Security and Savings by Offboarding Employees

Everybody talks about “talent acquisition,” recruitment and onboarding new employees.

What about offboarding?

Offboarding

The other end of the employee lifecycle—offboarding—provides another opportunity for a company to protect its assets and reputation.

No one disagrees onboarding is necessary for the long-term health of a company. Few human resources pros have an organized plan for when employees leave.

Offboarding refers to removing the identity and access of an employee who has left the organization. It can also be the restriction of certain rights to use when employees change roles within an organization.

In a recent study by talent management company SilkRoad, half of employers do not have an employee transition process for when they leave a company (or are promoted within the company).

When an employee reaches the end of the job cycle—for a number of reasons—not having a process can leave an organization unprotected to liability, security gaps and unforeseen costs.

One case is the University of Wisconsin. In an audit of health insurance premiums paid from 2011 to 2012, the school found paid for half of their employees who are no longer employed there.

These overpayments amounted to $15.4 million.

Keeping track of former employees while they leave the company can prevent potential security concerns. Offboarding can secure password access codes and other proprietary information.

Four fundamentals in an effective offboarding procedure:

Create an “exit package” with employee data

Provide an “exit survey” for a clear idea why the employee is leaving the company (or is promoted)

HR managers must forward information collected to the appropriate departments, for follow through

All related documents archived in an in-house system

Human resources departments are pushing automate talent management, recruitment, hiring and onboarding.

Wouldn’t it be reasonable to automate the offboarding process as well?

Software as a Service (SaaS) is the fastest growing industry sector. It gives companies convenient and streamlined onboarding solutions for businesses of any size.

Enterprises like Workday, SilkRoad and Ovation Technologies all have excellent services ideal for onboarding. The same can be for offboarding. They can provide exit paperwork documentation to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

The best way to avoid errors—or open up your business to legal liabilities that could result from manual offboarding—many experts suggest automating the process (just like in hiring and onboarding) through talent management systems.

Providing an “alumni” network, as part of the offboarding process, can keep those employees who found “offers they could not refuse” close by in the company loop. There will be times when an organization can use a different opportunity to persuade talented employees to return.

How does your company handle offboarding? Let us know in the comments below!