A member of staff is leaving your business. You’ve organised the appropriate departure paperwork, calculated the moneys owed, and retrieved your keys, laptop, mobile, tools of the trade and uniform. The handover of their job responsibilities to another staff member has been successfully completed. Their desk has been vacated. All’s well that ends well. Or is it?
Do you know why your staff really leave your organisation? Or what they really think about the business, the way it operates, what it offers, the staff and the management?
Do you know if staff are leaving with a smile, happy in the knowledge that their time with your business has been fulfilling and a positive work experience?
Or have they left because they were unhappy with conditions, pay, the work they were employed to do, or their manager's attitude? Perhaps another employer has offered them better wages or conditions. Do you know if they would they have stayed if things were different?
Have you any idea what they would change about your business if they were given the opportunity?
Do you know if they are leaving to work for a competitor or a business in the same sector?
What will they be telling people about their experience working with your business; or about you as an employer?
The value and benefits of exit interviews
You will be able to answer yes to all these questions and importantly gain valuable insights into your business and the way it operates, if you undertake an exit interview each time an employee leaves.
Departing employees can give you important feedback, recommendations and suggestions for improvements based on first hand experience of their position and time in the business - things like what the business does well, where and how your organisation can improve, and the strengths and weaknesses of specific managers.
This input will assist your business to analyse exit trends and enable you to develop appropriate company wide retention strategies. Exit interviews are particularly useful to SMEs who may not have the support and resources of a Human Resource or Personnel department.
These insights might be otherwise difficult or even impossible to obtain in normal meetings with their manager, supervisor or employer. Employees might feel guarded about revealing their true thoughts about their relationship with their immediate supervisor, or their job, if they feel their employment might be adversely affected; or they may feel they will be labelled as a 'whinger' or a 'troublemaker’.
Another important element of exit interviews is the benefit they bring to the departing employee. This is an opportunity for a staff member to be heard, and their ideas and impressions seen to be respected and valued. An employee who has agreed to an exit interview is unlikely to be leaving under acrimonious circumstances and so they are more likely to be frank and honest.
The exit interview form
On your exit interview form precede any questions by advising the departing employee that you welcome any information they are prepared to give you regarding their future plans; and any feedback concerning their position and time spent with the business. Advise them to use this form to record any suggestions and recommendation for improvement that they may have identified. Inform them that their input will assist your business to analyse exit trends and to develop appropriate company wide retention strategies.
Request that they complete and return the form to you and advise them that their comments will be discussed with them at their exit interview.
Typical exit interview questions include:
- What is your primary reason for leaving?
- Did anything trigger your decision to leave?
- What was most satisfying aspect of your job?
- What was least satisfying aspect of your job?
- What would you change about your job?
- Did your job duties turn out to be as you expected?
- Did you receive enough training to do your job effectively?
- Did you receive adequate support to do your job?
- Did you receive sufficient feedback about your performance?
- Were you satisfied with this company's merit review process?
- Did this company help you to fulfil your career goals?
- Do you have any tips to help us find your replacement?
- What would you improve to make our workplace better?
- Were you happy with your pay, benefits and other incentives?
- What was the quality of the supervision you received?
- What could your immediate supervisor do to improve their management style?
- What do you think it takes to succeed in this company based on your experience with us?
- Did any company policies or procedures (or any other obstacles) make your job more difficult?
- Would you consider working again for this company in the future?
- Would you recommend working for this company to your family and friends?
- How do you generally feel about this company?
- What did you like most about this company?
- What did you like least about this company?
- What does your new company offer that this company doesn't?
- Can this company do anything to encourage you to stay?
- Before deciding to leave, did you investigate a transfer within the company?
- What industry/ company / position are you going to?
- How did you hear about your new job?
Always thank them for their feedback and wish them well in their new endeavours.
Exit interviews in practice
Kathy Bracken, Senior Human Resources Officer with Australian Business Limited, explains why this organisation uses exit interviews and why it considers them to be of value.
"Exit interviews are an insight to the thoughts and reasons as to why an employee chooses to leave your employ. They can identify key issues in your management, structure, process, conditions or people that may not have been known.
"They are beneficial on two fronts. From the employee's view point - you want them to feel that they can have their say and that their feedback is still valued regardless of whether they are leaving or not.
“From the organisation's view point - it is obtaining information that may not be necessarily forthcoming," Bracken explains.
The normal process for carrying out an exit interview is that pre-departure the employer gives the employee an exit interview survey to complete; and the employee is asked whether they wish to participate in an exit interview. It is the employee's choice as to whether they want to participate or complete the form.
This does raise a few questions. If an exit interview is regarded as a confidential record of an employee's insights, how can the employee feel assured that what they are telling the employer will go no further, particularly if they have complained about their direct supervisor and will want a reference from them?
Bracken explains, "We can only act upon information given to us in exit interviews if we have the employee's permission. This is done by obtaining a signature at the bottom of the exit interview form. We discuss this with the employee during the interview. If the employee does not want to sign the survey, we ask whether we can use the information they have given us should there be other similar complaints or issues raised and their information would not be identifiable back to them."
Conversely what of the situation where the employee will want to feel confident that some action will take place to improve issues that they have raised. If they don't feel their valid points will be acted upon, they may feel there is little point in going to the trouble of attending an exit interview.
Bracken explains "Should we be given permission to act upon the information, we would organise a time to meet with the employee's manager to discuss the content. If the issue concerns another member of staff or another manager, the issue is taken up directly with them.
“If permission has not been granted the general information, not specific comments, is recorded to help the business analyse exit trends and identify areas of improvement."
Bracken concludes, “An exit interview is virtually a cost free information session and any information an organisation can obtain on how it is operating is valuable. It can take as little as 15 minutes or as long as an hour, but regardless it is time well spent.”
There is little doubt that whilst there are no guarantees that every departing employee will speak the whole truth or tell you everything, your business will certainly gain some very valuable information from holding exit interviews.