When an employee decides to leave their workplace, most times there is a handshake, ‘thanks for your efforts and best of luck’. Perhaps (pre Covid) a farewell lunch or company assembly. One of the more important aspects for both the employer and employee, and one that if it is done, is usually poorly done, is to undertake an exit interview.
Congratulations on your new job! Wait, let’s look back?
Like being onboarded and going through an interview process before we start, the exit interview is an important piece of learning for both parties. It will allow the company to focus on areas that staff see as needing to be improved upon or highlighting those which they do well. For an employee, it is the chance to speak about frustrations and successes and how they align with the purpose of the business. Yet many people chose not to attend one or businesses might not see the benefit.
When leaving, employees are generally more forthcoming and candid about their own role, company culture and reasons for leaving as there is no repercussions – they have already given notice anyway. Anecdotally, former employees have expressed a catharsis upon airing their frustrations, but it is important to be constructive not destructive.
The importance of the job description
The most successful exit interviews should give both sides the time and space to answer questions but they should be targeted specifically to the employees role. A generic format will just scratch the surface. If the role they had didn’t fit their skills or changed over time, a review of Position Descriptions and Annual Review’s might lead to better engagement for staff.
“The answer might simply be to improve your job descriptions, so that applicants understand the job they’re going for”
The former employee will highlight what their new role has that has resonated more with them - be it a contemporary workforce, culture and values, a skills alignment or financial package. This critical information should help the organisation review their own policies, talent attraction techniques and perhaps even look at changes to how they put together a financial package.
I’m leaving you might say, so what benefit could it provide to express feeling about leaving? Well if the company truly valued you as a staff member, they should take on-board your critical feedback to allow them to change or improve certain aspects of the business. As the interview is documented by Human Resources, they should regularly review the findings particularly if there is a turnover of staff.
“Replacing a lost employee costs average of 21% of his or her salary”
The cost of recruiting to a business is substantial so by looking at trends of why staff are moving on, it can reduce the time and spend on talent acquisition. If the business is doing numerous exit interviews, it is costing a lot of money. With the continued disruption to businesses due to Covid-19, finding ways to reduce costs is paramount. By approaching the exit interview as a fact finding exercise an organisation can save on recruitment costs with information their own staff have provided.
The need for follow up
It is common practice that an exit interview is conducted on one of the last days of employment. This is particularly the case if organisations have a no-counter offer policy. However, this is a common mistake as it allows the departing employee the opportunity to decline citing commitments with handovers or farewells. As the interview is essential to providing a feedback loop, it should be booked early and not too far into the notice period.
Once completed, the notes should be filled away for review and trends discussed. However that should not be the end of the formal exit review.
“Over 90% of Fortune 500 companies conduct exit interviews, yet just over 40% of them view the practice itself as successful”
A common failing of an exit interview is the lack of follow up with the departed employee. Whilst they will have moved on to greener pastures, a quick call to go over some of the outcomes and changes that may have been implemented gives both sides a good sense of closure, provided of course there was something to be adjusted.
An Exit Interview is a chance for closure on both sides. As mentioned in previous blogs, a workplace is long term commitment similar to a marriage and by conducting properly structured exit interviews seeking insights, both parties can walk away with meaning.
We will be running a poll on exit interviews and sharing their results in another posting.
Further Reading:
Why are exit interviews important and necessary?
Are exit interviews worth the effort? People HR