If you are in a business that has employees, it is inevitable that you will be faced with an employee that quits or gets fired. Often times when this occurs it can be emotional and can create turmoil within the organization. Worse yet a recent study showed that more than a third of employees take company information with them when they leave. Let’s look at a few things you can do to protect your business when an employee leaves, coming up next.

Employees can come and go in an organization, but protecting your customer and company information must be a high priority in the business. Here are three things you should do to protect your valuable company information.

1. Create an Employee Exit List - With emotions running high it is easy to overlook items that should be done when a person leaves an organization. Write down, in list form, all of the things that made up the employee’s role and function in the business. This should include HR items, access control, physical assets, software licensing, customer lists, website, and any other specialized items.

2. Inventory and Accounts - In today’s digital environment employees may have access to numerous company accounts and devices. For this reason, it is a good idea to take an inventory of all devices and accounts in order to protect the data. Whether the information is stored on a device, on a server, or in the cloud, verify that everything is accounted for and device passwords are checked before providing the employee’s final paycheck.

3. Passwords - The best way to ensure that data is not accessible after an employee leaves is to change all of the passwords company wide. Though this may be a daunting task for technology reliant companies, it will be more than necessary considering the possibility of post-employment access. By changing all of the passwords you can at least rest easier knowing that ex-employees will not have access to sensitive information.

Though none of these methods can keep a disgruntled employee from stealing information with storage devices or paper materials they will surely keep them out of your network after they are gone. The key is to act swiftly and have a defined process. If you are unsure where to start when an employee leaves, give our team a call.

Design I.T. Solutions, LLC
509-534-4874
www.designitsolutions.com