How to create a positive offboarding experience

When employees leave our company, you want to make sure they leave on a good note. Here’s how.

Take these actions

• Walk them through offboarding logistics
• Stay in touch throughout the process
• Create space for feedback
• Give them opportunities to stay connected

Why is this important?

Creating a positive offboarding experience for employees makes their last memory of @company.name a good one—and can leave the door open for them to come back (or refer great talent!) in the future.

Walk them through offboarding logistics

Leaving a job can be a stressful experience for employees—particularly if they don’t know what to expect. That’s why, when you know an employee is leaving, it’s important to share all the details about the offboarding process.

Schedule a meeting and walk them through what they can expect between now and their last day, including:

• Their exit paperwork
• Who to notify about their departure (for example, their manager or close colleagues)
• Any company-owned assets (like a laptop or security pass) they'll need to return before their last day
• Their exit interview

Stay in touch throughout the process

It’s important to stay in touch with the employee throughout the offboarding process. That way, you can make sure they have everything they need—and can answer any questions they have along the way.

Some points during the process when you may want to check in include:

• After sending exit paperwork
• A few days before their company-owned assets need to be returned 
• A day before their exit interview
• On their last day

The more you check in with the employee, the easier the offboarding process will be—and the more positive experience they’ll have with the company during this time.

Create space for feedback

Exit interviews are an opportunity for employees to share their feedback. But not every employee will feel comfortable being open during their exit interview—particularly if their feedback is negative or involves someone sitting in on the interview.

That’s why it’s important to create additional feedback opportunities during the offboarding process. This can include:

• Encouraging them to share feedback, in their own words, via email
• Exit surveys
• 1-1 meetings

Creating space for feedback of all types will ensure that the employee feels heard—and that we get the information we need to continually improve as an organization.

Give them opportunities to stay connected

The more opportunities you give departing employees to stay in touch, the more likely it is they’ll stay connected.

If you have an alumni group, email list, or other ways to stay in touch, make sure to share that information with the employee before their last day. That way, they can maintain the connections they made while working for your organization—and stay on your radar in case they ever want to come back!