Prevent knowledge loss when people leave —and when they're only out for a week.
Knowledge transfer software for vacation, sick days, leave, promotions, internal transfers, resignations, retirement and layoffs — every situation where the person who knows how the work is done changes.
What this is
ExactlyHow is knowledge preservation and transfer software: organizations document how work is done as owned processes, find them in a process library, and transfer ownership when people change.
Who it's for
Operations and People teams at mid-market businesses, public organizations and education institutions — anywhere a process needs a named owner even after the person who built it changes roles, takes leave, or leaves the organization.
Three moves, the real product.
Write it down once
Document the steps, owner, tools and exceptions before someone leaves — not after.
Find it in the library
Anyone can search by title, owner, department, team, or job title and land on the current way to do it.
Transfer ownership
Send the whole process — steps, tools, history — to the next owner. They accept it, on record.
An offboarding checklist gets the laptop back. It doesn't get the knowledge back.
HR / IT offboarding
Revoke access, collect equipment, close accounts. Essential — and completely silent on how that person actually did their job.
ExactlyHow transition
Every process the departing employee owned is transitioned to a named successor — steps, tools, attachments and comment history included — before their last day.
Most knowledge changes hands are short — vacation, sick days, one week of leave.
You don't need a formal transfer for a week of vacation. You need whoever's covering to open the library, find the process, and see exactly how it's done — without waiting for a text back.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Process Ownership Transfer work?
Instead of just changing a name on a document, an owner sends a transition request to the next owner. Once accepted, the steps, tools, attachments and comment history move with it — this is a Business plan feature.
What happens when an employee leaves?
Before they depart, you transition each process they own to their manager or successor, so ownership and the full context move with the work instead of leaving with the person.
Can managers monitor transitions?
Yes. The Transitions inbox shows incoming, outgoing and completed transfers so managers can see what's pending across the team.
Can ownership be reassigned later?
Yes. Ownership can be transitioned again at any time as team structures change or projects are handed off.
How is transition history tracked?
Every transition records who requested it, who accepted it, and when — so there's a clear record of who owned a process and when it changed hands.
APQC’s 2025 Great Retirement survey of 1,000 organizations found that only 8% consistently capture knowledge from people who are leaving, and 41% rarely or never do. SHRM and Brandon Hall Group onboarding research puts time-to-full-productivity for a new hire at 6–12 months. See the ROI calculator for the full assumptions and formulas.
Coverage shouldn't depend on a text back.The next person should already have the how-to.
Vacation, sick days, leave, and exits all need a named owner and a process they can open today.
Read the Trust Center