What Should Be Included in an Offboarding Checklist?

Offboarding an employee is a task that no one really wants to tackle, especially when there’s so much at stake. Without a proper offboarding process, your company runs the risk of data breaches, loss of productivity, damage to your reputation, and just general chaos all around! But don’t worry—we’re here to help. In this blog, we'll dive into what should be included in an offboarding checklist, offering a practical offboarding guide for managers. (Hint: using employee offboarding automation can make the process even easier!). But more on that in a moment…let’s get started!

What Are the Objectives of Offboarding?

Setting clear objectives for your offboarding process can help make transitions relatively painless—here’s some great objectives to aim for: 

• Improve Security: When an employee leaves, revoking their access to all company systems and collecting any company assets is a must. This step stops them from accessing sensitive information or walking away with company property. 
• Keep Operations Running Smoothly: Proper offboarding reduces knowledge loss and keeps things running without a hitch. By clearly outlining roles and expectations during the transition, you can help maintain productivity even as changes happen.
• Meet Compliance Needs: A well-structured offboarding process makes sure you meet all regulatory requirements and complete necessary paperwork. Accurate employee records are important for future reference or if an audit or legal issue comes up.
• Encourage Referrals and Rehires: A positive offboarding experience can lead to former employees recommending job candidates or customers and even considering returning to your company later on.
• Collect Useful Feedback: Exit interviews and feedback during offboarding can offer valuable insights to improve employee retention and workplace culture.
• Promote a Positive Culture: Treating departing employees with respect shows both current and former employees that they are valued, enhancing your company’s reputation.

Objectives like this can help create a secure, compliant, and respectful offboarding process that benefits your company and your employees—both current and former. 

What Are the Steps of Offboarding for Your IT Team?

The steps of offboarding for your IT team should include:

1. Prepare: As soon as HR confirms an employee's termination, IT should be notified immediately to begin the offboarding process.
2. Revoke Access: Disable the departing employee's access to all company systems, including email, VPN, databases, and any other internal applications. This step is one of the most important pieces of your offboarding workflow—preventing unauthorized access is the main goal of getting your IT team involved!
3. Update or Change Passwords: For shared accounts or systems, update or change passwords to ensure the former employee no longer has access. This includes any third-party services or tools used by the employee.
4. Backup and Transfer Data: Make sure all data the employee was working on is backed up and transferred to appropriate team members or managers. This helps maintain continuity in ongoing projects and secures valuable company information.
5. Retrieve and Secure Hardware: Collect all company-owned hardware, such as laptops, mobile devices, and security badges. Assess the condition of returned hardware and wipe any data stored on these devices as a security precaution.
6. Manage Software Licenses: Reassign or deactivate software licenses that were assigned to the departing employee. This helps optimize software usage and reduce unnecessary costs, making sure licenses are available for current and future employees.
7. Conduct an Audit: Review the employee's access history and activities to identify any unusual or unauthorized activities before departure. This step ensures security and compliance with company policies and regulations.
8. Document the Process: Maintain detailed records of all steps taken during the offboarding process. This documentation is vital for future reference, compliance, and in case of an audit or legal issues.

What Is an Offboarding Checklist?

An offboarding checklist for managers is a resource you can create from an employee offboarding template like the one we’ve provided above or from scratch. Using a tool like a checklist can help you manage departures effectively, protecting your company’s interests while maintaining professionalism and respect for your employees. 

What Should Be Included in an Offboarding Checklist?

Your offboarding checklist should be specific to each department, and contain a detailed list of all the tasks and steps that need to be completed when the employee leaves. For IT teams, this could include responsibilities like revoking access to the company systems, backing up and transferring data, collecting company hardware, etc. Don’t forget to include documentation as an item on your checklist! Proper documentation of each step is essential—you’ll want to refer back to these records when you’re improving your offboarding workflows or in case of any audits. 

What Does a Good Offboarding Process Look Like?

There’s no “one-size-fits-all” offboarding process for companies. However, good offboarding processes do share several important elements—they are thorough, well-coordinated, and leverage the best tools to make transitions efficient and effective. Here’s what you should look for in your offboarding process: 

• Proactive Communication: Effective offboarding starts with clear, proactive communication between IT, HR, and other relevant departments. Coordinating closely helps make sure there are no gaps in the process and that everyone is on the same page. 
• The Right Tools: Using comprehensive employee lifecycle management tools like Lumos can significantly improve the offboarding process. Lumos can help you manage onboarding, offboarding, and everything in between. You’ll have a centralized platform to handle user access, automate workflows, and maintain detailed records, making employee lifecycle management more efficient and secure.
• Work Smarter, Not Harder: Speaking of the right tools, be sure to look for solutions with automation capabilities. Automated workflows, like those you’ll find with Lumos, can deactivate accounts, remove access, and notify relevant parties without the need for manual intervention. This can help you reduce the risk of human error and make sure that the process is consistent and thorough every single time. 
• Continuous Improvement: Offboarding shouldn’t be “set-it-and-forget-it” either. It’s important to evaluate if your workflows are actually working and identify areas for improvement. Conducting regular training sessions for your IT and HR teams about the latest offboarding procedures and security protocols can help everyone maintain a high standard of security and effectiveness. 

It’s time to get offboarding right—it’s time for Lumos. Our unified access platform can help you manage the entire employee lifecycle seamlessly and more importantly, securely. Ready to see how Lumos can help you? See it in action today.