We're dealing with a recurring issue in our offboarding process: employees often don't return their laptops on time after leaving. Currently, we use Topdesk to manage this process, but it's not as effective as we'd like. I'm looking for advice on best practices or strategies to improve this situation. For instance, what automated reminders or workflows have worked for you? Should we hold managers accountable for ensuring returns? Is there a way to integrate our HR systems better? Also, I've considered remote locking or wiping devices as a last resort. Any tips or success stories would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
I think the issue goes beyond just IT. It's mainly an HR or legal concern. For us, we've set things up so that laptops are automatically locked or wiped as soon as HR notifies us about an employee's departure. Once I send over the list of missing items to HR, it's essentially their job to deal with the fallout if an employee doesn't return their device. That's how we've kept it clear.
We take a pretty hands-on approach by locking out their Active Directory account and purging their O365 sessions immediately. After that, we send a remote command to disable any cached login sessions, so they can't sign back in when their device turns on again. BitLocker is enabled, and we store the recovery key in Active Directory. At that point, it’s up to HR to ensure the laptop is recovered before the employee receives their final paycheck.
Absolutely! HR should take the reins on this, especially if it involves legal issues. Just keeping a solid inventory and communication is key.