Gartner predicts that U.S. employee annual voluntary turnover is likely to jump nearly 20% in 2023, from a pre-pandemic annual average of 31.9 million employees quitting their jobs to 37.4 million quitting in 2022. That’s a huge loss for any organization, especially if you consider that losing an employee can cost anywhere from 25 percent to 200 percent of their salary, according to Leigh Branham‘s book Keeping the People Who Keep You in Business. Don’t let this happen to you!
When someone quits their job, it’s a chance for your company to learn something new and then make potential changes to improve the environment. An exit interview is a great way to get feedback and find out why employees are leaving. By doing exit interviews, companies can spot trending problems and issues that might be making employees unsatisfied and use this feedback to improve. In this blog post, we’ll share some tips on how to handle exit interviews that initiate better engagement and create actionable insights from someone choosing to leave.
Plan Ahead
The HR team should establish a clear, consistent process for exit interviews and share it with the employee. They should also get feedback from the supervisor and the team members who know the employee’s work best. However, your company should appoint someone other than the employee’s supervisor to conduct the exit interview. An HR representative is always a good choice. If HR is not available, then have a manager at least two levels up handle the interview. You need honest feedback to improve.
Tell the employee how the process works and what they can expect from the interview. Make sure to let them know that you value their feedback and that you will keep it confidential.
Conduct the Interview in a Neutral Location
To ensure that the employee feels comfortable and is able to speak freely, it is important to conduct the interview in a neutral location. This could be a conference room or a private office that is not associated with the employee’s department or supervisor.
By conducting the interview in a neutral location, the employee is more likely to feel at ease and be willing to share their honest feedback. This can help ensure that the information gathered during the interview is accurate and useful for the company.
Use Open-Ended Questions
During the exit interview, it is important to use open-ended questions to encourage the employee to share their thoughts and experiences. Open-ended questions allow the employee to provide detailed responses and can help uncover issues that may not have been identified otherwise.
Examples of open-ended questions include:
- What led you to start looking for a new job?
- What did you like most about your job?
- Can you describe your experience working with your supervisor? Your team?
- What do you think the company could have done differently to improve your experience?
- Did you have what was needed (i.e., equipment, training, support) to work effectively?
- Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience working here?
By using open-ended questions, the interviewer can gain a deeper understanding of the employee’s perspective and identify areas for improvement.
Listen Carefully
During the exit interview, it is important to listen carefully to the employee’s responses. This includes paying attention to their tone of voice, body language, and the words they use.
Active listening is a key skill for conducting effective exit interviews. This involves fully engaging with the employee and demonstrating that you are interested in their feedback, as well as asking follow-up questions. By listening carefully to the employee’s feedback, the interviewer can gain valuable insights into their experiences and identify areas for improvement.
Maintain Confidentiality
It is important to maintain confidentiality during the exit interview to ensure that the employee feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences. This means that the information gathered during the interview should not be shared with anyone who does not need to know.
The employee should be assured that their feedback will be kept confidential and that it will not impact their employment references or future job prospects. This can help ensure that the employee feels comfortable sharing their honest feedback and that the information gathered during the interview is accurate.
Follow Up
After the exit interview, it is important to follow up with the employee to thank them for their time, feedback and to provide any additional information they may need. This can help ensure that the employee feels appreciated and that their input is valued.
The HR team should also review the feedback gathered during the exit interview and identify common themes and issues. This information can be used to develop action plans to address uncovered issues and improve employee retention.
Conclusion
Exit interviews are a great way to find out why your employees are leaving and what you can do better to retain them. However, don’t just file away the feedback and forget about it. By using the above steps, companies can conduct effective exit interviews and use the feedback gathered to make improvements. Also, HR should monitor sites like Glassdoor and Indeed to see what other past employees might be reporting. By doing this, you can create a positive and productive environment for current and future employees. This could help build a reputation as ‘An Employer of Choice’ which leads to higher employee satisfaction, loyalty, engagement and retention! An overall win!
Guest Author: Theresa Cromie
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