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The news is out. After 10 years in your organization, John is leaving.
Having worked in many roles John, who is known for his reliability, is now saying that he is moving on to pursue his dreams of writing children’s books. We all knew he had a creative side especially in the recent marketing campaign. What will we do?
We must organize a going away party as he was quite a character and will be sadly missed by all of us.
Is this the right answer?
Yes, have a party and celebrate his time with you, but there is one thing that you must do first.
An Exit Interview.
People leave for many reasons. It can be a difficult time for staff and many times it is an unavoidable aspect of work but you must use this as a learning opportunity. There are some basic things that need to be asked.
Why did you initially join your organization?
What are the best features of your organization?
What are the best features of your organization?
What areas of improvement can they identify?
How would they tackle these areas of improvement?
What are the reasons that led them to resign?
What might have encouraged you to stay, if anything?
Download Sample Exit Interview Questionnaire
Remember that exit interviews are not designed to encourage an employee to stay. In fact, at this stage the employee has left already (at least in their mind). Instead it is an opportunity for you to learn whether there is an underlying reason for the departure that the organization can learn from. Are there things that the organization can practically alter (e.g., pay and conditions, management styles, communication, etc) so as to avoid other resignations.
When you decide to conduct an exit interview there are some additional things that you need to consider.
The exit interview should not be conducted by the line manager of the departing employee.
They should take place in a neutral environment, preferably outside the organization.
They should take place as soon as possible after the employee resigns.
All interviews should be strictly confidential.
The employee should be extended your best wishes as they could still become ambassadors for you organization (this can be a challenge at times but should be viewed for the opportunity that it is).
The interview is the first step. Next you will need to collate the information received and translate it into manageable chunks that you can use for your organization.
Remember, people leave and sometimes it is completely unavoidable. What you will need to do is separate what you can learn from what is outside your control.
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