{"id":52517,"date":"2022-12-05T22:14:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T22:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businessyield.com\/?p=52517"},"modified":"2022-12-06T09:14:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T09:14:43","slug":"exit-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businessyield.com\/careers\/exit-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"EXIT INTERVIEW: Tips for Conducting an Exit Interview (+Example questions)","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n
When an employee decides to leave your company, it’s important to give them an exit interview. If you can figure out why they’re leaving, you’ll be in a much better position to convince others to stay. You can use an exit interview template to ensure that your exit interview process is consistent and that employees provide valuable information as they leave the company. Although, an exit interview won’t be necessary if you don’t have a proper team in place. One disadvantage of an exit interview is that you risk tarnishing your professional reputation as you leave, as others will undoubtedly learn of your criticisms of your employees and the company. So, in this article, we’ll go over how you can conduct a good exit interview as an employer, as well as some excellent exit interview questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An exit interview is conducted before an employee leaves a company to gain a sense of and understanding of what an organization can improve on in order to retain its top talent. It’s an important part of the overall exit interview process and is usually hosted in some capacity by HR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During an exit interview, HR can ask the employee questions like, “Why are they leaving?” What did they think of the company, and did they have any ideas for how to make things better? Ideally, the discussion is based on a structured questionnaire, which we will go over later in this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Detailed exit interviews can yield insightful input on all three fronts. They can boost employee engagement and retention by disclosing organizational successes and failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exit interviews serve three main purposes: to help the company improve, to ensure employees depart satisfied, and, in some cases, to persuade people to stay under new conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are some of the most important guidelines to follow and sample questions to ask in an exit interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You should conduct an exit interview with everyone who leaves your company. Some practitioners will tell you that you should only conduct them with your star performers (the ones you really want to keep) and not worry about ‘trouble-makers.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indicating that only certain departments should conduct an exit interview sends the wrong message about the value of the practice as a whole. It communicates to the rest of the company that only some people’s opinions are worth considering. The purpose of exit interviews is to give you a clear picture of everything going on at your company, not just a few people’s opinions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you ignore the viewpoints of those who cause problems, you will have a huge gap in your understanding of how to fix the system. You won’t learn why this employee became a “troublemaker” in the first place; perhaps there’s a problem with the way the position is handled that makes it difficult for people to succeed. You’ll never know unless you ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An exit interview is best conducted on the leaver’s last day or in the days directly following their departure. They won’t be as free with their thoughts before this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having some “mental distance” from the role, even if it’s just a few days, can be very helpful. It provides the leaver with a viewpoint from which they can evaluate their experiences more critically rather than emotionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, if you leave it for more than a week, they will begin to feel disengaged from the business, especially if they have already begun in a new role. You may notice that their feedback becomes more general or less direct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Always share the topics you want to cover ahead of time. Make a list of the questions you want to ask or topics you want to discuss, then send it to the leaver in advance via email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This not only helps to put them at ease but also increases the likelihood that they will respond with thoughtful, well-developed responses. It gives them a few days to reflect on their experiences and provide thoughtful feedback, rather than having to do so on the spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exit interviews should be as casual as possible. You can make every effort to hold them somewhere other than the office, such as a nearby cafe. This helps to reinforce the idea that this is a friendly, two-way conversation between ex-colleagues rather than a disciplinary procedure. If you conduct the exit interview at work, it will inevitably feel like they are at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One interviewer is always sufficient. You don’t want them to feel like the company is ganging up on them, so let the leaver choose who conducts the interview as much as possible. If the two get along well, you’ll get much more honest (and thus more valuable) feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s best if the person conducting the exit interview isn’t the person who will be directly supervising the departing employee. There are several reasons for this. For starters, it encourages the leaver to be more candid in their feedback. This is your chance to find out if that is true for your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, it automatically moves that feedback up one level in the business hierarchy, making it more likely that they will do something about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the interviewer, don’t feel obligated to respond to feedback; that is not the purpose of this process. You’re not there to defend the company or justify your own decisions, but to learn everything you can about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This could be a very difficult experience, especially if you are the founder. However, take heart in the fact that even the most damning feedback can be used to improve your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exit interviews can be extremely difficult, especially if you own the company. It’s a conversation in which someone has complete freedom to criticize you and your company. It can feel like you’re being kicked while on the ground. But the trick is to swallow your pride and let them speak for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the interviewer, you may be tempted to steer the conversation toward topics that you are eager to discuss. This is especially true for founders, who frequently care deeply about the company they have built and have strong opinions about how it should be run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, seizing control of this conversation is a mistake. Guide it to the topics you believe are relevant, but the goal is to hear what the leaver has to say, so let them take the interview where they want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n