Breakups are hard. It’s as true in business as it is in relationships. When employees leave, it can create an awkward situation. This is true no matter the circumstances, But managing the departure the right way can create significant value. Having a strong offboarding process can actually improve employee retention. At the same time, it can boost other aspects of your operation.
Given the potential importance of a well-managed offboarding program, it’s amazing how few companies actually have one in place. For instance, one study suggested that fewer than a third of organizations (29%) had a system to debrief outgoing employees.
That’s a mistake. Former employees provide a great source of information. By talking to them, you can learn a lot about your organization. You can better understand how you impact your workers, allowing you to make improvements at every level. With this intelligence, your offboarding process can improve employee retention.
Here’s how:
You Learn for the Future
The information you gain from a well-managed offboarding process can provide amazing insights. You can find out what your former employees really thought of your policies. This feedback can help you shape better structures for your current and future workers.
This can help you on several fronts at once:
Better Hiring: By quizzing your outgoing employees, you can learn what worked (and didn’t work) about their tenures with the organization. This can help you figure out a better fit going forward. You’ll have the information you need to target candidates for that position in the future.
Better Onboarding and Training: Think of offboarding as a bookend. The other side of this is the onboarding process. The data you collect on the way out will help you improve the process workers encounter on the way in. You can upgrade your training and fine-tune your onboarding.
Better Employee Relations: How can you connect better with your current workers? How can you communicate culture better? How can you maximize feelings of welcome, inclusion, and diversity? These questions (and more like them) can get answered during the offboarding interview. The replies will allow you to target your cultural development going forward.
You Boost Your Employer Brand
When workers leave your company, they don’t really leave. Their opinions of you continue to matter. With services like Glassdoor, former employees can air their feelings about your organization.
Make sure they have nice things to say. A strong offboarding protocol lets you shape opinions as your employee leaves. You give them a chance to discuss potential grievances and you show them respect even as they depart. This allows you to maintain good relations in the future.
These concerns matter because of the central position of employer branding in the modern recruiting process. Getting top talent requires a strong reputation. The views of your departed employees play a key role in establishing this.
You Show Current Employees That Everyone Is Valued
Don’t just think about your departing employee. Think about everyone else staying with you. How you treat people who are headed out the door signals something to your remaining workers.
Establishing a positive exit experience indicates to your remaining employees that you care about everyone who passes through your organization. It demonstrates a longer-term commitment and the desire for a deeper relationship. This, in turn, enhances your culture and bolsters your longer-term retention.
Having a well-structured offboarding process is part of a comprehensive approach to team building. Developing this overarching system gets easier when you have the right guidance. A partnership with a top staffing agency, like PrideStaff, allows you to maximize your recruitment and retention efforts.
Contact PrideStaff today to learn more.
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