A lot of attention is given to the onboarding process of new employees (and rightly so), but do you have a plan in place to handle exiting employees? If you don’t, this is a mistake. Taking the proper offboarding steps when an employee is leaving can be even more important than onboarding a new hire. Not only can you take care of potential legal or security threats, but it can also help you gain honest feedback and learn how to improve your business to retain your best talent. Here’s a checklist of what you should do when offboarding an employee:

When an employee is leaving, it’s tempting to hold off on communicating this with the team until all the details are known. The longer you wait, the more rumors can spread and it can be damaging to team morale. Inform the team and HR as soon as possible to prevent the spreading of rumors. Where appropriate give the reason for the departure and wish the employee well.

The part everyone dreads: the paperwork. Although filing the paperwork isn’t exciting, it can go a long way to prevent future legal issues or miscommunication. Make sure you have the letter of resignation/terminations, any NDA’s they need to sign, or any other important documents that have to do with the position. Ensure that every base is covered and there is no misunderstanding between HR and the employee. Store the paperwork properly so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.

This part is often overlooked but so important. Often an employee takes all their skills and position-specific knowledge with them and you start from zero with their replacement. Have them break down their daily schedule, projects, files they have, systems they use, and any contacts they may have that pertain to the position. When you do this, you give their replacement a great starting place so they can hit the ground running.

The most important step of your offboarding checklist. It’s vital that you do an exit interview with the employee that’s leaving. For one, depending on the circumstances, it will help maintain the relationship with the employee and leave a door for them to come back in the future. More importantly, you can glean important insights from the employee because they will be completely honest with you and give transparent feedback. Use these interviews as opportunities to learn what you are doing well and what you can improve. These insights will help you understand how to keep the top talent at your company in the future.