This template provides a basic structure for your employee transition procedure.
Personnel changes are a constant in any organization. So, our employee transition procedure provides recommended actions and protocols you should have in place. When someone leaves, you can maintain productivity with the least amount of disruption.
Use cases:
Before the employee leaves, we want to document everything that the employee was responsible for. Plus, update anything existing documentation that they own.
The idea is to capture the time-saving tricks, the unique processes, and other innovations the team member has discovered and developed as they’ve worked in their role. These are usually not documented in the official job description. And they can save the incoming employee tons of time as they ramp up in their new role.
Here are a few questions to help the transitioning employee take inventory of and fully capture their role.
This list is not exhaustive. So, feel free to add more specific questions to capture the nuances of the role.
Pro tip: Ask the employee to begin documenting their role at least one week before their last day on the job. This will give them time to take inventory and provide a clear picture of their role and responsibilities.
When an employee transitions out of a team or your company, there will be a “handoff” of responsibilities. What this handoff looks like will be different depending on whether:
Either way, the earlier the handoff process starts, the better!
This process should go as follows:
The purpose of the exit interview is to gain insight into a person’s role and employment experience. That way, you can make the experience better for the next person in that role and your company a better workplace in general. Which leads to better retention of top talent moving forward.
As a general rule, exit interviews should only be conducted with employees leaving your company voluntarily.
These interviews should be a comfortable and open conversation where your transitioning employee can talk freely about their experience (the good and the bad).
Here are some tips for conducting an exit interview:
Here’s a set of questions to get the exit conversation started:
The following is a list of logistical actions that should be taken when an employee exits the company.
Terminate all company-sponsored benefits:
Discuss benefit termination and next steps:
Make sure all final pay is scheduled (and the employee knows when to expect it):
Make sure the employee gives their company property to [HR] (and that everything is all collected):
When an employee exits their role, it creates ripples across any organization. Some minor, others major.
And there are a few things you need to consider to create smooth employee transitions for your remaining team members and your transitioning employee.
Regarding company culture:
Regarding communication:
Regarding the transitioning employee:
Have a question about this policy? Reach out to [HR contact].