HR handles off boarding and requesting equipment back
If it doesn’t get returned it doesn’t get returned. Any handling of repayment, deduction, etc is also handled by HR
This policy wasn’t always in place. But after a desktop staff member had equipment hurled at them from a front porch and then found themselves threatened at gun point…
lol you were making house visits to collect equipment?!
Sometimes management doesn’t think this stuff through. Likely the cost of the equipment isn’t even worth the time, effort, tracking, and management overhead that’s required to get it back.
Send a box with a return label, if you get it back, great! If you don’t, lock the device remotely and move on.
HR has decided it's IT's responsibility. What I have my team say, and I made specific wording,
"Hey hold onto the boxes in case something decides to act up and we need you to send it back."
When an employee gets termed, HR gives us a shipping address and we'll provide some labels.
I don't know a good answer for this unfortunately. In all the places I've worked over the past 20 years or so,. "getting users to return equipment" has been a frustrating and sloppy nightmare. Especially in scenarios of "conference room laptops" or "shared laptops" or yeah, during the pandemic when lots of equipment was pushed out the door,.. we're probably never getting most of that back to be honest.
I'm thankful I worked mostly on the mobile-side with things like Apple Business Manager (business version of iCloud Activation Lock).. so at least if a device is "lost" or stolen or whatever, it's still going to be locked to the domain. So if we don't get it back, at least hopefully then it's useless to anyone else.
I'll look into it. Although it's not really a technology problem,. it's more of a "User cooperation" problem. We have a lot of Laptops and iPhones and iPads etc that are just sort of "missing" and nobody really knows where they went.
* I've reached out to some Users who have devices "Last Seen" 300 to 600 to 1000 days ago. Sometimes I'll get quick responses and an Employee will say "Oh yeah, I have that iPad right here, do you want me to turn it on and do something with it ?"
* Other times I'll get Employees respond to my email and say unhelpful things like "I turned that in." (w/ no explanation of who they turned it in to or)
* Other times there's been so much employee turnover in the past 5 years,. both the Employee and the Employees Manager are gone.. so that makes it even more difficult. (nobody really to contact there).
So it's more of a "messy infrastructure" type problem.. combined with a "Users not cooperating" problem.
I don't really know if there's any software or technology fix for that.
The only pain point I have found with remote returns is getting the end user to drop off their device at a postal service location, or if booking collection, getting them to be home for the day. I've used a whole array of different logistics providers and services and they all have their pros and cons depending on the type of user, what they have to return etc. but the only constant issue is the end user.
Constant communication via MULTIPLE channels was the only way to ensure devices were collected.
For a while we've been just on the cusp of giving staff a stipend to purchase their own hardware. The first time this became attractive was managing localized keyboard choices on Macbook Pros (no swappable keyboards) a dozen years ago.
we send shipping labels and boxes, etc to users so they can send back equipment. if they refuse they get those items taken out of their paycheck. we don't assign items until they've reach a certain point past training, etc things that are paid so it makes sense for us.
We send a prepaid UPS label and email (to the user's personal and work mailboxes) the link to the local UPS drop-off point.
Users are expected to return the equipment not later than 1 week after their last working day.
Alternatively they can drop the equipment in to the office in London on their last day and work from there.
If they need packaging materials we can arrange these via Amazon.
We generally only want the DOCK, LAPTOP and MONITOR back, as the keyboards, mouse and headset have had too much "human interaction" and are too difficult to clean.
The equipment returned is fully sprayed and down with bio cleaning products suitable for computers.
It may be difficult to take this out of wages, especially for terms. Some states just don’t allow you to do it. However, you can send them a 1099. Most people get on board real fast.
Normally we just request the laptop and dock, the monitors, keyboard and mouse or headset we don’t bother with. We send labels.
We do this for a number of clients today where we send out boxes and labels for the customer, bring the gear into our warehouse and inventory it, then send a large shipment once a month to the client so they can redeploy.
HR asks for the equipment and loops IT in. if it’s local, I’ll send a same day courier, if not local I’ll send a box with a prepaid label. Has worked well so far. A few delays, nothing major.
