Question
Our company requires departing employees, whether they quit or got laid off or fired, to do an exit interview if they want to remain “in good standing” with the company. That means they can be rehired down the road and will also receive certain other benefits. A lot of them decline the meeting anyway. Personally, as a manager I think an exit interview is valuable for the employee and the company. It’s a safe place to do an honest post-mortem. How would you advise us to get more employees to do exit interviews?
Nick’s Reply
We’ve discussed exit interviews at length elsewhere on Ask The Headhunter. (I’ve referred to them as cockroaches of the employment world.) Readers that know my opinion of these tete-a-tetes might expect me to flame you. (See Exit Interviews: Why you should just say NO.) But I think you’re asking a legitimate question if you and your company truly want to learn something useful from the departing employee while ensuring you do nothing to hurt them on their departure.
The exit interview: what does it change?
In virtually every case, the employee stands nothing to gain by “opening up” in an exit interview. If the employer really cares what the employee honestly thinks about their experience at the company, management would ask them long before their departure.
That is, ask all employees regularly, while they work for you, what they think — not on their way out the door! — and while there’s a chance to change something that might benefit everyone involved.
Wait, then buy lunch
You asked my advice so let’s get to it. I think the best way to benefit from an exit interview is to wait six months after the employee leaves. Then, call and invite them to lunch. Figure this will cost your company about $25. (Note: Your HR should have nothing to do with this lunch meeting.)
Discuss the former employee’s old job, their experience and their insights and thoughts. Ask them for advice. Tell them about your company, what it was like when they were there, what it’s like now and what you plan for the future.
Then let the former employee talk. You will likely learn a lot. The reason for doing this post-mortem six months later and away from the company is that it is relatively safe for the employee compared to doing it in the throes of job change. Your willingness to wait is a good test of whether you really want and can use the information you think you need. Time and distance may make the former employee more willing to share — from a safer place.
Is an exit interview really worth it?
If the information you seek from an exit interview is really valuable to you, then it should be worth prudently waiting for the emotion and upheaval of parting company to subside.
Is this too much trouble? Then you had no business doing a traditional exit interview in your office. If the information you want isn’t important enough to invest in a lunch, you don’t need it – you’re doing exit interviews for the wrong reasons.
If it’s not worth $25 to you, then you don’t deserve to know what the former employee might tell you. Of course, the employee might decline the lunch altogether. That would tell you your company has other problems with its reputation.
Exit interviews are the cockroaches of the HR world: no one knows why they exist, no one can justify or eliminate them, and they will likely survive into the third millennium. Every employee should know well in advance how they’ll handle a request to do an exit interview, and every manager should really know why they’re doing it.
What’s your experience with exit interviews, whether you’re an employer or an employee? What’s your personal policy about doing them?
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Exit interviews are stupid. I have never seen one that was worth the time or effort. They seem to be done because “everyone does them”.
When I’ve been in position to do so, I try to ask my team, at least once a quarter:
1. Do you have everything you need to do your job?
2. Is there anything that would make you consider looking for another job?
3. What’s the least favorable part of your job?
I recognize #2 is a hard question to ask while expecting an honest answer. I’m looking for bottlenecks, frustrations, disappointments, or even hopelessness that would cause a person to think about leaving so I could take corrective action before it was too late.
In today’s envionment, no one on a team in their right mind would honestly answer those questions! Ammo for a RIF.
Exactly!
Especially today, a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g you say can and will likely be held against you.
Unfortunately, the exit interview format has elements that make if somewhat similar to being on trial for a crime where the “Defendant” best stay OFF the stand lest they unwittingly “incriminate” themself.
Way too many real life examples of how these “interviews” go South – real fast.
Remember, “the best of intentions…”
This is the downside of at will for the employers
@Bryan: I admire your willingness to do what’s right and smart. DeeC (above) may have a point about the risks, but I’m voting for doing what you do despite the risk.
What happens when that manager leaves or is dispatched, and the replies from the team are left behind for a far less scrupulous manager to read and hold against team members?
I have had several exit interviews.
1. Questions about benefits.
2. Questions about pay
Nobody asked why I took a new job. Maybe they don’t want to know?
I have a friend whose response in an annual evaluation was used to exit him, suddenly and with no PIP. He was a relatively new employee (over a year) in a highly sensitive area (contract sourcing for a government contractor), over 65, military combat wounded veteran–and his answer to his manager was that it would be several years before he retired because things were going well. His manager brought in a far younger manager to replace him. Manager then was given the heave-ho, well disguised of course, and now she runs things. The whole thing is now in arbitration.
When asked why I do not do exit interviews, I explain that if the company gave a damn about anything in their exit interview, it would be part of ongoing, casual conversation with everyone in leadership roles.
The general rule about exit interviews is don’t do them. If you are forced to–and the “good standing” requirement is blatant coercion–keep them as anodyne as possible and talk only about benefit and pay transition. Asked about the job, say nothing that isn’t pleasant. An HR drone is looking for a hot rock to toss into your record.
Beware of additional papers you have to sign, such as NDAs. The consult time with your lawyer applies here too.
Re the 6 month lunch, cut it to 3. By 6 months, that employee isn’t interested, the feedback for the manager is stale, and everyone’s moved on. I’ve found that at most companies, after a month you are forgotten or a figure of blame.
Coercion…or perhaps extortion.
Yeah, I don’t really get the 6-month angle — “…what it was like when they were there, what it’s like now…” Do many companies really change that much in 6 months? The ones that I’ve worked for haven’t, but maybe that’s a “me” problem.
Anyway, I really don’t see any upside for the former employee unless the manager was (at a minimum) respected and it’s a damn good lunch spot.
