What to Do Immediately When Your Employee Leaves Your Company

Key Takeaways:

• Without a transition plan, your company could lose sales and revenue when an employee leaves.
• Having a clear transition plan when an employee leaves will prevent problems.
• Rehiring will be faster and easier when you have a transition plan.

Does this sound familiar? You’ve been trying to track down a billing issue with one of your suppliers for over a month. After sending yet another follow-up email to your account manager, you finally receive a response. It starts out by saying “So-and-So is no longer with our company…” The first thing that probably crosses your mind is how long So-and-So has been gone and, more importantly, how long emails from his customers have been going unanswered.

Have you ever bumped into an ex-colleague who said, “I was really getting upset with you. I was trying to solve a customer’s admin problem. I left you voicemail messages for weeks before someone mentioned you were no longer with the company”? Situations like these are very frustrating for both your internal and external customers. Not only can you lose them forever, the frustrating part is that their loss is completely preventable!

Tasks Every Manager Should Do When an Employee Leaves – Immediately!

Yes, you read that correctly. Do these tasks immediately, not within the week – do them at least within 24 hours.

Doing the following tasks after learning of termination and immediately after the employee leaves will ensure a smooth transition for your company, prevent gaps in customer service, and maintain the integrity of the company.

• Acknowledge the resignation and thank the ex-employee for their service to your company. No matter what the circumstances of their leaving, the right thing to do is to part on the best terms possible by conveying respect and encouraging open communication.
• Determine the final pay owed and if possible, provide it immediately on termination. If notice is given, provide final pay on their last day.
• Conduct an exit interview to get feedback about the reasons for leaving and how the company can improve working conditions going forward. 
• Obtain or update mailing address so that separation documents, COBRA notices, and tax documents can be sent.
• Recover any company property that the ex-employee had been given or had taken. This includes phones, computers, tablets, workbooks, etc. Once you have recovered the property, you can reset or wipe any business or personal information on devices.
• Set an auto-responder on the ex-employee’s email address stating that the employee is no longer with the company and who the customer should contact now. Deleting the email address altogether will only create an automated undeliverable email message and create further frustration on the customer’s part.
• Change the ex-employee’s voicemail message to state the same as the automated email message. Also, ensure you change both the office phone voicemail as well as the message on the company-provided cell phone.
• Send an internal email memo to all employees, stating that the employee is no longer with the company and who will be handling his duties until a replacement is found.
• Change all office locks and security codes to which the employee had access.
• Change all passwords to all computer programs to which the employee had access.
• Distribute the workload to other employees while the search process is conducted.
• Start the hiring process as soon as possible for the least possible impact on your business.
• Manage the separation announcement so that other employees are not confused or otherwise affected.

Immediate Plans for Replacing an Employee

Your to-do list shouldn’t stop when the employee leaves. You also need to have a plan to replace them, and this plan should be ready to spring into action on a moment’s notice.

Does your human resources department have a potential database of candidates on file so you can start interviewing immediately, or are you better off using a recruiting firm? Do you have a qualified firm at the ready? Do they have a proven track record and expertise in your industry and the job function you need filled?

Recruiting Firms Can Help

When you need to find a new employee fast, a recruitment agency that specializes in your specific area of need will be able to provide for your needs.

Lost sales and customer confusion do not have to accompany the loss of a staff member. Staff turnover in IT happens, but you can lessen its impact by acting immediately to smooth the transition. Instead, follow the steps above and work with a recruiter like GDH to find a highly qualified replacement as soon as possible – we think you’ll be pleased with our speed and the quality of our candidates. 

GDH’s expert recruiters can find the talent you need, faster than you might think possible. We are the premier staffing agency to meet your recruiting needs.