The Competitive Advantage of an Offboarding Program

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Hbr, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Business/management, Harvard, Business/entrepreneurship, Teams, Leadership, Economics, Management, Innovation, Communication, Strategy, Business, Marketing, Business/marketing

4.3 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2021

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alison Dachner, management professor at John Carroll University, and Erin Makarius, management professor at the University of Akron, say that an organization can become more competitive by implementing a stronger offboarding process. Their research shows that similar to the way universities maintain alumni networks, an offboarding strategy keeps former employees networked, which leads to more employee referrals, new business, expert consulting, or even re-employment. Dachner and Makarius wrote the HBR article "Turn Departing Employees into Loyal Alumni."

Transcript

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0:00.0	So you got the job. Now what? Join me, Eleni Mata, on HBR's new original podcast, New
0:08.1	Here, the Young Professionals Guide to Work, and how to make it work for you. Listen for
0:13.8	free wherever you get your podcasts. Just search New Here. See you there!
0:30.0	Welcome to the HBR IDA cast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Kurt Nickish.
0:42.3	I am a big fan of farewell emails, those missives that go out when someone's leaving a job. I addressed
0:55.9	my last one to friends, colleagues, and voices of clarity in a complicated world. It's one of
1:02.4	the few times in life when you get to be grandiose. Sometimes you can tell when those
1:07.4	farewells are rushed, someone's busy finishing their work, or they're clearly spending more time
1:12.2	thinking about their new job than the one they're ending. But at its best, a farewell email
1:17.4	celebrates common accomplishments, takes perspective, and leaves the door open for another beginning.
1:23.4	It's still mostly up to individuals to stay in touch and maintain their networks, but nowadays,
1:28.7	you never know. Your next big opportunity may well be at some place you left behind. Our guests
1:35.0	today say it's time for organizations to stop leaving it to individuals to keep these connections
1:40.4	alive. Based on the research, they recommend that companies develop stronger off-boarding programs
1:46.2	so that employees exit with a better taste in their mouth, and organizations have a stronger
1:50.8	alumni network to draw upon in the future. Here to tell us more about off-boarding in a strategic
1:56.8	way are the co-authors of the new HBR article, Turn Departing Employees into Loyal Alumni.
2:03.0	Allison Dockner is a professor at Bowler College of Business at John Carroll University,
2:08.2	Allie. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you for having me. And Aaron McCarious is a
2:13.0	management professor at the University of Akron. Aaron, thanks for being here. Thanks for having you.
2:18.6	So let's just start in by talking about off-boarding. What is taught at your business schools about
2:25.7	what the best practice of off-boarding currently is or has been? That's a great question. Typically,
	...

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