People & Leadership

Employee offboarding best practices

An employee departure brings a chapter to a close, but it’s unwise to move on without taking stock. Offboarding takes care of the final adjustments and logistics.

Each workplace leaves a lasting impression—shaping careers, building relationships, and teaching valuable lessons.

When an employee leaves, you have one final chance to reinforce that impression, ideally with respect and positivity.

A thoughtful offboarding process shows appreciation for the employee’s contribution while also protecting your business.

It helps you manage the formal steps, support remaining staff through the change, and maintain a strong culture.

Read on to discover how structured offboarding helps you part ways professionally—and why it matters more than you might think.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

What is the meaning of offboarding?

Employee offboarding is the structured process you follow when someone leaves your business.

It ties up loose ends and ensures the departing person leaves on good terms.

Offboarding covers everything from formal notice to the employee’s final day and beyond.

It has a role in voluntary resignations, contract completions, retirements—and also involuntary exits like redundancies or terminations.

It includes tasks that are often overlooked, such as revoking system access and completing legal documentation.

You also need to finalise paperwork such as final payslips, benefits information and any reference letters that the employee will need.

But it’s not just about ticking off practicalities—there’s an important human side to an offboarding policy too.

A colleague’s departure can affect team morale and disrupt their sense of stability. If handled poorly, it may cause remaining staff to question their own future or feel undervalued.

The process also reflects on your corporate culture—how you treat leavers is part of your company’s identity.

And while future hires may not know the person who left, they do look at reviews, speak to current staff, and sense the values of your organisation.

When offboarding is thoughtful, it sends a strong message about respect, transparency and professionalism. That can turn leavers into long-term advocates and help attract the right talent in future.

Why is the employee offboarding process important for people managers?

A strong offboarding policy helps protect your business and supports your team by keeping workloads balanced. It prevents confusion and leaves the door open for future opportunities.

Here’s why it matters:

• Protecting your data and systems: offboarding ensures access to company platforms is revoked and corporate property—such as phones and laptops—is returned, reducing security risks.
• Preserving your reputation and brand: a positive exit experience makes former employees more likely to speak well of you and even recommend your business or return as clients or partners.
• Supporting smoother transitions for teams: offboarding guides effective handovers, reduces disruption, and helps others adapt when someone leaves. This keeps the team focused, lowers stress, and maintains momentum.
• Gathering useful feedback: exit interviews and surveys provide valuable insights to improve employee retention, workplace culture, and talent management. These insights can shape how you hire, train, and support future staff.
• Reducing legal and compliance risks: offboarding ensures final payslips, tax documents, benefits information, and employment records are completed correctly. Failure to do so can lead to fines or disputes with HMRC, pension providers, or regulatory bodies such as the ICO (for data protection breaches).

Step-by-step offboarding checklist

A standardised offboarding policy ensures that you handle an employee’s departure fairly and professionally.

Follow these steps for a consistent and respectful transition every time.

1. Formally acknowledge the change

Whether it’s a resignation or the end of a contract, confirm the final working day in writing and begin internal planning straight away.

2. Notify relevant departments

Let payroll, line managers, and facilities or office management know so they can begin their part of the process—like updating schedules, processing final pay, and preparing the workspace for handover.

3. Agree a handover plan

Work with the employee to document key tasks, project statuses, and any critical knowledge.

For example, colleagues may need instructions on client contacts, systems they manage, or deadlines to cover.

4. Schedule an exit interview

Give the employee an opportunity to share honest feedback in a respectful and structured setting. It’s a useful time to reflect and gather insights for improvement.

5. Revoke access and recover assets

Disable system access, collect laptops, phones, ID badges, and company credit cards.

This protects your data and ensures company property is returned.

6. Finalise payroll and benefits documents

Prepare the final payslip, including outstanding holiday pay, tax documents, and pension information.

These details are important for the employee and their next employer.

7. Update HR records

Record the departure in your HR system, archive necessary documents, and ensure everything is stored securely for compliance.

8. Say goodbye professionally

Send a thank you message or hold a short farewell, depending on your company culture.

It shows appreciation and brings closure, while keeping the team involved in the transition.

Using offboarding surveys and questionnaires

The above point about exit interviews warrants closer attention.

With a structured offboarding questionnaire, you can gather consistent feedback and compare responses over time. That sets you up to spot trends and then take appropriate action.

Questions can be open or closed—in other words, they might ask for detailed opinions or simple yes/no answers.

A typical open question could be “What could we improve?”, while a closed question might be “Did you feel supported in your role?”

Focus on broad themes such as management, culture, and the tools provided. These areas affect everyone, while topics like salary or holiday allowance tend to be more personal.

If your offboarding survey is anonymous, you’re more likely to receive honest and constructive feedback. This information can shape your future onboarding, training, and retention strategies.

Most HR platforms let you automate these surveys.

They send reminders, collect responses, and generate reports you can use to drive change.

Common offboarding mistakes to avoid

Even with a structured offboarding process in place, things can still go wrong.

It’s easy to assume everything is covered once you follow a checklist. But oversights, delays, or poor communication can cause real damage.

Failing to act quickly when someone resigns can delay planning and unsettle the team.

If handovers are rushed or unclear, tasks may be missed and clients left in the dark. Forgetting to revoke access on time can leave systems vulnerable, even if it’s unintentional.

Missing key documentation can lead to compliance issues, especially with final pay and tax reporting. And if the exit interview feels like a box-ticking exercise, you might miss important feedback. Make it more of a conversation.

Finally, treating offboarding as purely procedural—without care or personal connection—can harm morale, your culture, and how ex-employees talk about your business later.

How to improve your HR offboarding process

HR software can take your offboarding to the next level.

It helps you automate emails, admin tasks, and reminders so nothing slips through the cracks. You can store templates for letters, checklists, and surveys, then adapt them for each employee.

When you don’t have to start from scratch each time, you save time and reduce errors.

It may seem strange to talk about automation in a context that involves personal connection, but smart tools can support—not replace—the human side.

You stay people-first by never forgetting thank you notes, personal check-ins, and opportunities for open feedback.

HR platforms also let you track key metrics, such as survey response rates, satisfaction scores, and handover completion.

Over time, this data highlights what’s working and what needs to improve. By removing repetitive admin, software gives you more time to focus on the people behind the process.

Final thoughts

When employees leave with a good final impression and fond memories of your company it’s a positive for your brand and your people.

When done well, the offboarding process shows respect, supports your team, and builds loyalty.

It’s also a sign of a mature business that values process and people equally.

With the right tools, you can simplify and scale this across your team.

Good HR software supports offboarding workflows with templates, checklists and automated tasks. It helps you close the loop in a way establishes a reputation for compliance and care.