Exit interviews can provide valuable insights into company culture, practices and management.
Conduct exit interviews a few days before an employee’s last day because their views of their team, work and the company are still fresh in their minds. Employees also tend to be more eager to share their final opinions right before leaving.
It also gives you an opportunity to leave them with a positive image of the company (whether or not they are leaving on good or bad terms). It makes the employee feel valued and builds goodwill for your organisation.
In order for an exit interview to be fruitful, it’s important to select the right questions. Here are 9 key questions to ask in a (virtual) exit interview:
- Why did you initially choose to work for our organisation, benefits and advantages? Was this fulfilled when we had you onboard?
- In terms of employee engagement, performance, and loyalty, what would you alter about our company if you had the chance?
- What can we do to improve our organisation’s training and development, upskilling and coaching?
- Do you believe our current D&I policies are adequate? If not, have you ever been the victim of workplace discrimination or harassment?
- What were the three most difficult challenges you faced while working at our organisation?
- How helpful were your team and your manager for your job?
- Was there enough support when working remotely? Did you feel comfortable with this transition or is there anything you would do differently?
- What motivated you to start looking for a new job? And what made you make the move?
- What are the benefits of your new job that influenced your decision to leave?
An exit interview is more of a conversation than an interview, keep it relaxed and listen to what the employee has to say, make sure they feel understood. Always try to end it on a positive note.
Here’s to HR efforts on improving employee retention!
PS: having difficulties striking up a tough conversation, our newest app Time to Talk uses gamification to make it easier to broach a difficult subject
