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How to Conduct an Exit Interview
Nov 18, 2020 12:14:00 PM
Exit interviews are one of employer's best tools to obtain valuable, candid information regarding its business practices from employees. Outgoing employees are in a unique position to report elements of working relationships, productivity, managerial styles, and in some cases, wasteful or illegal practices in the company of which HR professionals may not be aware.
However, exit interviews are only as effective as the methods by which they are conducted. The following information can assist employers with selecting the proper person to conduct the exit interview, how that individual should prepare for the interview, what questions the interviewer should and should not ask, and perhaps most importantly, what action(s) to take, if any, based on the information acquired.Importantly, absent a collective bargaining agreement to the contrary, employers are not restricted in any way from requesting that outgoing employees participate in exit interviews. However, while some employees may voluntarily participate, others might be hesitant for myriad reasons. In that event, HR professionals should strive to convince outgoing employees to participate in the exit interview process. The information they may divulge could be that important.
Step 1: Request That the Outgoing Employee Participate in an Exit Interview
Exit interviews are primarily used as a tool to obtain information from employees who have voluntarily resigned from their position. In many cases, the employee will provide advance notice of his or her resignation, giving the employer time to request, schedule, and conduct the exit interview. However, employees may not always be willing to participate; ironically, the employees who refuse to participate may be the ones who have the most valuable information for employers.
The issue then becomes: how best to convince reluctant employees to participate in exit interviews?
First and foremost, HR professionals should be candid with employees about the exit interview process and its purpose. Explain to employees that they may have valuable information that the employer could use to improve its business practices, that no retribution will be taken against the employee for providing feedback. Additionally, explain that the interview will be quick, to-the-point, and painless. Emphasize to employees that if they feel uncomfortable about the interview, the interviewer will not interrogate them. Again, the point of the interview is not to pick at old wounds. It is to work with outgoing employees to improve business practices.
If the employee still refuses, offer to have him or her fill out an exit interview questionnaire instead of participating in an interview. A questionnaire is less confrontational and enables the employee to provide information without having to face an examination by the employer.
Finally, if the employee completely refuses to provide any information, verbal or written, an HR professional can take a wait-and-see approach. Perhaps the employee is angry and does not want to participate at the time. Thus, HR should let some time pass and then contact the employee after he or she has had an opportunity to calm down, and the situation has been defused.
Step 2: Select the Right Person to Conduct the Interview
Generally speaking, the interviewer should have two basic qualifications: (1) he or she should be trained and experienced in handling exit interviews; and (2) he or she should be far enough removed in the chain of command from the employee so as not to prevent the candid disclosure of information.
On the first point, HR should strive to educate individuals in related supervisory roles as to how best to approach exit interviews, what questions to ask, what questions not to ask, how to handle emotional outbursts or adversity during exit interviews, how to prepare for an exit interview and what type of action to take upon the receipt of significant information. A good method for training is for employees to sit in on exit interviews with experienced interviewers, simply as an observer. Familiarizing employees with the company's policy regarding exit interviews and discussing examples of notable previous interviews may also provide the employees being trained with valuable information.
On the second point, HR should strive to avoid creating conflicts between the interviewer and the outgoing employee. It goes without saying that if an employee plans to resign due to sexual harassment, he or she should not be interviewed by the supervisor against whom those allegations were made. Nevertheless, this example is crucial to understand because the entire purpose of conducting the exit interview could be undermined by choosing the wrong person. The goal is to have the outgoing employee open up about his or her experience with the company. A neutral interviewer who is far removed from the employee but who also understands the employee's job, responsibilities, and relationships in the workplace, is typically in the best position to encourage honesty.
Step 3: Prepare for the Exit Interview
Once the employer has selected the appropriate person to conduct the exit interview, that individual should begin his or her preparations. He or she should review the employer's written procedures and/or guidance for conducting the interview, plus any materials pertaining to the outgoing employee, including the employee's personnel file, job description, employment contract, restrictive covenants (e.g., non-compete agreement), benefits information, performance evaluations and complaints from or about the employee.
The goal of the preparatory work is to ensure the interviewer is as familiar with the employee's history as possible, based on the employer's records, prior to the interview. This way, the interviewer will be in a better position to anticipate certain questions and answers from the employee and direct any follow-up questions accordingly.
It is also good practice for the interviewer to create an outline of questions or important points that he or she wants to address during the interview. Oftentimes, exit interviews can be emotional and, thus, it is important for the interviewer to "stick to the script," so to speak. This is often the best way to deal with an overly emotional or confrontational exit interview. The interviewer should revert back to the script as often as possible when he or she feels the employee is getting agitated.
Step 4: Conduct the Exit Interview
Any exit interview should begin with a recitation of the values communicated to employees in the company's exit interview policy. The interviewer should reiterate the purpose for conducting the exit interview and how any information obtained from the employee will be used, and that no information obtained from the employee will be the impetus for retaliation.
The interview should then proceed with the most important question: ask the employee why he or she is leaving. The interviewer may already have a cursory understanding of why the employee is leaving - perhaps he or she got another job or is relocating. But there are often hidden motivations that employees may not divulge unless asked. For example, perhaps the employee began looking for another job because he or she was unhappy with his or her supervisor or because he or she was being harassed by another employee. So, the interviewer should feel free to probe a bit about the employee's motivation for leaving but should be respectful of the employee's privacy if he or she resists.
The interviewer should then attempt to get some information about the employee's next job. This is particularly important for employees who have active restrictive covenants such as a non-compete agreement.
This is a non-exhaustive list of questions that can be asked during an exit interview:
- Why are you leaving the company?
- Why now?
- Do you have a new job? If so, where?
- Is your new compensation lower than, equal to or higher than what you are earning now?
- What did you like best about your job with the company?
- What did you like least about your job with the company?
- Do you wish to discuss any complaints you have or had with any particular employees?
- Do you wish to discuss any employment practices that you believe are illegal, immoral or wasteful?
- What changes would you make to improve your department/unit/group if you were managing it?
- Could anything have been done to prevent you from leaving?
- Do you intend to take any company property with you?
- Do you intend to take any proprietary company information with you? This may include client lists, leads, contact information, etc.
- If an opportunity presented itself in the future, would you be interested in returning to work for the company?
- If yes, would you request reassignment to a different department/unit/group?
Step 5: Determine Whether to Act on the Information Obtained During the Interview
Finally, the interviewer must decide what action to take, if any, based on the information obtained during the interview. In most cases, if the interviewer obtains information suggesting problematic, wasteful or illegal business practices, it should be thoroughly documented and passed on to the HR department, which will determine whether to involve the company's legal counsel.
Importantly, certain types of information may obligate employers to act. If an employee reports sexual harassment, for example, the employer is obligated to investigate the harassment and take corrective action if warranted; otherwise, it could face civil liability from the employee who made the complaint, together with any subsequent employees who make similar complaints. Likewise, if the employee discloses illegal practices or even suspected illegal practices, the company could face civil action and its officers could face criminal action for failure to report and/or address the activities in question.
Finally, HR should also strongly consider tracking exit interview information from employee to employee. This may enable HR to identify patterns in employee complaints and take action accordingly.
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