Employee Departures and Information Management

My organization has been in a fair amount of turmoil for a good year, with changes at the top and slashed budgets and other things besides.  It has led to the recent layoff of 200 employees.  We knew it was coming, which added to the stress.  But it also gave me some time to prepare.

Almost three years ago I wrote an information offboarding procedure, got approval, and implemented it enterprise-wide.  Essentially, when an employee leaves the organization, it is the leader's responsibility to check the employee's email, personal drives, and other areas where there may be information of value.  Leader notification is automated, but it still takes time to track it and chase down tardy responses.

I had never thought that that layoffs might be considered as an incident within a disaster response plan (DRP), especially when they were expected - but I thought wrong.  It has absolutely impacted the organization's ability to manage its information effectively.  It's been just over a month, and I'm still in the process of managing not only the information offboarding but all of the regular RIM requests that come to the records inbox on a daily basis.  There are some other lessons I've learned that come out of this.

1.  An information offboarding policy is an important policy to craft and to implement.  Not only does it help to capture records that might be otherwise lost when an employee leaves, but it also demonstrates to the organization that a) the responsibility for managing information doesn't suddenly cease when an employee leaves, b) enterprise knowledge management is important to the enterprise, and b) it is both an individual's responsibility and a leader's responsibility to manage information within their area of accountability.

2.  Having a process in place prior to a major event is a huge advantage.  Most leaders had already done an offboarding or two, and knew the process.  My team has been involved in all corners of the organization, so they know me and understand the expectations.

3.  Further to that, know your key stakeholders well.  I had met with HR in advance to determine the process.  Some exceptions showed up during the layoffs, but the lines of communication were already established, so with a quick call I was able to determine the issue and respond appropriately.  I had also met with the IT manager responsible for access control, and we understood that had to work together to make the offboarding work successfully.  There are still some issues we are working out, but again I know where to go when the issues arise.

4.  There is a human element to layoffs that can't be ignored.  My team was informed whenever there was an employee departure.  There was a higher than usual amount of attrition prior to the layoffs, which is not uncommon.  The heaviness of layoffs hung over everyone for several months.  I knew it was possible that someone on my team might be monitoring our notifications and see their own layoff.  As part of my team's preparation for the coming layoffs, I held special meetings to check in with them.  "Are you doing okay?" was the common question.  We banded together, stayed positive and stayed strong, through a very difficult time.

How have you managed during times of downsizing?  Any lessons of your own to share?  If so, please respond in the comments!  Thanks.

By the way, both of my team members were let go - if you looking for an excellent information management analyst in Calgary and area, let me know. :)

Next post:  lessons in demonstrating your RIM program's worth to the organization.

Wayne Hoff, CRM
ICRM Liaison, Calgary ARMA
icrmrep.armacalgary@gmail.com