What is a best practice for exit interviews?

By getting an understanding of what your employee’s vision is going forward, you gain valuable information about how your business is preparing its workers and developing its skills. While sometimes breaks are simply the result of a work relationship not working out, many times it’s simply because the employee has grown and is looking for a new and different opportunity. It’s no indictment of your workplace. In fact, it can give you strong evidence that your workplace provides a valuable stepping stone for its employees’ personal development, which is worth advertising to new, potential applicants.

Include a summary of the employee’s successes to end on a positive note. Just because an employee is leaving your company doesn’t mean you won’t work again with them in the future. And, at the very least, the former employee will go on and continue to be an ambassador for the experience of working at your company. For that reason, it’s important to include positives in the exit interview, as it’s a great way to end a business relationship amicably.

If you are using exit interviews to gather data on why people leave your organisation, it's good practice to have a structured set of questions to ask to make it easier to compare answers across interviews and build a bigger picture of the issues contributing towards employees leaving. For larger companies, this could involve gathering all recorded answers and creating a word cloud to see what words and themes are cropping up most commonly.

At some point your team member was happy enough to stay and be engaged at work. During an exit interview, always ask them what changed in their circumstances at work. Maybe it was pay, but more likely their boss changed, their responsibilities changed, or something in their circumstances at work changed. Though people can't always expect to be constantly comfortable in their work, knowing what changed enough to leave is an important part of an exit interview.

It is important to conduct exit interviews consistently over your organization. Many focus on the negatives here, however, I will suggest asking some focused questions on what the employee will miss about this role and their colleagues? Also helpful, what was their accomplishment they were proudest of in their role. Leave the door open for a return to your organization if this is appropriate. Bringing great talent back cannot be overlooked in this economy. Proactive Stay Interviews might eliminate some of the Exit Interviews.

Follow up with the employee 90 days after they leave. You will receive much more candid feedback on why they left the company and how to retain others. They can also share if their new job is actually what they thought it was going to be -- oftentimes it is not. After 90 days, you may have an opportunity to re-recruit the former employee back to the organization if they were a good performer.

As CEO, I do not attend exit interviews. I also encourage the employee's manager/supervisor not to attend either. The reason for this is that the information we are trying to obtain during the exit interview is valuable feedback that can inform us on how to continue making efforts to be a better company, and if I or their supervisor is in the room, they may not be as forthcoming with criticisms. I emphasize having someone in HR manage that aspect of it, and tag me in as needed. This way the employee has a neutral and objective ear they can express themselves more freely to. It relaxes the employee which in turn allows them to be more honest and forthcoming with their criticisms or praise of the company. So again, I encourage leadership and managers not to attend the exit interview, only in an effort not to create any anxiety within the outgoing employee. The main priority is to obtain honest feedback on how we might improve the experience for our current employees. Many thanks!

It's important for your exit interviews to have a purpose. If there isn't a clear purpose for these interviews, the interviewer won't be asking meaningful questions. This can compromise the quality of the data and information that is recollected during the interview. If you're struggling to find a purpose for your interviews, remember the essential information is finding out why the employee is leaving and what the company can do to prevent employees from leaving. Once you have those two answers, you can find other things you need to know to collect that information into a database.

Have an open mind when performing exit interviews with employees. It's difficult to hear why team members want to leave and it's never easy. But use this as an opportunity to change the company and prevent others from leaving for the same reason. Don't interrupt and have them explain what can be performed better. To reduce employee turnover and keep top talent, this is a necessary step.

The best practice for an exit interview is to not make the environment uncomfortable. You know that the employee is going to leave the organization and is not going to work with you. But, don’t let this ruin the process and surroundings. Don’t give negative vibes to the employees. It will make the exit interview rigged. Maintain positivity and give the employee assurance that the views and inputs they share would be kept confidential and a secret. Holding grudges, showing biasness, and expressing disdain have no place in the process.

Engagement and asking relevant questions about the employee's experience does display honesty to improve the experience within the company. Losing an employee is difficult but gaining insight into why you lost them can improve future placements. Lastly, a great exit interview takes an open mind to understand that it's possible feedback can be positive to retain and build a positive experience within your company.

An exit interview isn’t a place for ‘payback’. Many people leave bad jobs behind for greener pastures. If you’re leaving a job on less than amicable terms, you might think of an exit interview as a chance to air your grievances. Just keep in mind that making an unnecessary fuss might feel good at the time but doesn’t do you any favors down the line. If you have specific reasons for leaving your job, always explain them in a calm professional manner. Though you may not work for this business anymore, it doesn’t mean they’ll have no effect on your future prospects. If a job you’re applying for contacts your previous employer, at the very least you want them to have a few nice things to say about you. No matter how you feel about the job you’re leaving remember that all of your actions, can have been impact on your professional career. [please edit as needed]

An exit interview is a good opportunity to gather insight that can help you improve your business. There’s few people more qualified to evaluate your business practices then the employees who’ve worked there. Sitting in front of employees who are on their way out gives you the chance to ask about what their experience was like with your company. Whether positive, negative, or indifferent, use their comments to refine your business and provide a better workplace environment for future and current employees.

When conducting an exit interview, it's essential to consider why the employee is leaving. If the employee is leaving because of a conflict with a manager or co-worker, it's best to ask for specific examples so that you can try to resolve the conflict. If the employee is leaving for another job offer, you can ask what impressed them about your company and whether there was anything that dissuaded them from accepting the offer. You can also ask what they liked least about their time at your company and what they think could be improved. By asking these questions, you can get feedback from employees that will help you improve your company and make it more attractive to future employees.