Programme overview
Introduction:
Employee offboarding and exit interviews are often handled as a last-day formality: accounts stay open after the leaver has gone, laptops and badges go missing, know-how walks out with the person and exit feedback sits unread in a folder. This Core Concept course trains HR and line managers to run the separation stage as a controlled process, from resignation letter or redundancy notice through handover, access removal, asset return and final settlement to exit conversations, leaver data analysis and alumni links. Participants leave with a Separation and Exit Interview Playbook.
Course Objectives:
- Classify each departure by exit type and apply the matching separation workflow, owners and timeline from notice to last working day
- Prepare handover plans that capture critical knowledge, open work, contacts and documented procedures before the leaver goes
- Coordinate access revocation, asset recovery and final settlement steps across HR, IT, finance, security and the line manager
- Conduct exit interviews that obtain candid reasons for leaving, choosing the method, timing and interviewer that raise completion
- Code leaver feedback, calculate turnover measures and separate controllable root causes from unavoidable departures
- Apply stay interviews, alumni contact and boomerang rehiring rules to cut regretted losses and keep former staff as advocates
Target Audience:
- HR operations roles responsible for processing resignations, retirements and contract ends and closing employee records
- HR business partnering roles that advise business units on leaver trends and retention of scarce skills
- Employee relations roles that manage dismissals, redundancy notifications and separation disputes
- Line management roles accountable for handover, team continuity and the exit conversation with departing staff
- HR information and reporting roles that hold leaver data and produce turnover reports for leadership
Course Outline:
Day 1: Separation Stage Foundations and Exit Types
- Separation Stage of the Employee Life Cycle: Scope, Ownership and Risk Points
- Exit Type Matrix: Resignation, Retirement, Contract End, Redundancy and Dismissal
- Voluntary Versus Involuntary and Functional Versus Dysfunctional Turnover Classification
- Direct and Indirect Cost of Leavers: Vacancy, Replacement and Knowledge Loss Estimate
- Current Offboarding Process Audit Using a Leaver File Sample and Stakeholder Interviews
Day 2: Separation Process Design and Handover Models
- End-to-End Separation Workflow Map from Notice Receipt to Record Closure
- Offboarding RACI for HR, Line Manager, IT, Finance, Security and Facilities
- Notice Period Plan: Garden Leave, Phased Exit and Early Release Decisions
- Knowledge Transfer Plan: Critical Know-How Inventory, Shadowing and Procedure Write-Up
- Handover Pack Template: Open Work, Contacts, File Locations and Status Reports
Day 3: Exit Interview Design and Conduct
- Exit Interview Question Bank: Reasons for Leaving, Manager, Pay, Growth and Workload
- Method Selection: Face-to-Face, Telephone, Paper and Online Exit Survey Trade-Offs
- Timing and Interviewer Choice: Week-Before-Departure Scheduling and Neutral Interviewers
- Probing and Listening Techniques for Candid Leaver Feedback Role-Play
- Exit Interview Record Form, Confidentiality Rules and Consent Wording
Day 4: Access, Settlement, Exit Analytics and Difficult Separations
- Access Revocation and Asset Recovery Checklist: Accounts, Devices, Badges and Keys
- Final Settlement Sequence: Leave Balance, Deductions, Documents and Sign-Off at General Level
- Leaver Feedback Coding Frame and Turnover Rate, Early-Leaver and Regretted-Loss Measures
- Root Cause Pareto of Controllable Leaving Reasons and Stay Interview Follow-Up
- Redundancy and Dismissal Notification Meetings Conducted with Dignity at Overview
Day 5: Role-Play Practice and the Separation and Exit Interview Playbook
- Alumni Network and Boomerang Rehire Eligibility Rules
- Offboarding KPI Set: Access Closure Time, Asset Return Rate, Exit Interview Completion and Settlement Accuracy
- Role-Play Rounds: Resigning High Performer Exit Interview and Redundancy Notification
- Multi-Sector Case: Leaver Data Set from Healthcare, Retail and Engineering Units
- Separation and Exit Interview Playbook Drafting and Peer Review
Skills You Will Gain:
- Separation Workflow Design
- Knowledge Handover Planning
- Access and Asset Recovery Control
- Exit Interview Facilitation
- Leaver Feedback Coding
- Turnover Root Cause Analysis
- Regretted-Loss Prevention
- Offboarding Performance Measurement
Why Attend This Course:
- Close every departure with accounts shut, equipment returned and settlement agreed, instead of chasing gaps weeks later
- Hear the real reasons people leave by running exit conversations that departing staff answer honestly
- Show leadership which leaving reasons the organisation can control and what to change first
- Take back a Separation and Exit Interview Playbook tested through role-play and peer review
Conclusion:
A departure is handled well when the work continues, the organisation is protected and the reasons for leaving are understood. The week moves from exit types and leaver costs through workflow, RACI and handover design, into exit interview method and conduct, then to access removal, final settlement, leaver data coding, root causes and difficult notifications. The final day uses role-play and a multi-sector leaver case to produce a Separation and Exit Interview Playbook that participants can put to their HR leadership for adoption.