employee a resignation acknowledgment letter that clearly states their last day and explains what happens next in the offboarding process. By laying everything out clearly, you make it easier for both the departing employee and the company to know exactly what to expect.
Letting people know that someone is leaving the team is not something to do lightly, so it calls for a bit of care and thought. Think through how you will get the word out by creating a clear communication plan that covers:
Remember that clear communication through proper channels is key during the offboarding process. Even if circumstances around the departure are not ideal, maintain professionalism and kindness in all communications.
Knowledge loss represents one of the greatest risks when an employee leaves. To mitigate this, establish a structured knowledge transfer process that begins weeks before the employee's last day.
For optimal knowledge retention, consider implementing a Learning Management System like iSpring Learn, which allows employees to create micro-courses, guidelines, and standard operating procedures that remain accessible after their departure.
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As the last day draws near, it’s important to ramp up efforts to pass along crucial knowledge. Set up a few extra meetings to cover the trickier parts of the job—the ones that don’t always make it into the official handbook. Make sure the employee has enough time to wrap up their documentation of key tasks and address any last questions from teammates who’ll be stepping into their role.
Exit interviews can shed real light on what your organization does well—and where there’s room to grow. Set up the exit interview for the employee’s last week, and let them know that while it’s not required, their feedback would be really helpful. Come up with meaningful questions that might spark ideas for making your workplace culture and day-to-day routines even better.
Research shows that just 54% of organizations actually hold exit interviews, which means nearly half are missing out on valuable feedback they could be collecting. When done right, exit interviews give you a rare window into management, workflows, and team morale. This is because departing employees are often more willing to speak candidly about their experiences.
That final week before someone leaves is when the paperwork really ramps up.
The exit interview should be a confidential conversation conducted by someone from HR or a neutral party rather than the employee's direct manager. That way, you are much more likely to get honest, unfiltered feedback.
Aim to keep things positive and productive rather than combative. Find out why they have decided to move on, what aspects of their time here they appreciated most, and whether they have any ideas on how things could be better. Take what you have learned to spot any trends and tackle the underlying problems that might be causing people to leave.
Set up a clear, step-by-step process for collecting company gear and shutting off access.
The way you say goodbye really does make a difference. On their last day, make sure to include some meaningful touches that recognize everything the employee has given to the team.
Once the employee has left, there are still a few key administrative tasks that need to be wrapped up.
Building a well-organized alumni program is a great way to keep strong, positive ties with former employees.
Do not forget—people who have moved on from your company can turn out to be some of your best brand advocates. Research shows that companies with formal alumni programs are more likely to see former employees return, and they also tend to get better referrals from those who have moved on.
Create a single, easy-to-find offboarding guide that everyone can use whenever someone leaves the company. A survey by eGain found that over a third of CEOs juggle three or more different tools just to manage offboarding information. This not only slows things down but also makes it much easier for important details to slip through the cracks.
Rather than juggling multiple documents, pull everything together into one clear, all-in-one SOP that works for every department and role. Make sure everyone involved in offboarding can easily find this and keep it somewhere simple for all stakeholders to access.
Not every role calls for the same offboarding approach. Each position needs its own tailored process.
Your SOP needs a solid foundation that works for everyone, but it should also have flexible parts you can tailor to fit the unique needs of each role.
Treat your offboarding SOP as a work in progress and update it regularly as you learn from real experiences and gather feedback.
A solid SOP matters, but it’s easy to forget that offboarding is really about people going through a big life change. The best offboarding processes strike a balance between following procedures and caring for people.
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When you handle offboarding the right way, your organization stands to gain a lot:
When you put a thorough offboarding SOP in place, one that covers both the operational steps and the human side of saying goodbye, you can turn what is usually viewed as an uncomfortable experience into a positive and productive transition for everyone.
How you part ways with employees says a lot about what your company truly stands for. A thoughtful and systematic approach to offboarding is an investment in your organization's reputation, security, and future success.