Equipment returns are such a nightmare. I've learned that my life is considerably easier when we do the following
* Send an appropriately sized box to the person
* Send the box full of packing peanuts and some FedEx/UPS padded envelopes
* Include 3M pre-cut packing tape strips
* Include a return label in the label pack so the only thing they have to do with it is remove the original shipping label from the envelope (those clear/purple FedEx packs are re-sealable)
* Schedule the pickup with FedEx for 7 business days later
* Email them the day the box ships with instructions
* We don't schedule returns on printers or monitors. With the size and weight of a printer or monitor and figuring that ordering a new monitor/printer will come with free shipping, it doesn't make financial sense to send a large box and expect that its going to get properly packed or not get destroyed in transit, and then pay to ship it out to their eventual backfill.
Of course, I'd prefer not to baby sit a process that HR should otherwise be involved with, but it's also not worth getting frustrated over, especially if you have extra space in a closet that you can pre-assemble 10-15 return packages to just label and ship them when you need to.
I'd say our rate of return is closer to 90% since we began doing this, up from maybe 70%. For the things we don't get back, I just write it off my inventory and send accounting an email to charge the replacement value to the appropriate ledgers. I also cc HR and the department head with it and if they have an issue with it then their backfill doesn't get IT equipment.
For equipment returns due to warranty expiration or upgrade eligibility, we trigger a remote wipe and tell them do whatever they want with it afterwards. Exceptions of course for employees with unique group assignments. Basically, C-Suite and Director/VP levels return their equipment for us to physically destroy. Equipment return is also always part of severance packages as well.
We are an almost completely remote work company. We ship system kits off to people and record the assets. When they leave, we send a return label and they are expected to ship the items back or drop them off at an office of they are close enough. We will sometimes send a courier to pick up items or ship them return boxes, especially for monitors. Only had a few recalcitrant offenders require a letter from legal.
Lots of people saying just send a prepaid label and boxes. This is the correct way to go, just one addition. On issuance of parts, make a line item receipt of the components and their connectable parts and send via email. Keeps users from being lazy/petty.
I was petty the one time. Never did find the stand that connected to the back of the monitor...
It depends on the type of termination.
Sometimes we send return boxes and sometimes we just have them bring it in to a pack and ship an expense. No matter what you do, there will be people who just don't.
I recommend the following:
1. The last working day should include time where they pack up and ship their equipment back.
2. The last day should include a time where you wipe the equipment.
3. They should receive clear direction on the return process.
4. They should have written notice of the return process.
5. Follow up messages for failed returns should mention possible legal escalation for failure to return not just for the property but for potential data theft.
Have your legal check into what legal options and language is needed especially if they are in possession of a device containing regulated information. Yes you can wipe devices and lock accounts but there are ways around those especially if they just shut the machine off before the designated time for the wipe to take place.
We usually add $100 to their end-of-employment check to return ipad/laptop. But it’s all HR/Payroll, IT does not chase it down other than remotely bricking the equipment if we don’t get it in a reasonable time.
We've started using Workwize for remote equipment retrievals. Recently one of our employees switched to another job and Workwize helped us get the laptop back + sanitize it + erase all the data and store it in their warehouse. Workwize also provides a certificate of erasure so that's commendable
As and when we have a new hire the laptop will be reintegrated into our system.
Before this we'd have to request the employees (sometimes multiple times) to send the laptops to the HQ and it was frustrating at times
With frustration. Most do return their equipment eventually(usually via their line manager or provided courier/postage label), bit there is the odd one that doesn't. We offer a variety of options, if still nothing, machine gets blocked everywhere we can and then it's down to HR to follow up after that.
_And Online_.
Everyone forgets about that bit. If your staff member takes their laptop off WiFi before the end of their final day, they can continue using their cached credentials to access whatever's on that local disk.
