Exit interviews should be a critical component of your HR process, especially within your employee retention strategy.
What is an exit interview?
An exit interview is a great tool for getting feedback from employees who are leaving your business. It is a conversation between the employee who is leaving and a member of the HR team.
These interviews aim to understand the reasons behind the resignation. Gaining insights into their experience with the company, and identify any areas where you could improve.
This process not only helps to positively change the organisational culture, but will help you retain top talent.
Exit interviews serve as a valuable resource for honest and direct feedback. They offer a unique perspective on the working environment, management effectiveness, and employee satisfaction.
How to implement an exit interview.
To have an effective exit interview process, it is important to plan it. These discussions must be faced with a structured and professional approach. The effectiveness of exit interviews lies in the execution. It is essential to approach these discussions with a structured and professional methodology:
- Preparation: Get together a comprehensive set of questions to uncover your employee’s experience, including aspects of their role, the work environment and the company culture.
- Timing: You should schedule the exit interview towards the end of the notice period, which will allow a reflective and thorough conversation.
- Documentation: Make sure that everything is well documented and recorded so that you can easily come back to this for future reference.
- Follow-Up: Once you have this feedback, always look at how to utilise this, putting processes and changes in place for current and future employees.
This process needs to be fair and above all, private, making sure people feel comfortable to speak freely and truthfully. The person conducting the interview, whether it’s a manager someone from HR, or an impartial third party must be chosen to show respect for the employee who is leaving. Try to not have the employee’s direct line manager conduct this interview, as their answers may not be as honest.
What questions should I ask in an exit interview?
The questions asked in an exit interview should be carefully thought about and planned to gather useful feedback. This includes asking why the employee is leaving, their thoughts on the company culture, whether they felt supported and had the right resources, and any ideas they have for making things better.
These questions help to fully understand the employee’s point of view and identify opportunities for the organisation to improve. Now, let’s consider some questions to include in your exit interview.
Example questions to ask in your exit interviews.
What prompted you to begin searching for another opportunity?
This will help you identify benefits that your company could be offering to attract and retain high performers. For example, if you notice that a lot of employees are leaving because of a lack of opportunity for advancement, it could be a sign that direct line managers are not addressing the careers and aspirations of their team members.
Do you feel your manager gave you what you needed to succeed?
From providing training and software access to having discussions and performance reviews, your managers hold a responsibility to ensure that the team members have access to the necessary tools and feedback to be successful in their roles. It is important to know if an employee feels like they lack things from any of these areas so that you can quickly address the issue and come to a solution.
What did you like the best and least about your job?
This is a valuable question to ask as it helps identify aspects that will attract future employees whilst setting the right expectations for the role. For example, if an employee states that the commute to and from the office was too much for them, you want to make sure that your next hire is either within a comfortable distance from your premises or is happy with travelling frequently.
Do you think your job has changed since you were hired?
It is common for job roles to change based on the needs of the company or department. At times, these changes require employees to have a different skill set than what they initially applied for. This increases the risk of the employee losing interest in the role, or not wanting to develop their skills in that area, resulting in a resignation. Finding out how the job role has changed will give you a better understanding of what details to include in your next job description.
Did you feel your achievements were recognised throughout your employment?
Recognition is so important when it comes to creating a positive employee experience. When an employee feels that a company notices and values their contributions, it increases loyalty, improves motivation and fuels productivity, decreasing the overall turnover rate. On the flip side, for employees who do not feel that their efforts are appreciated, a company runs the risk of losing that employee. Where employees do not feel that their efforts were appreciated, a company bears the risk of losing that employee.
What suggestions do you have for the company? How could we improve?
You should always be looking at ways to improve, even if that means a little negative feedback from your employees. From suggestions on the style of management, to what benefits or work perks they would like to see, it’s important to consider all kinds of feedback.
Whilst some suggestions may be unrealistic and out of your control, finding out what employees value will help you improve the overall work environment.
Is there anything that would have changed your mind about leaving?
This is an interesting question to ask. You want to get right to the heart of why the employee is leaving. Often the leaving employee will mention something that would have persuaded them to stay, which is usually what they are getting offered in their onward role. These reasons are worth looking into further.
For example, when the employee says that they wouldn’t have quit the company if there were more flexible working options, perhaps it is time to look into the possibility of offering that to your team. Sometimes, the things employees say would have persuaded them to stay are beyond the company’s control. For example, if you run a construction company, the option to have flexible working or remote working opportunities is not suitable for your business.
Would you recommend this company to a friend? Why or why not?
Even though they are ultimately leaving, employees can act as an excellent referral source. In an ideal world, all of your leaving employees would answer “yes” to this question. The reality is that were are some occasions that the employee is disappointed in their work experience. This might lead them to feel uncomfortable about recommending you. In the case that they wouldn’t want to recommend your company, you should aim to identify the core issue as quickly as possible and make some amends.
Exit interviews offer an opportunity for companies to receive open and honest feedback that could help improve the overall employee experience for both current and future hires. By using these questions for exit interview sessions, you will be able to see why employees choose to leave as well as to develop a roadmap on how to improve retention and enhance employee job satisfaction.
Benefits of Conducting Exit Interviews
Enhanced Understanding of Turnover
Exit interviews give you a clear view into why employees decide to leave. It’s key to spotting not just one-off cases but also ongoing issues that might point to bigger problems within the company. For instance, if several employees mention they’re leaving because there aren’t enough chances to move up in their careers, the company can look into this and possibly update how it handles promotions and training. By acting on this information, you can make changes that lower the number of people leaving, which in turn cuts down on the expense of hiring and training new staff.
Improved Employee Retention
The insights from these exit interviews can be incredibly valuable for boosting how well you keep your staff. By really listening to what they have to say, you can pinpoint and improve specific areas that make the workplace better for current and future employees. Making changes based on what people say in these interviews shows your employees that their views matter, which can make them feel more positive and committed to your company. This approach is especially useful for improving work-life balance, the way the company is run, and how employees are recognised. Adjustments based on genuine feedback can result in happier, more involved staff who are more likely to stay. Are you looking to improve your employee retention strategy? download our guide here.
Cultivation of Ideas
The feedback from departing employees can inspire innovation within the company. These individuals can offer fresh perspectives on operational inefficiencies, outdated policies, or areas for improvement that may have been overlooked. By treating exit interviews as a brainstorming session for organisational improvement, companies can come up with ideas for bettering products, services, and internal processes. This can lead to projects that drive the company forward and keep it competitive in its industry.
Promotion of a Positive Company Culture
Conducting exit interviews will show employees that the company is committed to self-improvement and values each individual’s contribution, even as they are leaving. This practice fosters a culture of openness, transparency, and continuous feedback, which are all qualities of a positive work environment. When employees feel heard and see actionable changes being made based on feedback, it reinforces their sense of belonging, making them more invested to the company’s success. Over time, this can grow the company’s reputation both internally and externally, making it a more attractive place to work.
Strategic HR Planning
Exit interviews can really help with HR planning by pointing out where the workforce needs to grow, what kind of training is needed, and how to recruit better. Knowing why people leave helps HR match its plans with what the company needs overall. For example, if these interviews show you’re lacking in leadership skills, HR can focus on improving that area. Also, if you find out people are leaving for competitors for certain reasons, it can help you to come up with better ways to recruit and keep the best people.
Conclusion
Exit interviews are a smart part of HR’s toolkit. They give important insights that can help a company get better and keep its staff. By doing these interviews with professionalism, companies can greatly improve the work environment. Taking this approach shows a company is really committed to always improving and values the input of every employee, which in turn supports a positive and forward-thinking company culture.
