Inspire Success

Exit interviews can provide you with some difficult feedback to read but can help you to improve areas of your business and are not an opportunity to be missed. A well constructed exit interview process can provide invaluable insight, improve employee retention levels and help to improve employee satisfaction levels.

What is involved in exit interviews, what are the benefits are and what is important in the process.

What are exit interviews and what are the benefits of conducting them:-

An exit interview is an interview that is conducted with an employee when he or she leaves the company. They are used to gather information from departing employees to help the company improve working conditions, retain existing employees and identify problem areas within the organisation. One of the great aspects of exit interviews is that the departing employee often feels less concerned about the consequences of what they discuss and usually are willing to provide open and honest feedback about their reasons for leaving and their thoughts about what the company could do to improve.

The information from each interview can provide you with feedback on why employees are leaving, what they liked about their employment and what areas of the company need improvement. They can also help the company to improve working conditions and retain existing employees. Exit interviews are most effective when the data is compiled and tracked over time. Exit interviews are an excellent source of information for organization improvement. They are commonly performed in person with the departing employee.  Usually it will be the manager, the HR representative or a third party who conducts the exit interview when in person. Other s use written or online questionnaires to conduct exit interviews.

How to conduct an effective exit interview process:-

1. Ensure the person asking the questions is 100% impartial about the departing employee and that the employee feels comfortable with the interviewer
2. Create an environment in which the exiting employee is comfortable providing honest feedback. Assure the exiting employee that the feedback he or she provides will be combined with other employee feedback and presented to management in an aggregated format. This helps the employee comfortably participate in the exit interview
3. Record the information in a centralized system and track it over time so it can be reported unifying results quarterly / bi-annually
4. Have a standard exit interview questionnaire form so the same information is collected from each person and this ensures comparability throughout the company and across time
5. Analyse the findings to identify consistent trends, patterns and themes and use the results to implement strategies to increase staff retention and increase employee satisfaction and commitment
6. Have a well timed interview process so that the interview is not overlooked when employees resign suddenly or have short notice periods
7. End the exit interview meeting on a positive note. Commit to using the information provided to improve your workplace. Wish your employee success in his or her new endeavor.