While companies are relatively accustomed to requesting the return of building keys and ID cards from departing employees, they are less vigilant when it comes to electronic data. Can this lead to problems? Yes!
When employees are terminated involuntarily, emotions can run high on both sides of the table. The people in charge of the termination may feel quite uncomfortable. Their entire focus may be on calming the terminated employee and making sure the person leaves the building without incident. While building keys and ID cards likely will be requested for return, it is quite possible that company personnel will forget right away to disable the former employee’s access rights to the company’s information systems.
