Employee turn-over is expensive. Now more than ever Employee retention is a business imperative. Unemployment is at an all time low, so even if you are willing to accept the high cost of replacing an employee there may not readily be a person available. One of the best tools to improve your company and keep more people is the Exit Interview.
Gleaning information from outgoing employees can give your company valuable insight. There are a few guidelines to follow to get the most out of the process.
Have a person that is removed from the exiting employee conduct the interview. The goal is to get unbiased and unreserved information. If you have a direct Manager handle the interview the employee might be hesitant to fully answer questions. Some of the answers could effect the Manager.
Know the information you are seeking. The exit interview is not meant to be a gripe session, or airing of grievances. You are looking for concise reasoning, that you can use to head off employee turn-over. Guide the conversation toward topics like workload, fairness of work distribution, Management style, competitiveness of compensation, and other concrete areas that can be used for improvement.
Use exit interview information for action plans. Discuss the results with your team, distill the information you receive, and create a plan to use it. The data you receive only matters if it is put into action. In many cases this can be as simple as opening a wider investigation or surveying employees. One exiting employee’s opinion shouldn’t change your whole business, but it is intelligent to use it as a guide for where to look for more information.
For more information, or one on one help message us. We love to help!