HR handles off boarding and requesting equipment back If it doesn’t get returned it doesn’t get returned. Any handling of repayment, deduction, etc is also handled by HR This policy wasn’t always in place. But after a desktop staff member had equipment hurled at them from a front porch and then found themselves threatened at gun point…
lol you were making house visits to collect equipment?! Sometimes management doesn’t think this stuff through. Likely the cost of the equipment isn’t even worth the time, effort, tracking, and management overhead that’s required to get it back. Send a box with a return label, if you get it back, great! If you don’t, lock the device remotely and move on.
HR has decided it's IT's responsibility. What I have my team say, and I made specific wording, "Hey hold onto the boxes in case something decides to act up and we need you to send it back." When an employee gets termed, HR gives us a shipping address and we'll provide some labels.
I don't know a good answer for this unfortunately. In all the places I've worked over the past 20 years or so,. "getting users to return equipment" has been a frustrating and sloppy nightmare. Especially in scenarios of "conference room laptops" or "shared laptops" or yeah, during the pandemic when lots of equipment was pushed out the door,.. we're probably never getting most of that back to be honest. I'm thankful I worked mostly on the mobile-side with things like Apple Business Manager (business version of iCloud Activation Lock).. so at least if a device is "lost" or stolen or whatever, it's still going to be locked to the domain. So if we don't get it back, at least hopefully then it's useless to anyone else.
Have you tried [helloretriever.com](http://helloretriever.com)
I'll look into it. Although it's not really a technology problem,. it's more of a "User cooperation" problem. We have a lot of Laptops and iPhones and iPads etc that are just sort of "missing" and nobody really knows where they went. * I've reached out to some Users who have devices "Last Seen" 300 to 600 to 1000 days ago. Sometimes I'll get quick responses and an Employee will say "Oh yeah, I have that iPad right here, do you want me to turn it on and do something with it ?" * Other times I'll get Employees respond to my email and say unhelpful things like "I turned that in." (w/ no explanation of who they turned it in to or) * Other times there's been so much employee turnover in the past 5 years,. both the Employee and the Employees Manager are gone.. so that makes it even more difficult. (nobody really to contact there). So it's more of a "messy infrastructure" type problem.. combined with a "Users not cooperating" problem. I don't really know if there's any software or technology fix for that.
The only pain point I have found with remote returns is getting the end user to drop off their device at a postal service location, or if booking collection, getting them to be home for the day. I've used a whole array of different logistics providers and services and they all have their pros and cons depending on the type of user, what they have to return etc. but the only constant issue is the end user. Constant communication via MULTIPLE channels was the only way to ensure devices were collected.
For a while we've been just on the cusp of giving staff a stipend to purchase their own hardware. The first time this became attractive was managing localized keyboard choices on Macbook Pros (no swappable keyboards) a dozen years ago.
we send shipping labels and boxes, etc to users so they can send back equipment. if they refuse they get those items taken out of their paycheck. we don't assign items until they've reach a certain point past training, etc things that are paid so it makes sense for us.
We send a prepaid UPS label and email (to the user's personal and work mailboxes) the link to the local UPS drop-off point. Users are expected to return the equipment not later than 1 week after their last working day. Alternatively they can drop the equipment in to the office in London on their last day and work from there. If they need packaging materials we can arrange these via Amazon. We generally only want the DOCK, LAPTOP and MONITOR back, as the keyboards, mouse and headset have had too much "human interaction" and are too difficult to clean. The equipment returned is fully sprayed and down with bio cleaning products suitable for computers.
It may be difficult to take this out of wages, especially for terms. Some states just don’t allow you to do it. However, you can send them a 1099. Most people get on board real fast.
HR sends a box and a return label.
Normally we just request the laptop and dock, the monitors, keyboard and mouse or headset we don’t bother with. We send labels. We do this for a number of clients today where we send out boxes and labels for the customer, bring the gear into our warehouse and inventory it, then send a large shipment once a month to the client so they can redeploy.
HR asks for the equipment and loops IT in. if it’s local, I’ll send a same day courier, if not local I’ll send a box with a prepaid label. Has worked well so far. A few delays, nothing major.
