Done in the right way, exit interviews have the potential to provide illuminating and actionable insight that can help organisations better attract, engage and retain their people.
Interviewing or surveying leavers as an HR or management practice has been around for decades but it has tended to yield little by way of change. The reasons are:
- Exit interviews are often conducted while people are still working in the organisation which leads to some reticence to be completely honest about their experience
- Some organisations have managers conduct exit interviews and we know that manager behaviour or capability can often contribute to someone’s decision to leave and so it is unlikely the leaving colleague will share that candidly
- Exit surveys delivered via HR systems often fail to capture the nuance of human decision-making. They tend to ask for a singular reason for leaving and so they miss the richness of a leaver’s experience of working for the organisation
- Exit interviews in high attrition organisations are resource intensive and HR teams do not have the capacity to do them and analyse the results
- More often than not, meaningful action does not come out of exit interviews or, the data from exit interviews does not provide the depth of information needed to respond to the true experience of employees
So why do them? When someone leaves or joins an organisation, they’ve just made a big decision. They will have gone through a process of analysing the pros and cons of leaving or joining. They are, therefore, at their most reflective on their perception of the organisation. That provides incredible insight.
How can we capture the insight more effectively?
We need to ask the right questions…Asking the reason someone is leaving doesn’t cut it. We ask what the primary reason for leaving was but we’re also interested in all of the other things that may have influenced their decision. They are important too.
We need to ask questions in the right way….Using a blend of interviews and surveys gives deeper insight. Interviews conducted by independent and skilled interviews can help leavers feel more relaxed and be more open in their responses.
Take the opportunity to ask about their overall experience…Yes, we want to know the reasons for leaving but this is a great opportunity to ask a range of questions that offer feedback on all aspects of their time with the company. We find this can complement (and sometimes contradict) engagement survey data.
Do exit surveys/interviews at the right time…From experience, we have found interviewing people after they have left yields more honest and candid feedback.
Take action…Doing exit interviews well delivers insight that drives better decision-making and enables leaders, HR teams and organisations to be more focused and incisive in their retention strategies. Action becomes more meaningful and impactful.
Organisations have persevered with the practice of exit interviews and surveys because we all see the potential value in them, however, we need to ask the right questions, in the right way, at the right time. They are one part of an organisation’s listening strategy and one that can drive meaningful and impactful change.
