Exit interviews are performed at the end of an employment term, or shortly thereafter; therefore, they are appropriately named the “exit” interview.
An exiting employee can be a huge asset to helping the company understand what areas of the business still need improvement, what systems and processes need to be addressed, and what areas of the operation that are perfectly fine and should remain untouched.
It’s important to note that not all companies perform exit interviews on former employees. However, companies who wish to restructure in-house policies and procedures are finding themselves polling individuals who are about to leave or potentially no longer on the payroll.
Maybe the reason employers avoid exit interviews is because not all employees give notice and eave on good terms. Of course, there’s always the possibility that the employee was fired too. Who wants to perform an exit interview on a potentially irate (former) employee? Not many. But, getting past any anger will be worth its weight in gold in some cases.
When is an exit interview typically conducted? Typically performed within the last days of employment, an exit interview can be conducted while the employee is still on the payroll, or up to two or three months after separation.
Is there a sweet spot on when to conduct an exit interview? Not really. Although here’s a thought to consider: A newly departed person (or about to be) for example may be hesitant to say anything negative about the company for fear of receiving a bad reference. Whereas, an employee who has been separated for a couple of months and employed by another company, may be apt to divulge in-depth details relating to their departure.
What questions are asked during an exit interview?
There are some generic questions that need to be asked. For example, “What made you decide to leave the company?” or “Do you have any advice for your successor?” These types of exit questions can be vital to ensuring internal harmony amongst staff, but can also keep healthy business development and strong customer relations on track as well.
More in-depth questions might be:
1. What do you recommend as the best approach to train and develop staff?
2. What are your thoughts on staff levels?
3. Do you know of any on-going issues that are causing the company to not meet its sales/revenue/profit goals?
4. What do you think is the biggest challenge for your department? Overall company?
5. What are your top 5 suggestions for your replacement?
6. From your prospective, what are the biggest challenges effecting the sales, inventory/warehousing, finance, and IT departments?
7. What else do you think we should know? (This is a great open-ended question, which can potentially open the conversation to a topic you didn’t preempt)
It’s worth noting, there are pros and cons to exit interviews too.
For example, some cons of exit interviews include providing an arena for hostile or irrational employees and bringing forth personal conflicts or gossip sessions. Pros of exit interviews include shedding light on outdated policies and procedures, pointing out conflicts / complications between employees and management, addressing departmental competencies or inaptness, determining employee’s state of mind, and providing a forum for negotiating future reemployment or mediating other complications.
Employees are the individuals who work in the “trenches,” day in and day out. If an exit interview was performed on every departing employee, just think of the information one could compile about in-house business logistics!