FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. How effective are exit interviews?
Exit interviews are the most effective tool in determining why an exit occurs in an organization, as well as how to decrease turnover and ultimately cut excessive costs. In fact, no other instrument is more effective at achieving this goal. Data collected becomes more effective the more honest it is, so see outsourcing exit interviews for tips on increasing candid responses.
2. Why should companies care about separations?
Companies should care to know why individuals leave because selection, recruitment, and training are time-consuming and costly. Specifically, replacing a single employee costs 20 to 200% of their annual salary. Once themes for resignation are established you can prioritize precisely where to best invest your time to reduce turnover, which illustrates just one of the benefits of exit interviews.
3. How do exit interviews affect retention?
Exit interviews are an integral component of a retention strategy. Exit interviews are a great preventative measure, allowing the organization that is losing employees/members/students to gain more information on why their members are leaving and make action plans to better retain the top talent that remains. Are employees leaving because they are unhappy with the working environment? Do students lack opportunities to develop and grow? Are people satisfied with the benefits of membership? A company can find the answers to these questions through exit interviews, and ultimately decrease turnover and save money.
4. When is the best time to conduct an exit interview?
For best results, the time to conduct exit interviews is two weeks prior or two weeks after the separation date. After as little as 30 days after the separation, perceptions of the experience change and less accurately represent the feelings and choices made in the moment to resign. Exit interviews conducted after 90 days are called post-exit interviews, and have different purposes and benefits.
5. How can exit interviews play a role in reducing cost?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the U.S. voluntary turnover rate is 23.4% annually. Extensive research supports that rehiring and replacing an employee costs 20 to 200% of that employee’s annual salary. So, if only 20% of a workforce is replaced per year, and the average pay is US $42,000 (US average), it would cost a 500-person firm between US $840,000 and US $8.4 million per year. Some of these costs come from candidate interviews, employment advertising, lost customers, new hire orientation and training, etc. You can find more information on cost of turnover here.
6. With whom should knowledge from exit interviews be shared?
Information about exit interviews should be shared with the human resource department and also with the organization’s leadership. If managed by a third party you should expect monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual reports that analyze the data collected from exit interviews. This report should show trends in both negative and positive feedback.
7. What employees should be included in the exit interview process? Should employees who have left voluntarily, involuntarily, part-time and transferred, be included in employee exit interviews?
It is critical to include individuals who have left voluntarily, involuntarily, worked part-time, and those who transferred in exit interview procedures. This allows the organization to gain diverse perspectives of experience and positions. Voluntary separations can inform the organization of why students/members/employees were unfulfilled in their positions and in the organization. Involuntary separations can inform the company about the reasons an employee does not succeed in his or her position. Was the employee unmotivated? Were they unhappy? Why was it a bad hire? Should recruiting procedures be modified? Part-time employees are critical to include because they have a different commitment to the organization. They may have different perspectives of the organization. Transfers should also be included in exit interviews because they are a specific group of individuals who show deep commitment to the organization. Though we want to include all types of individuals in exit interviews, it is most critical to conduct exit interviews for those who left voluntarily.
8. Are there legal issues to consider when conducting exit interviews?
In order to avoid legal issues it is critical to be clear about local government policies regarding anonymity and confidentiality. Some companies have individual conversations with managers or department heads. While very powerful, this does not allow the claim of confidentiality. This is another reason to use a service provider or exit interview vendors. It is also important for the third party exit interview provider to red flag and report to HR potential serious matters that need to be directly addressed.
9. What should the process be for conducting exit interviews?
Each interview is a combination of open-ended (depth) questions and structured questions (forced-choice response options). Some of the structured questions are required and the others are selected by the client from an exit interview checklist provided.
10. Who should conduct exit interviews?
The employee’s direct manager should not conduct the exit interview. Select an individual preferably someone from a third party or an exit interview vendor who can provide a non-biased perspective and who will not unnecessarily intimidate or influence the departing individual’s responses. Alternatively, consider offering an online exit interview.
11. What common mistakes are made when conducting exit interviews? What are areas to avoid while conducting exit interviews?
Common mistakes made during exit interviews that should be avoided include: asking loaded questions, showing emotion or opinion while asking questions or listening to answers, and emphasizing specific questions or certain answer choices. These concerns are negated by an online exit survey because there is no actual interviewer.
12. Should exit interviews be confidential?
Exit interview results should remain confidential to the greatest degree that is possible. In order to increase confidentiality, third parties can be used. The more confidential exit interviews are, the more honest and accurate information staff/student/member exits will provide. This reduces desirability bias, the tendency of respondents to reply in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. For certain situations such as claims of legal misconduct, disclosure is unavoidable. In addition, in order to increase confidentiality, all in-person interviews should be held in a private office or other setting where the individual’s responses cannot be overheard. All phone interviews should also be conducted when the respondent is in a confidential and private location.
13. How should organizations use the information gained from employee exit interviews?
The information gained from an exit interview can be used to track and analyze trends throughout the company, or identify trends in specific departments or units. Once trends are identified, companies can communicate the feedback to appropriate parties and work to address problems identified by separating employees.
14. Why would exiting employees participate in a staff exit survey?
Even though employees/members/students may not benefit directly from participating in an exit interview, most separating individuals will want to focus on constructive comments to help make the situation better. Ultimately, exiting individuals can find a sense of closure by voicing their opinions about their experiences. Employee specialists or HR experts can help your company make improvements based upon the data collected.