A 21st Century Approach to Exit Interviews

Exit interviews have been around for decades as a tool for companies to gather feedback and improve organizational performance. Though many employers view the exit interview as a necessary evil, the practice of talking with departing employees just before they leave can be valuable to your business in more ways than one.

The corporate landscape has changed significantly in recent years, and traditional exit interview strategies are often not as effective as they once were. However, the exit interview can still be a powerful driver for improvement with an approach that's adjusted to suit today's business environment.

Beyond criticism: The value of a great exit interview

No one likes to receive negative feedback. For many employers, the idea of sitting down with a soon-to-be-former employee and asking what they didn't like about their experiences working with the company is daunting. This can lead to a "get it over with" mentality, where the exit interview is rushed and the resulting feedback ignored--or it can even mean a failure to implement exit interviews in the first place.

But with the right approach, exit interviews can yield valuable information. They present a unique opportunity to gain candid feedback on your organization's culture, working environment, processes, management, and more. In general, departing employees are more forthcoming and constructive in their thoughts than continuing employees, who may fear losing their jobs if they express negative opinions.

Additionally, a strong exit interview enables the departing employee to transfer knowledge and experience, brief co-workers on current projects and issues, and pass on important contacts.

The best new ideas for improving exit interviews

Exit interviews are only as valuable as you make them. If you put some effort into developing better questions, leveraging modern technology tools, and applying the feedback you receive, your exit interviews can serve to strengthen your business, improve processes and procedures, and increase employee retention.

Ask the right questions

The prevailing type of exit interview focuses on finding out why an employee is leaving the company. Some interviewers simply ask for the reasons the employee is leaving, while others present multiple-choice questions with the most commonly expected causes of dissatisfaction. Whatever format is used, this standardized exit interview results in general, vague responses that are of little or no value to you.

To develop better questions, you need to dig deeper into the departing employee's employment history and create an exit interview that is more personalized and involved. Find out who managed the employee, and go over his or her record of achievements, performance reviews, and employee satisfaction surveys to gather relevant details. Then, develop exit interview questions that speak to the employee's actual experience.

Departing employees will be more direct and expansive with feedback if they feel you're familiar with their individual situations and roles in the company. Another way to gain an employee's trust and honesty is to ensure protection of their privacy. For this reason, many companies are outsourcing exit interviews to a neutral third party, rather than handling them internally.

Improve response rates by leveraging technology

One of the biggest issues with exit interviews is the response rate. Some companies don't interview every departing employee, because exit interviews put an additional time demand on the HR department. Others may use written surveys in an attempt to reduce this time demand, only to find that most departing employees won't bother filling them out.

Online exit surveys are a good solution for this problem. Your employees are already using technology in their daily lives, so providing a convenient and discreet online solution will result in a greater number of completed interviews--and will also save HR from having to make extra time for in-person interviews. With online exit surveys, both sides can also avoid the inherent awkwardness and discomfort of an exit interview.

When building an online survey, it's important to choose a hosting site that will offer flexibility, strong security and privacy measures, and a convenient way to collect feedback. Sites like SurveyMonkey.com and SurveyGizmo.com provide user-friendly interfaces and high levels of customization, so you can create the detailed surveys you need to gather valuable information.

Best practices for using exit interview feedback

Once you've gathered data from your exit interviews, don't let the information gather dust--electronic or otherwise--in the departing employees' files. Putting the feedback to good use will help you strengthen your business and retain employees longer.

When analyzing exit interviews, you'll begin to notice patterns in employee responses that can identify areas for improvement. You may find signs that point toward particular management staff members as problem centers, or discover that you're not offering the right benefits and incentives to encourage employee retention.

Well-executed exit interviews provide an ideal strategy for improving your corporate culture and raising employee satisfaction across the board. With the right effort, and strategic application of technology, your business can realize vast improvements.