Exit Interviews

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Exit Interviews (download transcript)

Brought to you by Assemble You.

It's time to work on YOU. So sit back and listen to practical, actionable advice to accelerate your progress.

We all want to feel appreciated and supported to reach our potential at work. A year after completing a graduate trainee program, Matthew, a Chartered Accountant, decided to leave his job. Matthew explains

When approached by a recruiter for a job with a competitor who promised him more interesting and complex opportunities, Matthew decided to go. An exit interview carried out by a member of the HR Team was a missed opportunity for his employer. Rather than having an open discussion about his reasons for leaving, Matthew was asked set questions and cited an increase in salary as the determining factor. But this wasn't the whole truth. Matthew says

When carried out effectively, exit interviews are one of the most effective tools for discovering why employees leave a company. Unfortunately, too few leaders pay attention to them. If Matthew had felt able to express the actual reasons behind his resignation, his employers could have taken steps to prevent additional members of staff who felt the same from leaving. Perhaps they could have even got him to change his mind and stay. Companies want to retain valued employees, particularly their top performers, so it is crucial to find out why they are leaving.

Opinions on the value of exit interviews are mixed – some regard them as a waste of time while others see them as a valuable staff retention tool.

According to research done by Everett Spain and Boris Groysbe for HBR:

Those companies who do are all the better for it.

Today, we’ll cover how can you make sure your company conducts effective exit interviews and makes the best use of the information collected. We’ll be focusing specifically on six goals outlined by HBR for exit interviews . So, let's begin.

The first goal is to uncover HR issues.

Too often, exit interviews focus too much on salary and benefits, assuming that an employee is leaving because they have been offered more money elsewhere. However, studies show that this is often not the case. Research by employee recognition company OC Tanner found that 79 percent of employees who quit their jobs claim a lack of appreciation was a major reason for leaving . Furthermore, a Glassdoor review in 2021 found 'toxic work culture to be the biggest factor that led people to quit (and ten times more important than pay in predicting turnover) .’ Make sure, therefore, that your interviews allow your departers to cover other HR-related issues.

The second goal is to understand employees' perception of the work itself.

Through your exit interviews, aim for departers’ honest thoughts on working conditions and office culture. The rapidly shifting landscape means that employees’ priorities are changing. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in people re-evaluating their lives, with working from home or hybrid working becoming important to many. You can use the information gleaned to make changes to improve motivation, efficiency, and the performance of remaining and future staff.

The third goal is to gain insight into managers' leadership styles and effectiveness.

Sensitive and meaningful conversations during exit interviews can lead to the identification of potentially ongoing problems. Where there is a problem - such as that experienced by Matthew - you may take steps to resolve it with training and development if necessary, thus likely improving job satisfaction and staff retention.

Fourth is learning about HR benchmarks (salary, benefits) at completing organizations. Though salary may not be the number one thing that drives valuable employees to leave, it is still important. During exit interviews, you can discover whether your terms and conditions are competitive and whether particular companies are poaching your staff.

The penultimate goal is to foster innovation by soliciting ideas for improving the organization.

Don't limit the exit interview to simply the departer’s immediate experience. Take the conversation into broader areas such as company strategy, and ask what they would do, given the opportunity and responsibility.

The final goal is to create lifelong advocates for the organization.

You want your departers to leave with high regard for your organization, a champion for your products and services. If you ensure that they leave the exit interview feeling their feedback was appreciated and used, they are more likely to become a lifelong advocate for your company.

Various methods are used for exit interviews, including face-to-face conversations, telephone conversations, questionnaires, and surveys. Often, it's a combination of these methods.

Most experts believe that the best way to create rapport is through a face-to-face interview. This method allows for a less structured discussion where the interviewer can dig deeper into issues raised and gain unexpected and helpful information. In their piece for HBR , Everett Spain and Boris Groysberg advise that:

The interviewer’s manner matters, too – they should be pleasant and friendly with excellent listening skills. Questions they ask should be open-ended, with the departer being encouraged to speak, while the interviewer simply prompts or steers the discussion towards an important subject.

While you can gain valuable insights from these unstructured discussions, the drawback is that it is harder to consolidate the information gathered and to spot trends. A combination of face-to-face and questionnaire or survey is therefore recommended.

Natalie Wickham of Quantum Workplace asserts that

Take care, however, that employees don't regard them as a meaningless exercise. Explain that the information requested helps make the company a more desirable place to work.

What is the advantage of carrying out more than one exit interview? Many experts promote scheduling several interactions—an face-to-face interview, a phone call, a questionnaire—pre- and post-departure.

Joel Lefkowitz and Myron Katz, in their study

Validity of Exit Interviews ,

found that 59% of former employees who answered a questionnaire - mailed several months after their exit - suppled different reasons for their departure from those they'd offered initially. Equally interestingly, every employee who had earlier failed to cite causes for leaving mentioned specific reasons on the questionnaire.

You must consider who is best to carry out interviews. Who will obtain the most helpful information while managing the process, and how will this be used? In Spain and Groysbe's HBR study , they found that:

● 70.9% of exit interviews were carried out by HR

● 19% by the employees' direct supervisors

● 8.9% were delegated to the direct supervisor's manager

● and 1% used external consultants

One senior executive  reported:

Practice and opinions vary around which employees are given exit interviews. While some, for reasons of cost, only interview their most valued employees, others interview all their departees – thus signaling that the opinion of staff at all levels is valued by the company.

The world of work is changing, and employees have different expectations of what they want from their job. The retention of high potential employees is vital to the success of your organization, so finding out why they are leaving is key. As we’ve discussed, when done well, exit interviews will provide you with the information that you need to make necessary and positive changes. Who knows, with a more effective exit interview, Matthew could now be enjoying a successful career with his former employer.

When managing an exit in the future, take care to consider the goals we covered today. And this week, have a think about times where an exit interview might have revealed something that otherwise took much longer to come out. If you're already in the process of managing an exit, seriously consider offering an exit interview to the person departing.

That’s all for today. Thanks for listening.

• The lesson shared a missed opportunity where an individual felt unable to express concerns about management dynamics for fear of future repercussions. How do organisations create a safe and open environment during exit interviews? How can individuals conducting the exit interviews encourage employees to share constructive feedback?
• Exit interviews are valuable tools for organisations to gather insights into employee perceptions and address underlying issues that may contribute to high staff turnover. What should organisations do with the information they receive from exit interviews? How can they ensure positive changes are implemented as a result of the feedback?

Exit Interviews

Too often, exit interviews focus too much on salary and benefits. However, research by OC Tanner found that 79% of employees who quit jobs blamed a lack of appreciation.

A Glassdoor review in 2021 found 'toxic work culture to be the biggest factor that led people to quit (and ten times more important than pay in predicting turnover)

The rapidly shifting landscape means that employees’ priorities are changing. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in people re-evaluating their lives, with working from home or hybrid working becoming important to many.

Telephone interviews and web surveys are typically best used as complements to face-to-face interviews, and at least one in-person interview is essential to promote long-term ambassadorship.

59% of former employees who answered a questionnaire - mailed several months after their exit - suppled different reasons for their departure to those they'd initially offered.

(download infographic)