You manage the issuing and collection of keys and access passes most tightly by setting up onboarding and offboarding as a process in your ITSM or ESM tool, not as loose emails between IT, FM and HR. Work with fixed role profiles that determine which assets someone receives, record per employee who has what (a CMDB), and let the right tasks for each department arise automatically with every ticket. When someone leaves, you run the same process in reverse, so no laptop or pass stays assigned to their name.
Why does collection at offboarding so often go wrong?
Issuing usually goes fine: if a new employee is missing a laptop or pass, they raise the alarm themselves. At departure that prompt is gone. Nobody actively reports that a laptop, a key or an access pass is still assigned to them, and so assets quietly disappear out the door.
In sectors with high turnover or temporary staff, such as healthcare, that problem piles up. Every month people come and go, and every missed collection is a cost and a security risk. An access pass that stays active or a laptop with business-sensitive data that drops off the radar is exactly what you do not want.
How do you set up issuing and collection as a process?
The core is that onboarding and offboarding is a shared process, not a separate handoff per department. A new employee means a laptop (IT), an access pass (FM) and a registration (HR). Three departments, one ticket, one overview. Set it up like this:
- Create fixed role profiles. Per role you record which assets belong to it, so the right laptop, phone, keys and pass issuing are on the list automatically.
- Create a ticket for every onboarding or offboarding notice, at least two weeks in advance, so there is time to arrange or collect everything.
- Let the profile generate the tasks for IT, FM and HR, and keep the overview in one portal instead of in five mailboxes.
- Have the employee sign digitally for receipt and for collection, so there is always a recorded moment of handover.
A simple overview of who does what, in both directions:
| Department | At onboarding | At offboarding |
|---|---|---|
| IT | Set up laptop and accounts, assign software | Collect laptop, revoke accounts and licences |
| FM | Issue access pass and keys, set up workspace | Deactivate pass, collect keys and workspace |
| HR | Process contract and registration | Report departure and start the process |
What do you record in a CMDB?
A CMDB (configuration management database) is a register of your company assets that records which asset, with details such as serial number and type, belongs to which employee.
By automatically creating a registration at issuing, you know at any moment which assets someone has accumulated. If a laptop does not work, you see right away which device it is. And at offboarding the return list is not a puzzle, but a checklist the system has ready for you. That is the difference between hoping you forget nothing and knowing for certain that you forget nothing.
How do automation and AI help with offboarding?
The less the process depends on people remembering it, the more reliable it becomes. Two levers help with that.
Connect your ITSM or ESM tool to your HR system, think of AFAS, NMBRS or YouForce. A new or departing employee then starts the process automatically, without anyone manually passing on that someone is arriving or leaving.
And let an AI Worker thoroughly review every offboarding notice: which assets are still assigned, which accounts are still active, which pass has not yet been deactivated. An AI agent that actually creates and closes tasks, not just suggests, catches exactly the collection that would otherwise slip through the cracks.
What does a process instead of separate tools deliver?
Onboarding and offboarding touch IT, FM and HR at the same time. As soon as those three work in separate tools, the friction appears: three systems, three handoffs, and assets that fall between the cracks. Gfacility brings IT Service Management, Facility Management and HR processes together on one engine, so the whole joiner-mover-leaver flow sits in one portal, with a CMDB underneath and AI Workers that guard collection. The portal works where your people already work, in Outlook and Teams, so the ticket actually gets created and the process does not end up running through email after all.
Frequently asked questions
When do you create the notice for onboarding or offboarding? +
Create the notice at least two weeks before the first or last working day. That leaves enough time to order a laptop, program an access pass and set up a workspace, or to collect those assets in time when someone leaves.
Why do you link a CMDB to onboarding and offboarding? +
A CMDB records which company asset, with details such as a serial number, belongs to which employee. During an incident you see right away which device it is, and at offboarding you know exactly what still needs to be returned.
Can you link onboarding and offboarding to your HR system? +
Yes. By linking your ITSM or ESM tool to an HR system such as AFAS, NMBRS or YouForce, a new or departing employee starts the process automatically, so IT, FM and HR do not have to manually pass on that someone is arriving or leaving.
How do you stop company assets from going missing when someone leaves? +
Run the onboarding process exactly in reverse, have the employee sign digitally for collection, and let an AI Worker check every offboarding notice for assets still assigned to their name. That way no laptop or pass leaves unnoticed.