Why you should hold exit interviews
Both employer and employee can benefit from the interview!
No one likes employees leaving, whether they be a longstanding member of staff or someone you feel may have just passed through, but by holding an exit interview the hope is that by discussing job-related issues and other matters with people who are leaving, you can gain the knowledge needed to help retain those who remain. It might be too late to prevent the exit interviewee from leaving, but the information they provide can potentially improve your employee retention strategy!
Provides Honest feedback
The most important reason to hold an exit interview is to get feedback. Employees who are leaving you will be more honest than current employees as they have nothing to lose. You should find out the positives as well as the negatives about your company, what can you offer? You should ask/get them to rate the opportunities you offer, responsibilities, your management team, training.
Highlights why they’re leaving
Sometimes it isn’t a negative reason why people want to leave; they could merely be fancying a change in career or working closer to home but know this will help you improve your company; What are other companies offering that you currently aren’t….is it flexible hours, bonus schemes? Maybe you’re missing something that you could offer your employees but you’ve never thought of it.
Allows you to discuss anything outstanding resulting in better planning
It’s important for employees to work as hard on their last day as they did on their first, so an exit interview also gives you chance to run through open projects, resulting in better planning and ultimately allowing a smooth handover on their final day.
You should give your employee time to prepare….if the exit interview is initially a paperwork process then send the document through in advance so they can think about the questions and answer in a more detailed manner.
You don’t want people leaving on bad terms if you can help it, so try and end on a positive note – thank them for their time and work they’ve done for you and wish them success in their future career.
