Manager Offboarding Checklist

This supplements the employee checklist — it does not replace it

When a people leader leaves, everything on the employee offboarding checklist still applies: final pay, benefits and COBRA, access revocation, asset recovery. Run that too. Nothing on this page repeats it.

What this covers is the part that only exists because they managed people. A team with no named decision-maker stalls within days. Direct reports still pointing at a disabled account send approvals and reviews nowhere. Spend limits, requisitions, vendor ownership and admin seats each become a queue that silently stops. And the attrition that follows a manager's exit happens in the weeks after, once everyone has stopped watching.

It is the same 38 tasks as the downloadable workbook — not a summary of it — with the function that owns each one and whether it falls before, on, or after the last day.

1. Succession & Interim Cover

A team without a named decision-maker stalls within days. Name the interim leader, put their authority in writing, and set a review date so a temporary arrangement does not quietly become permanent.

• Name the interim leader and their decision rights Announce before the departure is public so no reporting line is unclear. Skip-level Before last day
• Confirm interim pay, title or scope change in writing Set a review date so the arrangement does not drift. HR Before last day
• Agree the backfill plan Open requisition, internal vs external, timeline and interview panel. HR / Skip-level Before last day
• Capture a written leadership handover brief Team health, in-flight commitments, risks, sensitive people matters, honest project status. Departing mgr Before last day
• Schedule overlap between outgoing and incoming leader Joint attendance at recurring team and stakeholder meetings. Skip-level Before last day

2. Direct Reports & Team Transition

Reports are the part that cannot wait. Reassign them in the HRIS before the last day, or approvals and reviews route to a disabled account — and someone whose only reason for staying was this manager needs a plan, not a survey.

• Reassign every direct report in the HRIS Before the last day, so approvals and reviews do not route to a disabled account. HR Before last day
• Hand over the record for each report Goals, performance history, comp position, promotion or PIP status, accommodations — to receiving manager and HR only. Departing mgr Before last day
• Close out open performance and comp actions Finish in-cycle reviews, submit pending increases, finalize documented conversations. Departing mgr Before last day
• Hold a final 1:1 with each report Cover what changes, who they go to next, what stays the same. Departing mgr Before last day
• Flag retention and flight risk Plan for anyone whose reason for staying was this manager. Departing mgr Before last day
• Transfer mentoring, interviewing and on-call duties Remove from panels, rotas and escalation trees. Interim leader Before last day
• Reinforce non-solicitation expectations Where the agreement contains them; route approaches to HR. HR / Legal Last day

3. Delegated Authority & Approvals

Everything a manager was allowed to approve has to belong to somebody else by the last day. Spend limits, requisitions, vendor ownership, admin seats: each one is a queue that silently stops.

• Reassign every approval workflow Time off, timesheets, expenses, requisitions, contracts, headcount, access requests. IT / HR Before last day
• Remove spend and signing authority DOA limits, bank signatory, corporate card, authority to bind the company. Finance Last day
• Transfer budget and cost-center ownership Open POs, accruals and current forecast position. Finance Before last day
• Reassign vendor and contract ownership Tell each supplier who their new business contact is. Procurement Before last day
• Hand over admin ownership of team systems Tool admin seats, shared inboxes, group and channel ownership, dashboards. IT Before last day
• Step down from committees and governance forums Nominate the replacement seat holder. Skip-level Before last day

4. Confidential Data & Personnel Records

A manager holds things an employee does not — 1:1 notes, comp working files, open employee-relations matters. Those move to the official record or to HR, not into a personal archive.

• Move personnel notes to the official record; delete local copies 1:1 notes, review drafts, comp working files must not leave in a personal drive. Departing mgr Before last day
• Revoke comp, headcount and HRIS reporting access Including people-analytics dashboards holding personal data. HR / IT Last day
• Transfer ownership of team documents and drives Move to the interim leader before the account is disabled. IT Before last day
• Escalate open employee-relations or investigation matters Give HR full context so nothing lapses. Departing mgr Before last day
• Apply legal hold before any mailbox or drive is cleared Where litigation, a claim or an investigation is anticipated. Legal / IT Last day

5. Stakeholder & Relationship Handover

Sequence it: reports first, then the wider team, then peers and outside. A client who learns from an out-of-office reply has been told badly.

• Sequence the communications Direct reports, then wider team, then peers and stakeholders, then external. Skip-level Before last day
• Introduce the successor to clients, partners, suppliers Warm handover, not a cold reassignment email. Departing mgr Before last day
• Transfer recurring meeting and forum ownership Reassign organizer rights on team meetings, business reviews, steering groups. Interim leader Before last day
• Update directory, org chart and external references Website bios, signatures, published contact details. HR / Marketing After last day
• Agree the external message and who speaks to it So client-facing teams answer consistently. Skip-level Before last day

6. Leadership Exit Conversation

The exit conversation is worth more with a leader, because they can tell you about the team rather than the job. Their read on each report is succession data you cannot get anywhere else.

• Run a leadership-level exit interview With HR and skip-level: team capability, structural problems, what the successor should change. HR Last day
• Capture a candid assessment of each report’s potential For succession planning, recorded through HR rather than informally. HR Last day
• Escalate anything raised about conduct or culture A departure is not a reason to close the matter. HR / Legal Last day
• Confirm rehire eligibility and alumni status Note it on the employee record. HR Last day
• Run the standard employee offboarding checklist in parallel Final pay, benefits and COBRA, access revocation, asset return live there. HR Last day

7. Team Stabilization After Departure

The weeks after are when attrition actually happens. Re-baseline the commitments that assumed this person, and audit at 30 days for the approvals and reports nobody noticed were orphaned.

• Hold a team meeting in the first week What stays the same, what changes, timeline for a permanent leader. Interim leader After last day
• Run 1:1s with every report in two weeks Check in again at 30 days. Interim leader After last day
• Re-baseline team goals and commitments Renegotiate deadlines that assumed the departing manager’s capacity. Interim leader After last day
• Audit for orphaned workflows at 30 days Approvals, alerts, reports and system ownership that route nowhere. IT After last day
• Monitor sentiment and attrition for two quarters Coach the interim leader where the load has grown. HR After last day

Next

• Employee Offboarding Checklist — the standard exit, which this one assumes you are also running.
• Offboarding checklist for managers: a complete guide — the explainer for a manager running somebody else’s exit, which is the other way round from this page.
• Vendor Offboarding Checklist — the same discipline for a supplier.
• All checklists