Employee Transitions: Preboarding, Onboarding, Reboarding, Offboarding

By Jesse Finn

Moving from one stage of the employee lifecycle to another can be a stressful experience.

We call these types of moves employee transitions, and getting them right is crucial to the long-term stability and productivity of your organization.

There are 4 main transitionary phases in the employment lifecycle; Preboarding, Onboarding Reboarding, and Offboarding.

Today we're taking a look at each phase, unpacking their importance, and offering a few tips & tricks for success.

Preboarding

Preboarding is the first major employee transition, starting the moment a new recruit accepts an offer of employment and continuing until they land in the office (or remotely) on day 1.

Technically, preboarding is a part of the larger onboarding process - but it does have its own unique challenges.

Good preboarding is designed to alleviate new hires' first-day fears, give them the tools to be up & running faster, and ultimately drive engagement and retention.

Three things to do TODAY for better preboarding:

  • Send new hires an "ambassador pack" with their business cards and other brand material or company 'swag'.
  • Set up an informal Zoom breakfast or lunch for the new hire and their team.
  • Gather all the tedious new hire paperwork pre-start for a more enjoyable first day.

Onboarding

Defined as "the process of helping new hires adjust to social and performance aspects of their new jobs", onboarding is the transitionary phase between recruitment and employment.

Good onboarding is what we call an 'umbrella term'.

Done right, it should incorporate the pre-start period (preboarding), facilitate early employment activities such as training, icebreakers, and social get-togethers (orientation & induction), and support new hires until they are fully settled into their role whether that's 3 weeks, 3 months, or even a year (integration).

In a nutshell - onboarding is a comprehensive, 2-way process designed to share knowledge, communicate values, build connections and manage compliance to transform new hires into confident, empowered team members and ambassadors.

Three things to do TODAY for better onboarding:

  • Formalize your new hire buddy program and empower buddies to meaningfully support recruits.
  • Align activities & training with current projects to ensure new hires receive the most relevant information.
  • Have managers and/or HR check-in with new hires on a regular basis.

Reboarding

Reboarding is a process most often undertaken by employees who have been absent from your organization for some time (whether for parental leave, burn-out, or other reasons), and are transitioning back into your organization.

Its purpose is to re-familiarize returning staff members with the inner workings of your organization, get them back on top of their projects, welcome them back into your company's social circle and ultimately get them back up and running, faster.

During the pandemic, reboarding was a popular tool for organizations looking to bring their teams back from furlough, or back into the office after a remote absence.

Good reboarding follows the same principles as good onboarding, but the process is often more tailored to cater to the employee's existing organizational knowledge.

Three things to do TODAY for better reboarding:

  • Drip feed information leading up to an employees return to the office to avoid overwhelming them.
  • Check-in often with your returning employees to ensure they are settling in OK.
  • Make information easy to access by centralizing all the resources they need to get up to speed.

Offboarding

The last employee transition is offboarding, otherwise known as exit management.

Taking place right before the formal separation of an employer and their employee (whether voluntarily or otherwise) offboarding is often overlooked, with more than 70% of organizations lacking a formal exit management policy.

Good offboarding should provide support for the 5 key components (or Offboarding ABCs) of effective exit management: Assessment, Brand, Compliance, Dignity, and Expertise.

Done well, offboarding will safeguard business continuity, grow your future processes, and ultimately create loyal brand ambassadors who leave your organization with their heads held high.

Three things to do TODAY for better offboarding:

  • Crowdsource your goodbye message. Have the leaver's colleagues sign a card with a personal message to remind them how much they will be missed.
  • Set a date for a formal handover of responsibilities with your leaver's replacement (or other relevant parties).
  • Hold a formal exit interview. Ask open-ended questions and consider incentivizing the process to ensure maximum participation.

About the author:

Jesse Finn is the senior brand and content manager for Talmundo (www.talmundo.com). He has a background in brand management and content creation and is passionate about ethical business.