Smooth departures: Key takeaways to master employee offboarding

Offboarding goes far beyond a simple exit interview and the closure of an employee’s work-related accounts, writes Shannon Karaka.

It’s widely recognised that effective onboarding is essential to the employee experience, helping new hires find their footing, adapt to their role, and alleviate the stress that comes with a fresh start. Less acknowledged is the role of a thoughtful offboarding process, which matters just as much for long-term organisational success.

Offboarding goes far beyond a simple exit interview and the closure of an employee’s work-related accounts. Done well, it allows companies to gather valuable feedback from departing employees and equips HR teams with insights that can inform wider organisational strategies. Managing this transition effectively also mitigates the impact of having one less team member, minimising disruption, and maintaining a positive employee experience.

Here are my top tips to help HR teams navigate these final steps successfully:

Prioritise transition workflows

Australian workers are among the worst at balancing work and life, according to the OECD Better Life Index. This shows that many companies still have problems with productivity and capacity. These challenges often become even more pronounced when a team member departs.

To manage this, it’s crucial for HR teams to begin laying the groundwork for employee transitions as early as possible to mitigate potential impacts on productivity and team dynamics, rather than leaving the offboarding to the final days. This includes having conversations with key stakeholders and managers early on to identify any resource gaps and whether a replacement should be brought on to cover the departing employee’s workload sooner. Removing the departing employee from established workflows several days or even weeks in advance can also be beneficial as it allows the team to adapt to a new rhythm before the transition occurs.

Notify the internal team before external announcements

The departure of a colleague can significantly affect team members, who may feel disappointed, anxious about new responsibilities, or concerned about shifting workloads. As such, it’s important to manage announcements about team changes carefully.

When preparing for an employee’s departure, establish a clear communication plan to inform relevant stakeholders and collaborators. Timely communication with those likely to be most impacted by the departure is critical for sustaining morale and managing productivity.

Once this announcement has been shared with those affected, HR teams can then focus on planning the transition and ensuring the departing employee connects with their replacement or other team members to facilitate continuity.

Facilitate knowledge transfer

Alongside effectively communicating news about a personnel change, it’s important to make sure handovers are carefully documented before an employee departs. This reduces the time needed to train new hires; decreases the likelihood of mistakes; and minimises the loss of valuable knowledge about tasks, workflows, and contacts associated with the role. Where possible, scheduling time for departing employees to walk their replacements through crucial processes and answer questions can be immensely valuable, reducing knowledge gaps and ensuring a smooth transition.

Don’t underestimate exit interviews

Finally, while it can be easy to view exit interviews as a mere formality in the offboarding process, this is a critical oversight. Exit interviews can serve as invaluable touchpoints for candid feedback, helping corroborate existing data, improve operations, and realign company strategies for future workers.

When preparing for an exit interview, HR managers should develop well-structured questions that prompt departing employees to share their honest feedback on the team, manager, and company as a whole – from what they liked and what the company can improve on, to anything that could’ve been done to make them stay. Collating these insights and using them to enhance existing data can help HR teams cultivate a broader understanding that informs the business on necessary feedback and actionable steps for improvement.

Successful offboarding strengthens workplace resilience

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported last year that 2.1 million Australians left or lost a job between February 2023 and February 2024. With many employees parting ways, businesses must establish a clear and thorough offboarding process to maintain a positive employee experience and ensure seamless business operations. Ultimately, you don’t just need to think about the employee leaving or joining; you also need to think about the team surrounding them.

As the dynamics of the workforce evolve, implementing these hands-on strategies will help organisations thrive, foster resilience, and enhance overall employee experience in Australia’s changing business landscape.

Shannon Karaka is the country leader for Deel in ANZ.