Exit Interviews are a tool used to gather information about your organization through the lens of an employee as well as why that employee is leaving. It’s a valuable tool as the employee is inclined to be truthful, as they no longer have stakes in your organization. Some organizations use exit interviews during both resignations and terminations; for the sake of this blog, I will be focusing on resignations.
Exit interviews are typically conducted in one of two ways, the first being via a questionnaire/survey that the employee can fill out and return. The second is a sit-down face-to-face interview. I believe the value of a face-to-face conversation will always be more beneficial than a questionnaire when possible.
At our firm, we have a questionnaire that we are able to use in place of a face-to-face conversation if necessary; however, it also assists the in-person interview, as we provide it beforehand so that the employee can see what questions we are asking and have ample time to create their answers.
Information to be Collected
First and foremost, the biggest question during an exit interview is going to be why the employee resigned and what could have been done to prevent their exit. Resignations can be directly caused by your organization or an individual at your organization; other times, resignations occur for reasons unrelated to your organization. This information will allow you to adjust your organization’s retention strategy to ensure that current employees/talent continue to stay at your organization.
If your employee has resigned for reasons related to your organization, asking what could have been done to prevent the resignation or what the new employer offers that enticed them to leave are incredibly valuable questions, as they allow you to recognize and address problems within your organization, or inform you as to where your organization is situated in the labour market compared to competitors.
After establishing the reason for your employee’s resignation, there is still considerable information that you are able to collect from your former employee’s perspective. Other questions I recommend asking are:
- How they felt about the work environment/culture;
- Did they enjoy working under their immediate supervisor, why or why not;
- Did they feel valued at your organization, why or why not;
- How would you rate your compensation and benefits.
These are some good starter questions for you to create your exit interview questionnaire with, keeping in mind that you should ask questions tailored to your organization.
If your organization does not currently do exit interviews or questionnaires, take the time to create one for yourself, as the information you are missing can be crucial!
Dylan Coffey
Human Resources Manager