Hoe je met een positieve afronding van de employee journey fans voor het leven creëert

How you can create fans for life with a positive offboarding process

The employee hasn’t left yet, but their desk is already given away, they can’t get into the systems, is no longer receiving any group emails and is only getting the worst tasks. Relatable? Unfortunately, this happens way too often!

That’s a big mistake. You can’t expect them to remain fans of your company if that’s the way they’re treated when they leave. Do you keep your employees as productive and as engaged as possible till their last minute? Are they still performing well? Are they being developed into real ambassadors of your company? With a good offboarding process you will ensure a smooth transition and not only maintain your organization’s reputation, but you’ll also preserve networking opportunities.

They’re leaving anyway…should I invest my energy in them?

Uhm, yes! In fact, you should be investing a lot of energy! Cause let’s be honest: if you’d had a few bad last weeks at the organization you used to work for, would you consider recommending them to others? Probably not, right?

But you – as an employer – would like to have employees that are fan for life, right? But you can’t expect them to talk all nice about you if you haven’t treated them well. No matter how long they worked for you, give them the attention, respect and gratitude they deserve when they leave. Give them enough time to wrap up they tasks. And make sure they know how important they were to you.

An effective offboarding process: let’s get to it!

As an employer, you can’t control everything. You can still develop a few steps for an effective offboarding process. Check out the following tips to maintain the quality of an offboarding process:

1. Make the offboarding process as a separate, relevant process

a. Describe the steps that need to be done when an employee leaves or when a contract ends. Name the people responsible for each step, so it actually happens.

b. Get the needed tools to get it done (have you read about our employee app, the Fan App?).

2. An exit interview should always be part of the offboarding process. You can ask the employee to fill in an evaluation form so you can discuss it during the interview. Share anonymous results with leadership and analyze for credibility.

3. Even if an employee is leaving, make sure they still feel at home their last few days in the company. Discuss what still needs to be done and what the new hire needs to take over. Don’t leave this until the very last day, do it on time.

4. Help employees find a new job if they haven’t managed to do that themselves. Give them insights in their strengths and weaknesses to help them promote their talents at their next interview.

5. Give them a warm and memorable farewell (flowers, a cake, etc.).

6. Organize events where even former employees are welcome. Building a network will help you.

Need I say more?

Maybe just a few more things. Don’t just consider all the data you’ve collected and all the feedback you’ve received. Think of your former employees as references to your new employees. At Fan Factory, we encourage applicants to call one of our former employees. This way, they’ll get a realistic view of the company: the great things we excel in, but also the less good things they’ll need to keep in mind.

A fan has left the building

Realize and use the fact that everyone at your organization – whether that’s your current employees or your former employees – can be a fan of your organization. Taking the networks of all the employees together, you’re creating a huge network that can possible strengthen your employer brand. So keep in mind that if an employee leaves your organization dissatisfied, this could cause damage for your organization’s reputation.

Have fun with creating an effective offboarding process!

Do you wanna know more?

Want to know more? Please contact Marthe van der Kint .

06-10571901