Employee Exit Interviews Are Key in Optimizing Your Company’s Employee Retention in the Future

Employee turnover can lead to significant costs within a company. The cost of having to recruit, hire, and train a new person to fill a position costs companies a combined $11 billion every year. Although an employer cannot prevent employees from leaving the company, finding a correlation in why employees are leaving can help resolve the issue. Employee exit interviews can provide your company with insight into what works within the organization and what needs improvement.

As 91 percent of the Fortune 500 companies conduct exit interviews as part of best business practices, Employer Support Services highly recommends all companies incorporate the practice to obtain the benefits it provides. Whether an employee is leaving your organization on his or her own terms or not, their experience and feedback can provide valuable information that can make a significant difference in both future profit and employee satisfaction.

 

Conducting Exit Interviews Benefit Your Company as a Whole

According to the Work Institute’s 2017 Retention Report, 75 percent of employee turnover within a company can be prevented. By conducting exit interviews, employers can identify flaws within the organization that can help improve employee retention and engagement among current employees once addressed. For example, if several employees claimed their reason for leaving was that they felt overlooked by management, your company can begin to shift focus on ensuring that every employee feels valued. In turn, your employees will be more engaged, productive, and more likely to stay.

In addition to receiving key insights into employee engagement to help improve retention, asking a former employee about their opinions will leave them with a good final impression of the company. By showing that you value the employee’s opinion and desire to improve the company’s culture, they are more likely to leave the organization on a positive note. This is important for future recruitment efforts as a negative review from a previous employee can deter top talent from applying or accepting a position.

 

Tips for Conducting Employee Exit Interviews:

Exit Interviews Should Always Be Optional

Collecting as much data as possible from every former employee is important in finding common trends in employee turnover. However, it should always be an optional assessment. Often times, an employee leaving for personal reasons may not want to discuss them, even in a private setting such as an exit interview.

 

Face-to-Face Interviews Are the Most Effective

There are several methods you can use to conduct an exit interview, such as written responses, a phone call, or an online survey. A face-to-face meeting, however, is a more personal method and allows for more natural conversation. And in return, you have a better chance of receiving more honest feedback. Compared to an online questionnaire, you have a better opportunity to discover and discuss problems more in-depth in a personal, positive way.

 

Have a List of Questions That Are Consistent in Every Exit Interview

Create a list of questions that you wish to ask in every exit interview. It is important that questions are always consistent to ensure that your company receives the most accurate data possible. Avoid asking the person any personal questions or opinions that may make the exit interview seem subjective.

Possible questions to consider when you’re conducting an exit interview could include:

• Why did you begin looking for a new job?
• Did you feel you were equipped to do your job here?
• Did you have clear goals and objectives?
• Were you comfortable talking to your manager?
• Did you feel like a valuable part of the company?

 

Have an Unbiased Party Conduct the Interview

The information that an employee provides during an exit interview is confidential. That is why when you are choosing who will conduct the interviews, it’s best to avoid choosing someone who is a direct manager, or worked closely with the employee. Not only is there a risk of breaching a person’s confidentiality, but it can also prevent an employee from providing honest feedback. An HR representative is often the best choice to conduct the exit interview as they must adhere to strict rules of confidentiality and are often a neutral party.

 

If you’re worried about confidentiality or getting honest feedback, Employer Support Services provides HR services and resources to bolster a company’s human resource program. Whether you need one of our representatives to conduct exit interviews or use our HRIS to better analyze turnover within the company, we provide you with the best solutions available.

For more information, contact ESS today at 225-364-3000.