How To Handle Employee Exits?

Guidelines for Employee Exits

Employees may join and may leave on their own accord. Sometimes, we also may have to tell them to leave. In any case, we must ensure that the event is handled properly.

Abide by Agreed Notice Period Requirements

• While finalizing the employment, we must have agreed upon a minimum notice period, which is applicable to both the sides (i.e. the company and the employee).
• If we are asking the employee to leave, we must give her a notice for leaving well before the notice period and must allow her to work till she completes that period.
• If we wish them to leave immediately, we must pay their full compensation for that period.
• Similarly, if the employee resigns, she has to give the resignation well before the notice period.
• Here also, if she wishes to leave immediately, she has to pay the compensation.

Ensure Proper Hand-over

• Assign a person who will take charge of all the KRAs that the outgoing person handles.
• Arrange the proper hand-over to the new person by the outgoing one.
• Get all data, files and important information etc. from the person.
• Recover and reset passwords of all types of accounts which they access on behalf of the company.
• Recover all company belongings which were given to them for use (e.g. gadgets, storage drives, keys etc.).
• Reset the password of their email account and redirect the email to some other account or hand-over the password to someone to take care of the emails.
• Inform the customers (whom the person is handling) about the change and ensure that somebody else is introduced and takes charge of those customer accounts before the person leaves.

Conduct an Exit Interview

• An interview of the outgoing employee during his last working days is called an “exit interview”. The purpose of such an interview is to know the feedback of the employee about the company, its working conditions, its management, its strength and weaknesses etc. Such a feedback may help us to improve the operations of our company.
• Generally, an exit interview is taken by the HR department
• An outgoing employee can say a lot of significant and secret things about the company without fear because now she has nothing to lose.
• If properly conducted, an exit interview can reveal a lot of useful information about the company, its managers, business leaders, culture, policies and practices.
• Keep a format of exit interview ready with the HR department and ensure that they take an exit interview of everybody who is leaving the company.
• In such an exit interview, most of the feedback from the employee must be captured in his writing only, so as to maintain its originality and spirit.
• The business leaders must examine the feedback received through such exit interviews closely, because that may provide a wealth of really useful and actionable information.

Full and Final Payment

• Make all payments to the employee after deducting any receivables (e.g. loans, advances, notice period compensation etc.) from them.
• Include severance pay, if applicable, due to the removal before notice period.
• Give them all their due receivables, including the salary up to the last day of work.
• Take a written confirmation from the employee about the full and final payment received by him.

Leave on a Good Note

• We must make sure that the employee leaves cordially.
• Try to make the exit as painless as possible for both the sides, even if we have removed the employee suddenly due to an unacceptable conduct or another similar reason.
• Maintain dignity and grace of all during the process.
• It may be an end of the employment, but it should not be an end of the relationship.
• The relationship should be paused in such a way that it may be able to restart someday, if need arises.

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