How to Conduct an Effective Exit Interview?
Exit interviews are actually one of the last conversations employees have with the company. Try to make the best out of it
Exit interviews are actually one of the last conversations employees have with the company or HR professionals. Exit interviews are a way to make sure that the company ends the professional relationship with its employees on a good and lighter note. Listen to your employees carefully and fix the issues with your existing employees to have a happy workplace environment.
8 essential questions you must ask during an Exit Interview
It all comes to the questions you ask if you want honest feedback and valuable information from your exit interview.
1)Why did you start looking for another job?
Most of the employees will have a unique answer to this question. That’s because everyone starts looking to switch their jobs for different reasons. All you have to do is detect any common reason if there are any, and work on those insights
2)What’s the position of your new job that influenced you to leave?
This will help you to understand where your company is lacking. Is it because of lack of flexibility, lack of opportunities given to them, is it pay or benefits? This information can be used to pick up the slack where your company has fallen short.
3)What could we have done better for you?
The employees are mostly honest in their exit interviews. Make sure you utilize this to the fullest. This question will help to get the perfect advice from your employees. They may advise you with something which could reveal finer points for your work culture
4)Did you feel equipped with the job here?
With this question, you could get actionable information that you can immediately put into force. Also, this insight can help you to train your new hires and at the same time retain your employees.
5)Would you ever consider returning to this company?
Be ready for the follow-up question. If you get a yes, well good for you, that employee won’t give a bad review of your company. But if you get a no or maybe, your follow up question should be “ What circumstances can change your mind?”. Take those answers as a way to improve retention and keep your positions filled.
Questions you must NOT ask during an Exit Interview
Avoid asking questions about specific people, gossips, rumors, or any other personal questions.
1)Are you leaving the job because of your manager?
Do not ask them direct questions and don’t name anyone in particular. This makes the company look bad. Even if that manager is not the reason the employee might get doubts about that particular manager. So be careful and try to maintain the decorum of your office.
2)Is there anyone from the team who influenced you to make this decision?
Don’t try to weigh in any gossip or rumors during the interview. So be careful as it might affect the relationship of the existing employees.
3)Are you leaving the job because of your marriage? (or any other personal reason)
Avoid invading into someone’s private life. A question like this can irritate your employee and he might not answer further questions properly. You should get a true sense of exactly why your employees are leaving. In order to get great insight, it's better if you avoid asking these questions.
Best Practices of Exit Interview you need to keep in mind
Who should conduct the exit interview?
Mostly it’s the Hr professional conducting the exit interviews to maintain neutrality and privacy. This approach can lead to meaningful feedback which can help HR to implement appropriate strategies and policies for its employees and company.
When the exit interview should be conducted?
This is usually conducted a day before the official last day of work. That allows the HR to make interview notes, farewell, and follow up with the required documents and information can be done on the last day.
What to do with the information gathered from the exit interview?
After conducting the exit interview a few times, there are chances that there might be a recurring pattern of why employees are leaving the company. For example, if there are many employees leaving the same department it's an opportunity to find the root cause and stop that leak.
Benefits of conducting Exit Interviews
Increase retention
Once you identify and correct any negative trends you find, you should be able to increase employee engagement and satisfaction. Happier employees will lead to less turnover, saving valuable time and money for your company.
Uncovers real work environment
Unintentionally, management might not be creating the environment you want for your employees to work in. Asking more questions on the company’s work culture and employee satisfaction can give you a true sense of how employees feel about the work environment and help in improving the employee experience.
More accurate point of view
Many companies conduct surveys throughout the year on company morale and engagement. This is a great tool; however, the data could be inaccurate. Some employees may fear to be completely honest due to the possibility of backlash. Exit interviews allow departing employees an opportunity to share their honest opinion and thoughts without fear of retaliation.
Exit interviews are vital for an accurate assessment of employee views. Really effective exit interviews can give you insights and how you can increase good experiences; avoid and improve the bad experiences. It can be an effective way to understand employee experience and improve it.
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