Conducting an effective exit interview involves choosing the right format and interviewer, asking the right questions, and maintaining a positive atmosphere. Its a valuable opportunity to gain insights into the employees experience, identify areas for improvement, and ultimately reduce employee turnover.
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Every time an employee gives their two weeks notice, a new hiring process begins. You focus on posting a job ad, evaluating candidates and choosing your next team member. But how much attention do you pay to the person who’s packing their stuff into a cardboard box?
Conducting exit interviews can generate positive changes within your organization. You get an insight into the reasons for your employees’ resignations. Then, by analyzing your findings after an effective exit interview, you can reduce your employee turnover rate.
For example, if a lot of your employees mention that their duties didn’t match their original expectations, you might want to consider changing your job descriptions and your onboarding sessions. Seeing top-performers leave feeling unmotivated is a sign you should adopt retention programs and offer your employees more opportunities to develop. Exit interviews can also give you a sneak peek of competition benchmarks. Employees who leave you for competitors could help you learn where you stand with salaries and other benefits.
Here are some tips on how to conduct an effective exit interview that offers you food for thought.
When an employee leaves your company an exit interview presents a golden opportunity to gain feedback and insights. But to reap the full benefits, you must conduct effective exit interviews.
In this comprehensive guide, I’ll walk through the key steps for planning and executing successful exit interviews, from choosing the right interviewer to asking strategic questions Follow this best practice approach to collect valuable data through the offboarding process.
Why Are Exit Interviews Important?
Before diving into the how-to let’s review the value of exit interviews
- Identify reasons talented employees are leaving
- Gather constructive feedback on improving the employee experience
- Learn how to retain top performers in the future
- Gain insights on strengthening company culture
- Uncover issues or problems that need addressing
- Assess manager relationships and effectiveness
- Determine if compensation packages are competitive
- Discover gaps in training, growth opportunities or tools
- Benchmark against industry norms and standards
- Part positively and preserve relationships with departing employees
Without exit interviews, you miss a chance to enhance policies, managers, culture and more based on those with direct experience. Well-run interviews provide an invaluable sounding board.
Select the Right Interviewer
Choose an interviewer the departing employee feels comfortable opening up to. Avoid having their direct manager conduct it, as employees may avoid sharing critical feedback.
Good exit interviewers include:
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HR representative: They can view feedback objectively and maintain confidentiality. But ensure HR has a good rapport with employees.
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Department head: They understand job-specific issues to drill into but must probe impartially.
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Senior leader: Executives lend credibility and will take action on systemic concerns raised.
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Third party: External interviewers like consultants elicit candid responses, but lack company insights.
Set expectations on confidentiality up front so employees know their honest opinions won’t jeopardize references.
Prepare Thoughtful Questions in Advance
Draft exit interview questions that go beyond superficial reasons like pay and pursuit of new opportunities. Tailor questions based on the employee’s tenure, role and known issues.
Examples of insightful questions:
- What did you enjoy most/least about working here?
- What could have improved your experience and made you stay?
- How effectively were concerns addressed and changes implemented?
- How did your job align with initial expectations and position description?
- What recommendations do you have for improving our department/company?
- How does our culture, values, leadership and strategy compare to competitors?
- If you could change one thing about your job here, what would it be?
- What growth opportunities or training could have better prepared you for advancement?
- How do our compensation, benefits and work-life balance compare to similar roles?
Leave time for open dialogue instead of just surveying. Prepare follow-ups to probe for details and concrete examples.
Distribute a Written Exit Survey
Send a short exit survey 1-2 weeks before the interview to help departing employees organize thoughts. Keep it anonymous if more comfortable.
The written survey can cover basic info like:
- Reason for leaving
- Assessment of management, culture, coworkers, work environment
- Satisfaction with growth opportunities, compensation, tools
- Likelihood of recommending the company to others
Review responses to shape your interview discussion guide.
