Dear HR,
One of my employees is moving and gave me their two weeks’ notice. They’ve been an excellent addition to my team, and I want to make sure they have a good offboarding experience and we set up the incoming employee for success. What should I prioritize in the next two weeks?
It’s tough to lose a valued team member, but there are steps you can take to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. Once you know an employee is leaving, start by contacting your HR Representative so they can assist as necessary. From there, these are some important steps to complete in the offboarding process:
Provide the leaving employee with a Job Knowledge Transfer Form
The form collects information like essential work tasks, businesses processes/operating procedures, helpful resources, permissions needed to access different systems/software, timelines or upcoming deadlines, important work contacts, team goals, and more. As their supervisor, you’ll make any necessary changes to the form and/or ask clarifying questions.
Notify the rest of your team that the employee is leaving
Be sure to respect the leaving employee’s preferences for what information is shared with the team. You’ll also want to inform other employees who may regularly partner with the leaving employee. Tell them who they can contact during the transition period if they need help with a task that the leaving employee would usually handle.
Conduct an exit interview/exit survey
This interview may be conducted by you as the employee’s supervisor or by your agency’s HR Professional. The employee may also fill out a survey rather than completing a traditional interview. Here are some sample questions to get you started:
- What did you enjoy most about your job?
- Is there anything you suggest we start doing? Stop doing? Keep the same?
- What would you have changed about your job?
- What does support look like to you? Did we support you based on that definition?
- Is there anything we could have done to retain you?
Check off housekeeping items
Make sure that you have the employee’s up-to-date contact information for communications after their employment ends. The employee’s final travel/expense reports and timesheet must be submitted and approved, and you’ll also want to start the process for removing their access/permissions. Be sure to collect agency-owned equipment (including their badge) on their last day of employment. Make sure that your employee knows how to exit their parking garage without a badge—check with HR to be sure these instructions have been provided.
Additional things to keep in mind for offboarding
If an employee is dismissed, you and HR should work together to provide a smooth, dignified exit. Notification to colleagues about the departure as you reassign the employee’s work should be discreet and limited to the fact the employee is no longer employed without sharing additional details. If an employee has personal items in the workplace they can’t take with them at the time of dismissal, make clear arrangements with the employee to handle those items within a specified time frame. Additionally, employees should not touch their computer after they’ve been dismissed and should be escorted all the way out of the building, not just the office area.
If an employee is retiring, the Indiana Public Retirement System offers a variety of resources to help employees plan for their retirement. They can find workshops, educational videos and more at the Retirement and Investment Education page of the INPRS website.
For more assistance with the knowledge transfer process, contact the INSPD Performance Management Team at PerformanceManagement@spd.in.gov. You can also visit INSPD’s offboarding page.