Retaining Organizational Knowledge and Effective Onboarding & Offboarding

Sustainability Webinar 3 :

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Before we get started....

Today’s Focus

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Organizational Knowlege

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On-Boarding Practices

Off-Boarding Practices

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Where past webinars live and FY27 training ideas

Retaining Organizational Knowledge

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A. Shared drive

B. SOP folder

C. Someone’s inbox

D. Someone’s brain

E. A spreadsheet called “FINAL_final_use_this_one_v7”

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Where does the knowledge live?

Every team has formal knowledge and informal knowledge. The problem is that informal knowledge often becomes visible only when someone leaves.

What is organizational knowledge?

Definition: Organizational knowledge is the visible and invisible knowledge behind how work gets done, including program history, partner context, workflows, data knowledge, decisions, and lessons learned that help public health teams sustain work across staff changes, grant cycles, and organizational transitions.

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What happens to lost knowledge?

What can be lost:

• Program history: New staff may not know why the work was designed a certain way.
• Partner relationships: Trust, communication norms, and relationship history may need to be rebuilt.
• Data knowledge: Reports may be interpreted incorrectly if limitations, cleaning steps, or data notes are missing.
• Workflow steps: Staff may have to recreate processes from scratch.
• Decision history: Teams may repeat old debates, revisit past decisions, or make the same mistakes.
• Grant knowledge: Deadlines, reporting expectations, and funder preferences may be missed.

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What makes knowledge loss more likely:

• No formal process for documenting or sharing knowledge
• High staff turnover or frequent role changes
• Poorly organized technology, folders, or tools
• Limited time to document work during busy periods
• “Only one person knows” culture
• Fragmented communication across teams or partners

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When organizational knowledge is not captured or shared, teams may lose the context needed to keep work moving.

Knowledge Loss Risk Exercise

Choose one program, project, or workflow and decide what level it is at...

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• What work would be hard to continue if one key person left?
• What information currently lives mostly in someone’s head?
• What partner relationships need better documentation?
• What recurring deadlines are not tracked in one place?
• What files, templates, or data systems would be hard for a new person to find?
• What is one thing we can document this month?

Take a moment to think about...

Tip 1: One reliable place for information

Make organizational knowledge easy to find by keeping core documents in one clear location.

Tip 2: Use templates for repeat work

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Templates help preserve knowledge by making routine tasks easier to repeat, teach, and improve.

Tip 3: Make knowledge sharing routine

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Key Strategies:

• Maintain shared folders and clear naming conventions
• Use meeting notes that capture decisions and next steps
• Build standard operating procedures (SOPs) for recurring tasks
• Cross-train staff on high-risk workflows
• Use after-action reviews after major reports, site visits, trainings, events, or grant cycles
• Review folders and templates twice a year
• Make knowledge-sharing part of supervision and team meetings

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Off-Boarding as Organizational Care

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Supporting departing employees, protecting knowledge, and keeping the work moving

Off-Boarding as Organizational Care

Supporting Employees and Protecting Organizational Knowledge

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Offboarding Steps

• Schedule a 1:1 with the departing employee
• Confirm final date, payroll, benefits, PTO, and paperwork
• Ask what support the employee needs during the transition
• Review current projects, deadlines, files, and contacts
• Create a knowledge transfer plan
• Celebrate the employee’s contributions
• Communicate the transition to the team and key partners
• Complete an exit knowledge interview
• Return equipment and transfer file ownership
• Keep in touch when appropriate for future connection or boomerang opportunities

Offboarding is not just an exit checklist

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Key Focus for Off Boarding:

• Employees feel heard
• Employees feel proud of their contributions
• Knowledge is transferred before they leave
• Relationships are protected
• Remaining staff see the process

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Positive exit experiences can support future hiring and reputation.

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Tip 4: Knowledge transfer checklist

Tip 5: Celebrate the Employee’s Contributions

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Celebrating the employee helps them leave feeling respected, valued, and proud of their work. It also shows the remaining team that people are cared for during transitions.

Ideas:

• Say thank you clearly and name the value of their work.
• Recognize specific accomplishments, not just their job title.
• Invite team members to share appreciation or reflections.
• Offer a sendoff moment, such as a note, lunch, card, or team message.
• Support their next step when appropriate, including references, networking, or encouragement.
• Keep the door open for future collaboration, referrals, or boomerang opportunities.

Celebration does not have to be big or expensive. It just needs to be intentional.

Tip 6: Communicate the Transition Clearly

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Communication helps the departing employee, remaining staff, and key partners understand what is changing, what happens next, and how the work will continue.

Communicate what it means.....

For the departuring employee:

• Explain the next steps in the offboarding process
• Clarify timeline, meetings, knowledge transfer, and final logistics
• Ask how they would like their transition communicated
• Discuss how the team can celebrate or recognize their contributions
• Make sure they feel respected and included in the process

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For the other employees:

• Share what work, tasks, or responsibilities may shift
• Clarify who will cover urgent items during the transition
• Name any temporary changes in workflow or communication
• Create space for staff questions or concerns
• Watch for workload strain on the remaining team

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For the team and key partners:

• Explain what the transition means for the program or team structure
• Share whether the position will be hired, paused, redesigned, or redistributed
• Identify the new point of contact for projects, partners, or deliverables
• Provide warm handoffs for important relationships
• Reinforce that the work will continue with clear support and planning

Off-Boarding Mistakes

Onboarding is

more than orientation

Onboarding can help employees feel welcomed, prepared, and connected

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Effective onboarding is not just paperwork, policies, and system access. It is a knowledge sharing process that helps new staff understand the program story, meet key people, learn how the work gets done, and see how their role contributes to the organization’s mission.

Practical On-Boarding Steps

• Welcome before day one

Send schedule, welcome message, basic information.

• Make day one feel ready

Create a warm, organized first day.

• Build early connection

Introduce the team and key contacts.

• Assign a go-to person

Pair them with a buddy or mentor.

• Start with the why

Share the program story, mission, and purpose.

• Show where things live

Walk through folders, systems, tools, and templates.

• Build confidence gradually

Introduce work in manageable steps.

• Define success early

Clarify expectations, and priorities

• Check in often

Schedule regular touchpoints for questions, support.

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Tip 6: What new staff need to learn

Tip 7: Bring it back together

Knowledge sharing happens at every stage, and every transition is a chance to protect what the team knows.

Tip 8: What teams can start doing now

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• Build onboarding and offboarding into program management, not just HR
• Document workflows while people are doing the work
• Keep partner and community context visible
• Use simple templates for repeat work
• Maintain decision logs for important choices
• Cross-train staff on high-risk tasks
• Use after-action reviews after major work cycles
• Review shared folders and templates twice a year
• Make knowledge-sharing part of team culture

Before you leave today, pick one thing

Visit our VAP resources page for previous webinars...

Sustainability Webinars:

• Webinar 1: Strategic and Operational Sustainability, Introduction to sustainability frameworks and how to conduct a PSAT assessment.
• Webinar 2: Work Efficiencies and Self-Care
• Webinar 3: Efficient Onboarding, Offboarding, and Retaining Organizational Knowledge

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Data Series Webinars:

• Part 1: Quantitative Data: Making Data Work for You: Practical Tips and Tricks for Chronic Disease Programs
• Part 2: Qualitative Data: Beyond Satisfaction Surveys
• Part 3: Data Transformation and Basic Qualitative Data Analysis

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🡪 bit.ly/CEPEGhome

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CEPEG is currently planning our FY27 training schedule

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Please share what training(s)you would like to have.

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Email us at CEPEGEvaluationTA@cuanschutz.edu

Or let us know here!

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