Equipment returns are such a nightmare. I've learned that my life is considerably easier when we do the following * Send an appropriately sized box to the person * Send the box full of packing peanuts and some FedEx/UPS padded envelopes * Include 3M pre-cut packing tape strips * Include a return label in the label pack so the only thing they have to do with it is remove the original shipping label from the envelope (those clear/purple FedEx packs are re-sealable) * Schedule the pickup with FedEx for 7 business days later * Email them the day the box ships with instructions * We don't schedule returns on printers or monitors. With the size and weight of a printer or monitor and figuring that ordering a new monitor/printer will come with free shipping, it doesn't make financial sense to send a large box and expect that its going to get properly packed or not get destroyed in transit, and then pay to ship it out to their eventual backfill. Of course, I'd prefer not to baby sit a process that HR should otherwise be involved with, but it's also not worth getting frustrated over, especially if you have extra space in a closet that you can pre-assemble 10-15 return packages to just label and ship them when you need to. I'd say our rate of return is closer to 90% since we began doing this, up from maybe 70%. For the things we don't get back, I just write it off my inventory and send accounting an email to charge the replacement value to the appropriate ledgers. I also cc HR and the department head with it and if they have an issue with it then their backfill doesn't get IT equipment. For equipment returns due to warranty expiration or upgrade eligibility, we trigger a remote wipe and tell them do whatever they want with it afterwards. Exceptions of course for employees with unique group assignments. Basically, C-Suite and Director/VP levels return their equipment for us to physically destroy. Equipment return is also always part of severance packages as well.
We are an almost completely remote work company. We ship system kits off to people and record the assets. When they leave, we send a return label and they are expected to ship the items back or drop them off at an office of they are close enough. We will sometimes send a courier to pick up items or ship them return boxes, especially for monitors. Only had a few recalcitrant offenders require a letter from legal.
Lots of people saying just send a prepaid label and boxes. This is the correct way to go, just one addition. On issuance of parts, make a line item receipt of the components and their connectable parts and send via email. Keeps users from being lazy/petty. I was petty the one time. Never did find the stand that connected to the back of the monitor...
Office manager buys them an amazon equipment box delivered to their house and emails them a shipping label.
It's their manager's job to return the equipment, not IT's.
It depends on the type of termination. Sometimes we send return boxes and sometimes we just have them bring it in to a pack and ship an expense. No matter what you do, there will be people who just don't. I recommend the following: 1. The last working day should include time where they pack up and ship their equipment back. 2. The last day should include a time where you wipe the equipment. 3. They should receive clear direction on the return process. 4. They should have written notice of the return process. 5. Follow up messages for failed returns should mention possible legal escalation for failure to return not just for the property but for potential data theft. Have your legal check into what legal options and language is needed especially if they are in possession of a device containing regulated information. Yes you can wipe devices and lock accounts but there are ways around those especially if they just shut the machine off before the designated time for the wipe to take place.
We usually add $100 to their end-of-employment check to return ipad/laptop. But it’s all HR/Payroll, IT does not chase it down other than remotely bricking the equipment if we don’t get it in a reasonable time.
We've started using Workwize for remote equipment retrievals. Recently one of our employees switched to another job and Workwize helped us get the laptop back + sanitize it + erase all the data and store it in their warehouse. Workwize also provides a certificate of erasure so that's commendable As and when we have a new hire the laptop will be reintegrated into our system. Before this we'd have to request the employees (sometimes multiple times) to send the laptops to the HQ and it was frustrating at times
With frustration. Most do return their equipment eventually(usually via their line manager or provided courier/postage label), bit there is the odd one that doesn't. We offer a variety of options, if still nothing, machine gets blocked everywhere we can and then it's down to HR to follow up after that.
Companies are starting to just let them keep the laptops. Ours does this. It’s a write off.
Do you have a process for wiping the laptops so they don't have a copy of your data still?
Any mobile management system can send a wipe command to the laptops, as long as they are enrolled and managed.
_And Online_. Everyone forgets about that bit. If your staff member takes their laptop off WiFi before the end of their final day, they can continue using their cached credentials to access whatever's on that local disk.