5 steps for good offboarding

Replace the term ‘departing’ or ‘former employee’ with ‘alumni’. After all, these are people who move on without you. But regardless, they will always carry a bit of your organisation's DNA with them. You cherish family, and so do these people.

This may sound like a no-brainer, but too many organisations still treat departing employees as ‘no longer important’. But they are potential ambassadors! So, prefer to call them alumni.

Setting up a process is the minimum you can do about offboarding as an organisation, though. After all, good offboarding is also positive for employees who stay. Therefore, make sure you have a streamlined process. Difficult? No. Make sure your offboarding has a script, just like your onboarding. This keeps the process clear and effective.

In the script, focus on communication, planning, administrative completion, handover, return of company property and exit interview. By also involving the new employee, you facilitate a smooth transition and ensure continuity in a sustainable way. 

Want a lasting connection with your alumni? Offer them an extensive alumni programme that keeps them involved with the organisation and each other. This way, alumni have access to a valuable network from which both they and your organisation will fully benefit.

Once enthusiastic about your programme, alumni will share it with others. This not only means free publicity, but also a big boost for your image, organisational development and talent management. So share those relevant news and vacancies, show interest in their careers and achievements and invite them to networking activities.

Alumni recruitment then becomes a lot more logical and straightforward. It is important to keep communicating broadly with your alumni. A well-designed community makes all the difference here. It gives your organisation direct access to all alumni and their networks. This is crucial in the search for new colleagues, clients or partners.

But think even wider. Invite alumni to share their knowledge, for instance by contributing ideas on new products or services. Retirees in particular are keen to put their ideas into practice. Or maybe you even want alumni to sit on the application committee.

Get the most out of your alumni network by adding gamification elements. Departing employees are often interested in contributing to your success as a previous employer via an online connection. Especially if there is a serious incentive attached to it. Motivate alumni by assigning scores to their activities and attach bonuses to them.

This extra involvement creates deeper and new contacts between people. That greatly increases your organisation's reach.