An exit interview is designed to give you a better understanding of your employee’s experience with your company and their reasons for quitting. It’s a chance for the employee to express their views and any concerns with honesty, which equals invaluable feedback for you.
You can use the information they share to help other employees be happier and perform better. It’s a conversation that no one looks forward to, but it’s a great chance to identify weaknesses in your current processes and fix them. So don’t waste the opportunity.
Unfortunately, the exit interview often only receives a cursory nod from HR. The employee is leaving, so while their opinion is valued, their happiness will place low on your agenda. However, it’s this attitude which makes employees feel like their voice doesn’t matter – and remember, this will be the lasting impression they leave your company with.
When done properly, the exit interview will boost your employment engagement, retention rates and overall brand reputation. That is, if you act on the feedback you’re given! The recruitment process can be time-consuming and expensive, so you can’t afford to wait until employees leave to find out their concerns. We’ve got all the advice you need to master the art of the valuable exit interview process.
Plan the Meeting
Rather than give your employee a survey, opt for a face-to-face meeting for their exit interview. It will result in a more productive and honest conversation. If you’d prefer to have written feedback, you can always ask them to fill out a form before or after the meeting.
When you have the employee’s official leaving date, schedule the interview during the last week of their employment. Give them ample warning of what the exit interview will consist of, so they know what to expect and can gather their thoughts.
Alternatively, while more unusual, you could hold the exit interview a few weeks after the employee has started their new job. They can be more candid as they won’t be depending on you for a referral. The extra breathing space will also give them more time to reflect, making the feedback even more valuable.
Create a Safe Environment
Even though the employee is leaving your company, they may fear retaliation in the form of a bad reference. Therefore, it’s not a good idea for the employee’s line manager or anyone else they’ve directly worked with to lead the exit interview.
It’s crucial that you create a safe and friendly environment for the interview to be conducted in. Otherwise, you risk the employee not voicing what they really want to say. A member of HR should ideally lead the interview and keep the meeting entirely private between themselves and the employee to avoid outside influence.
Whilst managers are used to expressing their opinion, this is a rarity for most employees. Give them a means of open communication and hopefully they will seize their chance to make a difference. It’s a simple exercise but can yield drastic results for your remaining staff.
Know What You Want to Ask
You want the conversation to flow naturally, but there are key questions you’ll need to ask when you’re conducting the exit interview. This is why it’s important to have a standard set of questions that you ask in order to compare answers and identify emerging trends. These could include:
- What are your three favourite aspects about the company?
- If you could change three things, what would they be?
- How was your experience of working with your line manager?
- What advice would you give to the next person in your job?
Alongside this, it’s beneficial to prepare some open-ended questions which invite the employee to give more complex answers. Leave plenty of time for them to explain their thought processes and reasoning. Their personal examples and struggles will be useful for contextualising the results of the exit interview.
Furthermore, there may be certain areas where you need more feedback on. Perhaps the leadership and management styles in the office are receiving criticism, or maybe your company culture is lacking? Make a note to run through these issues with your employee.
Process Their Feedback
Throughout the exit interview, you should be making notes of the feedback that you’re given. After all, this opportunity may not arise again soon! Consolidate this information and ensure you understand where the similarities and differences are for every employee. Even if you don’t spot a pattern in the feedback, every exit interview should help you find opportunities for improvement.
If you do spot a trend, however, then don’t just sit on this valuable information. It’s counter-productive and makes the whole process a waste of your time. Whether you use a spreadsheet to track changes or simply jot down a list, set aside the time to absorb what you’ve learnt and identify some changes you can make.
For example, if you start hearing consistently bad reports about one member of staff, you may need to share key points from the meeting with their manager. That is, if you want to avoid losing more employees.
Acting on information is the most important step you can take. Once you fix the gaps in your business, you’ll soon be reaping the rewards.
Why You Need Exit Interviews
As we’ve mentioned, exit interviews provide an unparalleled opportunity for you to obtain a unique insight into the lives of your employees. Even if they are leaving the company, it’s more than likely that remaining members of the team share the same problems and concerns as them.
Essentially, exit interviews drive much-needed improvements to companies and open up communication channels. Giving employees the chance to be heard is a great practice to get into anyway. One person’s opinion can make a drastic difference to the lives of many at your company.
So don’t just use exit interviews, maximize them and digest the information you obtain. Find out what you could have done differently, protect your company’s reputation and don’t burn any bridges. It’s a simple but effective way to make your business more productive and profitable!