Factory reset a company Macbook with linked iCloud

Hello Community,

I know this is usually the other way around (former employee trying to reset MBP) but this time the question is from a company perspective.

I was recently assigned to take care of internal IT stuff in my company due to an unexpected resignation. We have a laptop that needs to be reset to factory settings, but the issue is that it is linked to an iCloud account. We can not find the former employee to share the iCloud password with us or to remove the device from his account.

Therefore, what would be the step in order to reset the device, considering the laptop is company property?