Procrastination, the result of the lack of “drive” in an under-documented phase of Management

In nearly 9 out of 10 employee departures, in a company, the manager asks the “future ex-employee” to prepare an exchange*.

Managers do not necessarily use these terms of “preparing for a handover”, they can say it in other words:”Put the Drive away!“,”Don't forget to send me an email with the important stuff“,”Plan 1 or 2 short calls/skypes after your departure please“,”Make it a good idea to spend time in your last week with Manon, who will replace you“, or the classic”You're doing a doc for me, right?“...

In short, there are almost as many expressions as managers (who see interns finishing their internship, employees resigning or coming to the end of their fixed-term contract, etc.). The manager's motivations for wanting a handover can be very different: let's not say that their team is coming and going”Each time like cowboys“, want capitalize on the experience of the future-ex-employee “Who had super good ideas, it was a nugget !“, facilitate the onboarding or integration of the successor, etc.

As managers, we have to be clear on one point: once we say”You're handing me over, right?“, we didn't say anything.

After the stealthy instruction from his manager, the employee starts a match against a major opponent during his offboarding: procrastination.

Procrastination is the inability to act in order to go in the direction of a goal that has been set for us, or that we have set ourselves (Huff Post video) In 2 minutes here).

As a manager can express his wish to obtain a contract in several ways, there are multiple ways to interpret “the handover” (and therefore a potential endless list of information to be transmitted). This interpretability of the handover leaves the employee in doubt when faced with the “WHAT” of his handover :”What does he/she want from me: describe my last 3 months? Say who I work with internal/external? Specify the “on the fire” projects and actions that remain to be monitored after my departure?“. In an offboarding situation that can often be anxiety-provoking (being physically there but with their head already elsewhere, unclear manager expectations over the last few weeks...), this uncertainty adds stress and this stress paralyzes the employee even more when faced with the need to take action.

If the future ex-employee is left to his own devices, it is also because managers are drawn into a daily life where timeliness is always more important (management moments are becoming rarer), and that they also don't know exactly what they expect from this handover...

In short, at this stage of the handover: Procrastination 1 - 0 Collaborator

Let's say that obstacle #1 is exceeded and the WHAT of offboarding is defined, the 2nd set of the match begins: the HOW of offboarding (yes, sports friends, let's use the tennis metaphor 🎾😊)

If the WHAT is a part of the game where procrastination very often dominates the collaborator, the HOW is his secret boot to finish off the opponent who would have shown a willingness to resist during the 1st set.

At this point, let's imagine that the collaborator and his manager have agreed on the projects/topics/themes with high added value, which the first will have to historize/document/capitalize... but one question remains: HOW TO formalize these expectations? Give a clear idea of what it looks like The typical week of the collaborator, it is information of great value for the future employee, but is the most suitable format a doc .word, an .xls, an email, another more original format? If the employee has a very clear idea of the content to be filled in, he can stumble (at least at the beginning) with the choice of medium, postpone this action until later, and therefore procrastinate!

If knowledge transfer is an ROI approach from the manager's point of view, with concrete and measurable benefits, the benefit is much less obvious to understand for the outgoing employee. In 2020, if he is aware that he must complete his internship period/advice/etc. in good conditions to build or strengthen his professional network, he is inconceivable for a manager to rely only on the goodwill of the employee so that its handover is carried out in an optimal manner.

Without specific instructions on HOW, the employee will have every reason to wait until the last few days to write a Simile handover (you know, the email you receive at 17:59 on the employee's departure day, which you only open after the weekend, for the one and only time - since in fact you can't do anything with it?).

After being swept away by procrastination during the 1st inning - the round of WHAT- the collaborator goes back to the locker room with the same score after that of the HOW: Procrastination 2 - 0 Collaborator

If there were to exist a Kingdom of Procrastination, the transfer of knowledge would probably be queen there.

In this case, Komin.io would be on the front line of revolutionaries to abolish this old managerial regime:) At Komin.io we support our customers in the implementation of a virtuous HR offboarding policy & ROI, to provide a real solution to the reality of turnover.

And you, what do you think is the first obstacle to an employee producing a quality handover before leaving?

*Source: KIO SOFTWARE study among 28 companies 2019

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