Employee turnover is an unavoidable part of every employee's lifecycle. However, it is essential to differentiate between regrettable and non-regrettable turnover. It is crucial to run exit interviews when a particular employee leaves your organization to get feedback and have an appreciation of the reasons behind their departure.
Why Exit Interviews
- They can help you identify trends in why some employees will leave your organization.
- They can provide information you can use to develop your retention strategies.
- They can give you a snapshot of your organizational culture's grey areas that must be addressed.
- May provide you with the information as to why you need to change your salaries.
- Would prompt you to advise the incoming employee of what needs to be done on the job
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Benefits of Exit Interviews to the Fired Employee
- It allows the outgoing employee to vent out their anger and frustration
- It helps to create a harmonious separation between the employee and the employer
What can you do if you want to get honest feedback from exit interviews?
Employers can use three essential tricks to get honest feedback from exit interviews. Watch this Employers Associations Coffee with Kenny Video.
- After an outgoing employee has completed the exit form make sure you share the completed form with your immediate superior to put it in the employee's file folder.
- If you want to get a rational and thoughtful discussion, call the employee for the exit interview a week after their departure
- If possible, use a third party to conduct the exit interview, and the departing employee will feel comfortable shedding more light on their departure with a third party than their immediate boss
Some Sample Interview Questions
1. What could be the major reason why you have decided to leave this organization
2. Can you share with me any other 3 reasons why you are leaving?
3. What did you like the most during your tenure at this organization?
4. What has been your most disappointing moment at this organization?
5. What has initially triggered your desire to start looking for a job, please share with me if it was a certain event or gradual change?
6. What advice would you want to give to management before your departure?
7. If your friend has been given a job offer here, what would be your recommendation to him?
8. If you were to change how the organization functions, what changes would you make and why?
9. If your reason for leaving is salary, how much do you think we should pay so as for us to be competitive in the market?
10. Did you raise any of your grievances with management before you decided to leave, and have you been assisted to your satisfaction?
11. In terms of our benefits package, what would you change and why if you were to revise them?
12. If our performance management review process is one of the reasons for your leaving, what could you have done differently to improve its functionality and objectivity?
13. If your manager is one of the contributing factors for your leaving, share with me what exactly should your former manager needs to change and why?
14. If your interaction with your team members has contributed to your departure, can you share what needs to be done to improve teamwork at this organization?
15. What is your take on employee engagement at this organization in general?
16. If the leadership style at this organization is one of the reasons for your departure, what leadership style would you recommend and why?
17. If the lack of a well-defined career progression path is one of your reasons for leaving, what career progression would you recommend and why?
18. If you were to be an ambassador for this organization out there, what gospel would you spread about this organization?
19. If the culture at this organization is one of the reasons for your departure
20. If the scope of your work is one of the reasons you decided to leave, what can we do to enlarge the scope of work for this job?
21. If the level of professionalism at this organization is one of the factors that has caused you to leave, what advice would you want to give us?
22. If micromanagement is one of the reasons why you are leaving, please share with us your experience?
23. Regarding our strategic plan, what can you say in terms of its execution and monitoring, any areas for improvement?
24. If limited decision-making is another reason behind your departure, what can we do so that other employees can have the latitude to make decisions?
25. If an unethical directive from anyone of your superiors is the reason for your departure, please share your experience.
26. If you are to give any retention strategy advice, what would you say?
27. What has been your most exciting moment at this organization?
28. What, if anything, have you benefited from this organization?
29. What is your most blemishing criticism of this organization?