It can be hard to hear that an employee is leaving. Not only can it be disruptive to your business, but you might even take it personally!
There are many reasons why someone might hand in their notice and we advise that you always take the time to understand why. An exit interview gives you a structured way to do this. When done right, it might just be one of the most useful things you can do for your business.
Here are some of the reasons why it is so important.
1. Helps with employee retention
Your people are what makes your business grow, so it’s important that you listen to them and learn from them.
An effective exit interview allows a departing employee to give you honest feedback that can be incredibly useful. You should ask them questions touching on everything from company culture to more specific details around the work environment and management styles.
Understanding these issues will give you a chance to stop others from leaving too.
2. It can highlight management issues
Good management is essential for positive employee morale, but raising grievances about your manager is very difficult for employees and problems can go left unnoticed.
Sometimes employees don’t even feel strongly enough about an issue to say anything, but it can still negatively impact their day to day experience.
An open and honest exit interview is a chance to check how your managers are performing and address any issues that will improve conditions for remaining team members.
3. Check if your pay and benefits match the market
After conducting several interviews, you may find that lots of employees say they’re leaving to find a higher salary.
If this is the case, you’ll be able to make an assessment of the average salaries in your area and nationally, to decide if you need to make a change.
The same goes for additional benefits, such as healthcare, holiday allowance and enhanced maternity/paternity packages.
4. Find out the good things
An exit interview isn’t just about searching for problems!
People aren’t necessarily leaving because they don’t like your company; they might be relocating or want to change their career direction. Asking exit interview questions that capture positive experiences is really important – what did they enjoy most about working for your company?
It’s important to gain insight into the good things so you can make sure they continue AND use the information in your next job advertisement.
5. Helps to develop your employer brand
Your employer brand is your company’s reputation – it’s about how your business looks from your current and potential employees’ perspectives. In today’s competitive work environment, it’s vital to get this right!
Exit interviews help develop it in two main ways.
Firstly, they allow you to learn about any of the negative experiences your employees are having and find a solution to put them right. As you conduct more interviews, patterns may emerge to give you even more insight.
Secondly, carrying out an exit interview shows that you value and respect your employee’s opinions. They provide a platform for a professional conversation and constructive criticism. They can even help clear the air and let an aggrieved employee walk away with a positive impression. Then when they talk about your company to other people it’s more likely to be positive. They might even recommend you to others or consider joining again.
6. It can help with future recruitment
You want to fill the vacant role with someone who is going to stay for the long term and an exit interview can help you gauge what characteristics and skills you should be looking for in a potential candidate. Ask the exiting employee about what they think is important.
Likewise, you can ask them about what the best bits of the job are. This is crucial for getting your job descriptions right!
7. You’ll get an honest opinion!
An employee who is leaving has nothing to lose, so they’re likely to give you honest feedback. You stand to gain some really useful insights that can help you improve your company culture, employee engagement and retention figures.
To get the most out of an exit interview it’s important to be strategic. There are different approaches you can take, from a face-to-face interview or a questionnaire, or both.
Asking the right questions is crucial to getting the best outcome, as is what you do with the information afterwards. It‘s important to get the right person to conduct the interview too – a line manager probably isn’t going to inspire the same level of honesty as a member of HR!
Over time, you’ll start to identify trends and spot any areas where you can make big improvements to your business.
If you need help with your company’s employee handbook, we’d be happy to help you create something that’s If you’d like help developing an exit interview process that will give you useful insights, we can help!