Schedule Interviews at the Right Time
Ideally conduct exit interviews on the employee’s last day or within 1-2 days of departure. Emotions will be rawest and recall strongest. Employees may be less candid after leaving.
If an employee is moving to a competitor, conduct the interview on their second-last day to avoid inadvertently sharing proprietary information.
Allow at least 30 minutes to have a meaningful conversation. Make time and location convenient for the departing employee.
Maintain an Open and Objective Listening Mindset
During the interview, focus intently on listening rather than defending. Avoid becoming defensive if the feedback is critical. Remain engaged, open-minded, empathetic and polite.
Ask follow-up questions to fully understand issues raised rather than rebut. Your aim is collecting complete information, not debating their perspectives.
Taking notes can be distracting. Record the meeting and review after if permitted. Only junior staff should take handwritten notes.
Get Consent to Share Relevant Feedback
Before concluding, ask the employee if you can share their constructive feedback with others in the company while keeping their identity confidential. Stress that it will be aggregation only without attribution.
Make it clear no comments will reach their former manager or team until after they depart to avoid retaliation. Secure their consent first to disseminate insights from the interview.
Debrief with Stakeholders and Create Action Plans
Soon after the interview, debrief appropriate stakeholders on themes and blind spots revealed. Brainstorm and implement solutions for improvement with managers, HR and senior leadership.
For recurring issues, track themes in an exit interview spreadsheet. Look at trends like certain teams with low retention or skills gaps. Turn insights into concrete actions like training programs. Follow up to ensure changes occur.
Maintain Relationships Post-Exit
Keep communicating with alumni employees through company networks, newsletters, social media and events. They can become powerful brand ambassadors.
Follow up in 3-6 months to check in and assess if they are willing to provide an outside perspective as a consultant if relevant. Exit interviews are just the start of an ongoing relationship.
Key Takeaways for Conducting Successful Exit Interviews
Here are some key tips to remember:
- Select unbiased interviewers who will elicit candid responses.
- Prepare strategic questions that go deep into issues.
- Distribute exit surveys in advance to inform the discussion.
- Schedule at the optimal time for honest, comprehensive feedback.
- Maintain an open and non-defensive listening mindset.
- Get consent to share anonymized feedback with decision makers.
- Turn insights into concrete action plans for improvement.
- Continue nurturing relationships with departed employees.
Well-executed exit interviews provide a wealth of insights to enhance your employee experience, culture and retention. Follow these best practices to maximize their value.
Decide what to ask
Prepare your interview questions. Although you don’t want to make the exit interview look scripted, make sure you cover important topics before your employee leaves. Don’t forget to promise confidentiality and try to keep a casual and friendly tone to let the conversation flow.
Here are some effective exit interview questions to consider:
- Please describe your general feelings about working here. If possible, please tell us what caused you to leave.
- What did you enjoy most about working here?
- If you could change three things, what would they be?
- How do you feel you were treated by your supervisor and your coworkers?
- How well do you believe your work was recognized and appreciated?
- Do you feel you were given adequate training and assistance?
- Are there things you wish you had known earlier?
- Do you think your work was aligned with your personal goals?
- What could be done to make this company a better place to work?
Decide what not to ask
Here are some tricky questions you should probably avoid.
5 Exit Interview Questions for the Most Insightful Answers
How do you conduct an exit interview?
Select an interviewer It’s common for a member of the human resources team to conduct the exit interview because they can provide an unbiased atmosphere for the employee to share their thoughts. They can also take unique action as a result of the feedback they receive during the exit interview.
When should you conduct an exit interview?
However, some organizations decide to conduct the exit interview after the employee has left the company, which leads to a more casual conversation that gives the employee a lot of space to answer your questions. 5. Listen closely
Should all employees participate in an exit interview?
Exit interviews should be the expectation for all employees leaving the company. However, employees may choose not to participate. At a minimum, try to speak with top performers and employees in high-demand roles who electively leave.
What is an exit interview?
An exit interview is a meeting between an employee who is leaving the company and (usually) a member of the human resources team.
