Departing employees have a plethora of information that can be of enormous importance to a company in terms of improving operations and developing better working relationships among employees at all levels. An employee who is leaving the company is likely to be more open and frank when discussing issues regarding the company and its employees.
To be effective, the exit interview should be conducted before the employee actually leaves the premises for the last time as an employee. A day or two before departure is ideal. Once the employee leaves the premises and is no longer in the employ of the company, the opportunity for an interview may be lost. Remember that the purpose of the interview is to gather information that is relevant to the company and its employees—information that will be helpful in making changes that will benefit the company. Information of a “gossip” nature has no place in an exit interview.
It is not only the company that benefits from an employee interview, but the employee also benefits from the exercise. For the employee, an exit interview is one of the last serious and official interactions that the employee will have with the company. It gives the employee the pleasure or satisfaction of sharing his or her contributions to the company.
In many cases, the exit interview is held in the office of the interviewer, but experience has shown that this may not be the best arrangement. We suggest that the interview be held in the departing employee’s office. If this is not practical, or if the employee does not have an office, then we suggest that the interview be held on some neutral ground.
Prior to the interview meeting, we recommend that a copy of the interview questionnaire be given to the departing employee about a day or two before the meeting. This allows for greater discussion of the issues during the meeting.
The data collected during an employee exit interview should be used to identify strengths and weaknesses in the company. You may learn, for example, that employees find certain jobs to be boring and uninteresting, and that many employees leave as a result. This should prompt you into action to take measures to make the job more interesting.
Because of the importance of the questions discussed at an employee exit interview, we have provided the following exit interview form for your assistance.
ABC COMPANY
Employee Exit Questionnaire
EMPLOYEE-EXIT-INTERVIEW.docx
