Successfully onboarding new employees into a company is a key driver of productivity and engagement but successful offboarding plays a critical role as well. A well thought out offboarding process contributes to your company's brand and 'leaves the door open' in case employees want to rejoin. A study by CareerArc, found that 38% of fired/laid off employees share negative reviews of their former employers and that 52% of job seekers first visit online sources and social media when evaluating potential employers.

There are many types of employee separation but having a well thought out process to handle each situation is incredibly important for all participating parties' experiences. Although there is major overlap in terms of overarching activities that need to be completed, there are nuances that need to be accounted for in order to end the employment lifecycle in a successful manner.

Below are the five musts needed to create a fully automated and effective off-boarding process.

Define the variables

It is helpful to make a list of all the variables that will be needed in the process whether for display or routing purposes. Defining all the variables that factor into the process will allow the offboarding experience to be routed to all the appropriate steps automatically. Variables can be anything including, but not limited to, items that will need to be displayed in the document (name, title, etc.) as well as items that will route the specific document down a conditional path (type of separation, etc.) in the workflow.

• Type of separation (termination, resignation, retirement, furlough, etc.)
• Personal information (name, email, title, manager, etc.)
• Dates (effective dates, employment dates, etc.)
• Company equipment (laptops, phones, etc.)
• Benefits of the employee (Insurance, 401k, Stock Options, etc.)
• Specific clauses related to employee/job

Determine which variables are 'decision makers'

Next, determine which of the variables in the list are the main decisioning factors to route the document down different paths. There may be many that in combination play into the route any given document takes but understanding the nuances and what drives the decisioning is key. 

Type of separation is generally a key variable in the employment separation process:

• Termination: layoff, termination w/cause, temporary contract ends, etc.
• Resignation: voluntary, forced
• Retirement: voluntary, phased, mandatory
• Furlough

        

 

Templatize the documents

Once variables have been defined and key decision makers identified, it is time to templatize the documents involved in the process. Putting together a standard separation package that can house and display the variables collected for each unique case is key to consistency across the organization. 

In addition to the standard package of instructions along with situation specific information, sending out an exit interview form (and more importantly utilizing the feedback) is good practice for continuous improvement of any organization.

Design the process

At this point, the process has been vetted and now it's time to get to work building it, ideally via a no-code interface. Key items to consider when building the workflow are trigger points that drive routing, notifications or additional data input to the overarching process. Not many companies have a defined process on how resignations are initiated.  Most employees either call their managers or send an email letting them know they are putting in their two weeks notice. While that is an okay way to go about it, why not take a minute and throw up a webform (that every employee has access to) that they can quickly fill out to initiate the process? If done this way, the trigger of the webform completion could kick off the entire process, notify the correct departments and save precious hours/days to ensure a smoother transition. 

Adjust and re-adjust

This one is the easiest and hardest step for some people. Execute the process, listen closely, gather feedback from all parties (employee departing if possible) and then adjust, re-adjust and continue until all parties involved have the exact information and trigger points they need to save them time and gain efficiencies in their workday.

What DocQ can do for you

Ensuring a smooth employee offboarding process is an important aspect of business today and this process requires flawless execution to avoid detrimental effects on your company's brand. DocQ's no code self service process automation solution can help your company succeed. DocQ's no code automation lets your teams define their workflows, create conditions, generate documents, obtain e-Signatures and integrate with third party systems.

Schedule a few minutes to see DocQ live today.