While employee turnover is a natural part of running a business, high resignation rates can be harmful to your bottom line. Not only can losing employees cost you 1.5 to 2.0 times an employee’s annual salary, but these losses also cause disruptions in daily operations and deplete employee morale, which can lead to poor performance.
On the other hand, conducting job exit interviews can boost employee retention by using the insights gathered to improve the employment experience. These interviews provide valuable insights that can be leveraged to create a more positive and productive workplace environment, leading to fewer employee losses and improved engagement as well.
However, not all exit interviews are created equal. If you want to get more value out of your exit interviews and have greater success, consider the following best practices.
1. Conduct the Interview In-Person when Possible
If you are doing job exit interviews internally, conducting them in person gives the opportunity to have a personal, in-depth conversation and the ability to read body language. However, this might feel more uncomfortable for the departing employee, especially if they have contentious feedback to share, and they fear retaliation for doing so.
When you interview in person, it allows you to build better rapport and trust with the departing employee, which may elicit more honest and constructive feedback. That said, in-person interviews can also go sideways as a result of overwhelming emotions, stress, and even bias from the interviewer.
This is why it’s important to prepare yourself and the employee ahead of time and use a neutral party, if possible, which we will get into more below.
2. Use Empathy and Active Listening
The key to building trust during exit interviews so the employee feels comfortable sharing freely, is using empathy and active listening. If they feel you are going to judge everything they say and if you talk over them too much, it’s not going to lead to constructive feedback. Additionally, if they feel you are going to try to change their mind about their feedback, it may cause the employee to withhold important details.
Create an environment where they feel safe having an open and honest discussion about the issues that led to their decision to leave. This not only means showing empathy for their experience and actively listening to what they have to say, while resisting the urge to be defensive, but also ensuring them of the confidentiality of the interview.
Let them know that you appreciate and value their honest feedback because you genuinely want to make positive changes that will improve company culture going forward.
3. Ask the Right Questions
Another important factor in getting the most value out of job exit interviews is asking the right questions. It’s critical to ask appropriate questions that draw out the most valuable feedback.
Create your job exit interview using a blend of open-ended and closed-ended questions. Include rating scale questions to gather quantitative data about the employment experience over time. Avoid asking questions about things that the organization isn’t willing to change. For example, avoid asking “Did you like your salary?” if the organization isn’t prepared to give raises as a means to increase retention. Instead, ask “How much of a factor was salary in your decision to leave?” or “Is your salary at your new job higher, the same, or lower than here?” These questions provide more valuable insights.
While it’s important to be prepared to ask deeper questions that are personalized to the employee’s individual experience, it’s also a good idea to have a list of standard questions prepared ahead of time. You don’t want to wing the entire interview, as this could result in time wasted if you don’t end up asking questions that drive helpful feedback.
4. Use a Standardized Format
Having a list of questions prepared ahead of time ensures more consistent data. Again, asking follow-up questions that dig deeper is also important, but having a set of questions laid out for the interviewer ahead of time can keep the interview moving and ensure the time is well spent. It also allows for identification of trends over time when consistent questions are asked.
At the start of the exit interview, explain the format to the employee. Let them know to take their time in answering and to think about their responses to ensure they provide in-depth information. It can also help them feel more comfortable going into the interview, which can also lead to them opening up and being more honest.
5. Prioritize Neutrality
If possible, the person who hired or supervised the employee should not be the one to conduct their exit interview. This is important because it ensures neutrality and helps avoid any bias.
For example, if the manager that hired and worked with the employee is the one to conduct their job exit interview, they are less likely to open up and be honest about their negative experiences. The interviewer in this case might also have some bias when asking questions and responding to feedback.
The best way to ensure open dialogue and valuable responses is to have someone conduct the interview who doesn’t have much of a connection with the employee, such as someone from HR or even a neutral third-party firm that provides exit interview services.
Outsourcing exit interviews can also help streamline the process and make things less haphazard. Scheduling time to conduct interviews can be difficult when you are trying to fit them into the interviewer’s and the departing employee’s schedule. However, a third-party agency will have more flexibility and a standardized format for the interview that is proven to succeed.
Solve Workplace Issues Before They Lead to Staffing Losses
While exit interviews are a valuable tool in improving retention rates, it’s worth noting that you don’t have to wait until the employee is set to leave to check in and resolve existing issues.
We find that companies experiencing high turnover rates typically have an issue that is present in their recruiting, hiring, onboarding, or training process. As such, conducting retention or stay interviews while employees are still on the payroll can help identify and address any potential issues before they lead to the employee quitting.
For example, you can ask questions such as “What were you told during the recruiting or onboarding process, and did reality match those expectations that were set?”
You can also ask about how the employee is generally feeling about their role within the company or about the company culture or if there is anything that could be done differently to help them succeed in their role.
It’s important to show employees while they are still employed that you care about their experience, and value and appreciate their opinions. If you show that you are genuinely interested in making things better, it could prevent them from leaving and avoid the need to conduct an exit interview.
Conducting retention or stay interviews around the three- to six-month mark can help dissolve any disenfranchisement the employee might be experiencing and ensure they are happy and committed to helping the company succeed. This not only avoids turnover issues, but it can also help boost employee morale by showing that you care.
Level Up Employee Performance with CRS
The team at Combined Resource Solutions, is here to help you elevate the employee experience and increase value through powerful employee engagement strategies.
We provide a wide range of services to help you gather valuable insights for improved-decision making including:
- Retention Interviews
- Pulse Surveys
- Engagement Surveys
- Leadership 360s
- Training Effectiveness Surveys
- Stay Interviews
- Exit Interviews
Make the most of your people. Contact us today to learn more and to see what CRS can do for you.