When employees leave, especially top employees, you want to know why; could the company have done something differently to make them stay? Hence the importance of the exit interview.
When you conduct the interview depends on what you want. Some studies indicate that waiting anywhere from a month to a year to administer it allows the employee to gain perspective and increases the chance of them answering the questions honestly and fully. On the other hand, conducting it as the person leaves may also give you helpful and immediate feedback. Either way, holding exit interviews allows you to see patterns that require changes – or what you’ve done well and could expand upon for future employees.
If you create a regular system for exit interviews, you’ll more readily see any bad patterns. Information from numerous exiting employees allows you to better assess where you need to improve. Conduct the interview in person whenever possible so the questioner can gauge the person’s reaction. Cover the basic questions such as:
- What did you like/not like?
- What could have been better?
- Primary reason for leaving?
- What could we have done to get you to stay?
- Did you receive sufficient training/feedback/support?
- What does this new position offer that we don’t?
Now you have to figure out what to do with the information. If top talent are leaving regularly, find out why and see what you can do to change that. Don’t just keep it tucked away in a file; you’ve been given feedback by the best possible source: Former employees who know the company and its inner workings. Companies pay for specialists to come and figure out what needs improvement and what works best; you can get a lot of that information from the exit interviews.
Every good company wants to expand on what they do well and improve on what they don’t. Well-conducted exit interviews give you the opportunity to do both. Reach out to the staffing experts at PrideStaff Thousand Oaks to learn more!
