Effective handing over – a risk management imperative (II)

“The price of greatness is responsibility”….Winston Churchill

Dear Readers, last week I examined the crucial issue of effective handing over, which if not done, creates a vacuum instead of a seamless process for both incoming staff and customers. Customers are not interested in the processes and your internal hiccups. They just want the business to be smooth and seamless for continuity.

Handling leaves, resignations, dismissals, and terminations

When an employee leaves a position, regardless of the circumstances, they should always carry out a proper handover process to ensure a smooth transition. Having exiting employees hand over their workload will help the new staff hit the ground running and know exactly what’s expected of them. If you’re an employer or manager, it’s your responsibility to ensure incoming employees receive a detailed handover, whether they’re joining the team long-term or just covering the position for a maternity or long-service leave

The exiting staff

Let us look at the person leaving. Of course, when you are terminated or dismissed, you cannot hand over. Its is a bad feeling that I don’t wish for anybody. It can be traumatic, especially when the error was not deliberate and you are faltered for negligence. Even when you resign from a job, the last thing you probably want to think about is handing over your schedule to a new person. Most likely, your focus is already on your next exciting career move. However, creating insightful handover notes can make a massive difference for the incoming employee, your teammates, your manager, and the business overall. In this case the manager must insist on it. After all, it is important to keep a good relationship with your employer.

Unfortunately, many organisations neglect this handover process, with a study by Aberdeen Research finding that 71% of organisations say they have no formal handover process in place. We think it’s about time that changed. So, here’s everything you need to know about handovers for exiting employees. We’ll start by asking why you need to prepare a good handover, before looking at what to include in your handover notes and asking what managers can do to help with the handover process.

Dear Exiting employees, do the right thing. If you’re an employee leaving a position, do your best to give a detailed handover to the new person. Depending on the circumstances of your departure, you may be feeling disengaged, checked out, burnt out, or just plain excited about moving on! But leaving your job on good terms and ensuring a smooth transition for the next person will show your true professionalism.

The threat of inadequate offboarding

Research shows that, HR leaders dedicate 8x more time to creating, implementing, and administering onboarding programs than offboarding (or handover) programs. What’s more, only 29% of organisations say they have a formal program to transition employees out of a company. Yet, research shows that organisations with a formal handover process are 14% more likely to improve retention and 11% more likely to improve engagement.

Additionally, a recent report found that 76% of IT Leaders believe a lack of offboarding processes represents a significant security threat. Further research suggests that lax offboarding processes lead to $300 million in lost revenue and $8.3 million in cyber security breaches per year! In light of the great resignation, where companies are dealing with employee resignations and offboarding more than ever before, these statistics should be alarming.

There has been allegations of cases of unscrupulous IT professionals who leave some systems available to themselves and sometimes become the face behind some cyber security attempts at their former organizations. In banking, exited staff information, access rights and passwords should even be terminated before they the day of exit. The window should remain shut forever. His is a whole issue for another chapter. In these days of cyber security, all checklists should be done to ensure seamless continuity.

The contents of handing over notes

As expected, the detail and length of a handover will vary depending on the complexity or seniority of a job, as well as how long the position is being covered. However, a standardised handover strategy is essential for all teams. Lets look at some scenarios:

• Many firms conduct an executive search for new CEOs which may be an internal executive or a new entrant. A firm should ensure that whoever is taken has adequate period to work with the outgoing CEO in order to benefit from the experience. An internal executive who obviously has more institutional memory and may even be relieving the CEO when he is not on duty, should also benefit from a documented handing over note for future reference. For a long-term handover, there should always be both a face-to-face conversationand a written document.
• In some cases the handing over process would see both employees, old and new, working together for up to a week, so the new team member can carry out tasks under the guidance of the experienced employee and ask any questions that may arise.

The handover should be structured, take a reasonable period, and include all the employee’s day-to-day tasks as well as the following:

• There should also be a written note, with specific instructions about systems or projects, and useful contact numbers.
• Detailed information on your day-to-day activities, tasks and priorities.
• An outline of the key points of the role.
• A clear outline of what is expected of your successor.
• A list of any essential files that will be handed over.

Handing over checklist

Here are some things that are likely to appear in a handover notes:

• A description of all daily tasks and processes
• A list of key day-to-day activities
• Access to all relevant spreadsheets, documents, and files (ensure you share copies of these with existing team members so they aren’t deleted or lost when your account is removed)
• Ongoing project deadlines and status updates
• Information about any meetings with outstanding issues.
• A list of key contacts – customers, clients, stakeholders, managers, team members etc.
• Any ongoing issues affecting the job
• If appropriate, details of all logins and passwords, and information on who to contact for tech support
• Housekeeping – location of keys, stationery, tools etc.
• Any other miscellaneous information that may be useful to help the new staff settle in.

Think about everything you would need to know if you were starting the job afresh. You can also include questions you had when you first started the job.

The role of managers in the handing-over process

While it’s up to exiting employees to develop thorough handover notes, managers are responsible for ensuring this process happens in the first place.

As mentioned, it’s not uncommon for an exiting employee to feel unmotivated to create detailed handover notes. Therefore, managers should emphasise the importance of this process. Have the exiting employee start preparing for a handover as soon as they hand in their resignation. Make it clear that this is their top priority before they leave.

Give exiting employees time to prepare handover notes

You might also want to collaborate with employees on their handover notes to provide direction and cover specific things you’d like them to pass on before they go. Some managers use the opportunity to give extra work during the handing over. Please do not over-use the exiting staff at the last minute. Depending on the job, it may be necessary to reduce their workload to ensure they have ample time to prepare detailed handover notes.

If you’ve made it clear that the exiting employee should focus on preparing handover notes, it’s your responsibility as a manager to give them time and space to complete this task.

It is a small world  

Dear Exiting employee, not only is preparing detailed handover notes a sign of your professionalism, but it is not a good idea to burn bridges in these scenarios. There’s always a chance you might rely on your former employer for a reference in the future. Finally, preparing a thorough handover means being respectful to your teammates who are staying. These teammates will carry the extra workload while the new employee settles in, so, a smooth handover will be particularly beneficial for them. By taking the time to carry out a proper handover, you’ll be closing off this phase of your career with a clear mind, ready to start the next exciting chapter of your professional life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alberta Quarcoopome is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers, and CEO of ALKAN Business Consult Ltd. She is the Author of Three books: “The 21^st Century Bank Teller: A Strategic Partner” and “My Front Desk Experience: A Young Banker’s Story” and “The Modern Branch Manager’s Companion”. She uses her experience and practical case studies, training young bankers in operational risk management, sales, customer service, banking operations and fraud.

CONTACT

Website www.alkanbiz.com

Email:alberta@alkanbiz.com  or albique@yahoo.com

Tel: +233-0244333051/+233-0244611343