What should I document before transitioning an underperforming employee out of the company?
Before transitioning an underperforming employee, document all processes they own, their ongoing projects and statuses, vendor and stakeholder relationships, and system access credentials. Do this before the conversation, not after — once the employee knows they are leaving, the quality and willingness of knowledge transfer drops significantly.
What should you capture before the transition?
| Category | What to Document | How to Capture |
|---|---|---|
| Owned processes | Every recurring task only they perform | Have a backup person shadow them or record workflows |
| Active projects | Status, deadlines, stakeholders, blockers | Review project management tools, get status updates |
| Vendor contacts | Key relationships, contract terms, renewal dates | Request a stakeholder map during 1:1s |
| System access | All logins, admin credentials, API keys | IT audit of their access |
| Pending decisions | Open items awaiting their input | Review their email/Slack for open threads |
| Tribal knowledge | Workarounds, shortcuts, undocumented context | Frame as "documentation initiative" (see below) |
How do you capture knowledge without revealing the transition?
The challenge is documenting the employee's knowledge before they know they are being transitioned. Two approaches:
-
Department-wide documentation initiative — Announce that all team members will document their key processes. This normalizes the request and provides cover. Have everyone (including the underperforming employee) record their workflows with Glyde.
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Cross-training program — Assign a backup person to each role "for coverage purposes." The backup shadows the employee and documents what they learn.
Both approaches produce the documentation you need while maintaining confidentiality. The side benefit: every other team member's processes also get documented, reducing key-person risk across the entire team.
This answer is part of our guide to process documentation.