Exit interviews are the same as employee satisfaction surveys–a waste of time, money, and effort.
If employees, as many employer’s claim, are their greatest resource, you would think they would spend the time, money, and effort to cultivate that resource. But, people are like Kleenex in the eyes of many employers–disposable and replaceable.
When I was laid off, they asked me a few “exit” questions. I gave generic answers so I could get the pay out from being laid off.
When leaving voluntarily, I did the same thing–generic answers. What did it matter what I thought or how they could do things better when walking out the door.
I created my own “exit interview” process at one company I worked for. I always keep good notes of things I work on, so I wrote a consulting report on some of the issues I encountered on the job. The day I left I emailed it from my own account to the CIO and identified myself as a former consultant and organizational psychologist (true). Did some analysis, made recommendations, attached some HBR articles for background. It was typical stuff that gets overlooked because the people at the top think it’s being taken care of – data quality, agile process, communication from management. Never heard back from the CIO but I was still able to claim that I did the work.
That’s a lot of work that unless you were playing another angle was free work.
@Carl: I wish I could find the exact quote. Something like “When your employee comes to you with a complaint, they are seeking a reason to stay.”
It sounds like you lived that.
I worked at a place that I had high hopes for the job. Turned out the CEO was very controlling and did not allow employees to change to other jobs in the agency without their immediate supervisor saying yes. My supervisor was a terrible person that everyone was afraid of and I was very naive about personalities such as this person had. Since I was running the department, I knew my terrible boss would not let me go. And we had a survey every few years about our job needs and likes and dislikes but people gave nice information as they knew which computer would be doing the “anonymous” survey. Then I quit and the next survey came out and a friend told the truth about the bad stuff going on. Several people were then laid off, or refused promotions, all people who had told the truth on the online survey after I left. I realized most employers don’t want to know the truth so be self-protective instead of thinking how telling the truth would fix all the problems if you job is as dysfunctional as that one I wrote about.
Surveys are traceable by your IP.Increasongly used to target employees for RIFs and PIPs. Anodyne answers are best.
My career spanned 45 years, 5 of which were as an assistant manager, and 30 as the person in charge (and keyholder). We were a mid-sized company with 500 employees spread over 10 locations in 5 states.
We were so successful, we kept huge competitors at bay for several years. Our 70 year old company was finally bought out shortly after the Great Financial Fiasco that began in December of 2007.
We never had an HR department. Several VPs shared that responsibility. Whenever I had squawks from employees, my VP of Ops would ask one question: Are they leaving? If not, life went on.
I retired in 2017, retired from my career in 2023, and retired from clinical depression in 2024.
I recently turned 75, and have a number of archaic, unprofessional terms for anyone offering less $250.00 American for any interview, pre or post employment.
You really do get what you pay for.
I liked the ‘retired from clinical depression’ part. I’m in the same age group and boat. A 6 month layoff due to a health problem and helping out my brother with his did me a world of good. I was at the end of my rope feeling rejected in gaining even brief discussions. I rethought and repositioned myself into what I wanted to do which was strictly contract (in marketing), writing about my field, and consulting. While I sincerely doubt I’ll achieve significant revenue beyond the occasional, I no longer want to be a company slave. It’s toxic out there!
I have one rule when it comes to exit interviews: I don’t do exit interviews (Why would I leave a place open to hearing out my ideas?).
Now, I was likely biased by Nick more years ago than I want to admit (i.e., Motley Fool Boards); however, when you find good words to live by, cherish them.
As far as a company that requires an exit interview to stay in good standing, I have heard all I need to know. Should I desire to come out of retirement, I will have to remember to inquire about the companies exit interview policy during my job interview.
I was blessed with a career of jobs that I wasn’t afraid to lose. Know your value. Know your values. Demonstrate your value. Demonstrate your values. Know when to walk away; know when to run.
They’re cockroaches. If the company/manager/shareholders truly cared, they wouldn’t wait until employees are walking out door. If the manager truly wants to know where there are problems so he can address them before they become bigger problems, then he has to build trust with those reporting to him long before he needs honest answers, and he has to prove that he’s not the kind of manager who wants employees to tell him what he wants to hear (only positive things) and that he’s not petty, mean, vindictive and looking to use this as an opportunity to fire people or punish them in other ways.
These conversations need to be on-going, and not just happen when people are leaving the company. If you wait until people are leaving, that means you don’t care.
I also second Dee re being wary re being asked for this kind of feedback at any time during your tenure at a company or agency. At a job I had several jobs ago, I remember being required to attend a meeting with other employees, with the new dept. chair asking us to tell her what we did, our processes, etc. She had all of our job descriptions with her, which was a good start but then she got mad when the first few employees told her what they did and how they did their jobs. They’d been working for years and their jobs had changed, both in terms of what they did and especially how they did them. The dept. chair stormed off in a huff, and never took up the matter again. Naturally, the jobs changed–technology and all of the constant changes meant that their jobs changed. The lesson I took from that meeting was that if she were to ask me something I needed to tell her what she wanted hear, not the facts, not the truth, in order to keep my job. So did everyone else–and that’s a sorry state when a dept. chair doesn’t want the facts.
Too often exit interviews will be used against you, so if you’re absolutely REQUIRED to do it in order to get the pay owed to you, or other benefits, then lie, lie, lie, keep your answers bland (no constructive criticism no matter how warranted it is), and get out cleanly.
@Bryan: I wish more of my bosses were like you, as you are asking in order to help employees do their jobs better, which translates to better results for the company in the end. Unfortunately, you’re a unicorn as I’ve found that most are the opposite–they don’t want to know about bottlenecks, glitches, and other problems.