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The Art of Exit Interview
Neetu Ahuja
In common parlance, Exit Interview is a conversation between a departing employee and a representative of the organization (preferably from either the functional head of the employee or someone from the HR department).
Employees who voluntarily leave the organization are sources of valuable information. They can give you an honest feedback about the organization, voice complaints, offer a constructive criticism or let the organization know why he / she is leaving. This is most beneficial for the employer as it is an eye-opener and a significant review to see how the company is doing. You may be surprised what you hear.
Here's what organizations must keep in mind while conducting an Exit Interviews -
Select the person carefully who will be doing the interview - Train people in the art of exit interviews so that they are neither over-sympathetic nor callous. The person should be well balanced, as the results of the interview will largely depend on the interviewer. If you don't have the expertise but you genuinely want to do an exit interview, hire somebody externally.
Ask the right question - While you have a lot of questions in mind, do not ask irrelevant questions regarding personal life. Offer to help them only if you can. Here are some of the questions you may want to ask -
- Why did you join this organization?
- What did you like and dislike most about this company?
- What prompted you to look for a new job?
- What is most appealing about the new position?
- How would you rate your supervisors and peers?
- What are your suggestions for improving the organization?
The answers to the above will help you redefine some of your policies like appraisal, salaries, benefits, motivational tools, recruitment practices and so on.
Do not ask employees to fill questionnaire-like forms - Make it very short and precise. Also conduct a face-to-face interview or at the most a telephonic interview. But under no circumstances ask the employee to fill the form and drop it in an anonymous box as it s highly impersonal and infuriating.
The interview should be about them - Most people like talking about themselves and their achievements and accomplishments. Let them do so as talking about how one does their job and what they've accomplished can provide key information to the organization and make the person feel good at the same time.
Time the interview - There are two sides to this. When a person gives a notice that he / she may be leaving do an exit interview immediately. You may be able to change their mind. But if the person has been asked to go or is leaving due to some internal politics, there are chances that the person may be very agitated. So conduct the interview at a later date; may be two-three months later. During this period the person may have cooled off and will be able to give a more rational feedback.
Don't blow up - There are times you may not like what you are hearing about yourself or the organization. But please control yourself as saying anything that you don't really mean or hurting the departing employee will make him only feel that leaving the organization was after all the right decision.
Use the information collected - Once the interview is over, do not merely file the form in the personal record of the employee. Collate past information and understand why employees are leaving the organization and help change the internal policies and practices.
Keep in mind that exit interviews should be used as to build a parting relationship and not an open forum for character assassination.
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