6 Exit Interview Tactics to Make Your Organization Great at Goodbyes

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), it can cost between 50% and 200% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them. Of course, this can depend on their level.

But, before someone leaves your organization, and before you gear up your recruitment process, there’s one crucial step to carry out: the exit interview. This is your chance to find out why the employee left, and if something about your work environment or company culture made them want to leave.

Following exit interview best practices can help you gain valuable insight into the employee experience. Failure to take advantage of this opportunity, however, could result in replacing your next employee sooner than you think.

Meaningful conversations with employees are worth the effort, but they can take time to get right. Read on to discover actionable tips and strategies that can help you master your next employee goodbye with BambooHR.

What is an exit interview?

An exit interview gives you a chance to talk to an employee just before they leave their job. Exit interviews typically follow an exit interview form, where you’ll ask departing employees a series of questions to gather feedback and insights about their experience at your company.

This information can help you identify patterns that may be causing employees to leave. This can give you a better understanding of how your organization can improve and reduce future turnover.

Employee exit interview methods typically include:

• One-on-One Discussions. This is a direct conversation with an employee and tends to be a more personal approach. During a 1-on-1 discussion, you’ll meet with a departing employee, ask some useful questions, and ensure the relationship ends on a positive note.
• Exit Surveys. If several employees are leaving your company, or you can’t meet with them individually, you could conduct an online survey instead. While this is a less personal option, it allows you to collect an archive of answers. You can refer to this later to compare employee feedback.

How to get the most out of your exit interview

Gather genuine feedback

The point of an exit interview isn’t to get bland, noncommittal answers to your questions. Even if it breaks your heart to hear, genuine feedback is extremely helpful. The key to getting sincere responses during an exit interview is to make employees feel safe and ensure that they know their answers are valuable. It also means not being afraid to ask tough exit interview questions.

Part on amicable terms

Exit interviews happen whether the employee is leaving voluntarily or not. In either case, best practice includes making sure that the process is as positive as possible. Even when employees might be airing grievances or upset that they’ve been let go, it always helps to be understanding and patient.

Explain the offboarding process

Offboarding can be a complex process, so it’s important to ensure employees know exactly what to expect. This includes, but isn’t limited to:

• How long they’ll be covered by health insurance
• If there’s a severance package
• What the process might look like if they want to reapply for the position
• When and how to return work equipment
• How a non-compete agreement works.

An exit interview is the ideal venue for having these discussions and resolving any lingering questions.

Support your employees’ transition

As an employee transitions into a new phase of their career, they may not be sure how to navigate what comes next. They may wish to know how to set up COBRA insurance, for example. Others may want you to provide feedback on their performance in their exit interview, so they can understand what they may need to work on in the future.

Protect your company's reputation

People talk. Employees tell their friends and family about their current employers, and they’re not afraid to talk about previous ones either. Simply giving employees a chance to get things off their chest in their exit interview can prevent them from spreading negative opinions about your business. At the same time, you can use the opportunity to clear up any misunderstandings and diffuse any negativity.

6 exit interview best practices

1. Schedule the interview at the right time

You can organize an exit interview from when an employee hands in their notice and their last day. Though many HR leaders believe that the best time to schedule an exit interview is on the final day.

Ideally, this is the last thing an employee does before walking out the door. To make the process as smooth and productive as possible, schedule the meeting or survey in advance. Be sure to communicate how important the exit interview is and the types of questions that will be asked. That way, everyone is prepared and ready to go.

2. Invite a neutral party along

If you want employees to be honest, ensure the person conducting the exit interview is not their direct manager or a close coworker. Even if someone has a good relationship with their manager, it can be hard for them to feel comfortable sharing things candidly.

3. Encourage openness

Most employees have no desire to burn bridges when leaving a job, so they may be hesitant to share honest feedback if they’re not sure it will be kept confidential.

Remind employees that anything they say will be kept between yourselves, and any feedback used after the conversation will not be directly tied to them. If they want to come back at some point in the future, they won’t want any negative comments returning to haunt them.

4. Prepare your exit interview questions

Don’t rush into the exit interview unprepared. If you do, you may kick yourself for forgetting a crucial question or getting sidetracked into an unproductive conversation. Write your exit interview questions in advance and do your research on the employee to avoid wasting time.

5. Express excitement and support

You never want to see top talent leave, but you should always express how excited you are for them to take this next step in their career. After all, as their co-worker, you will have developed a relationship at work, so you should naturally care about them as individuals. Besides the niceties, they’ll also appreciate you showing how appreciative you are of the work they did, even if they were only there for a short amount of time.

6. Implement feedback

If nobody learns anything from an exit interview, why did you have one? It may seem obvious, but the most important thing to do after the discussion is to use the information you gained to make any necessary changes. Not every exit interview is going to provide you with actionable feedback, but they can tip you off to trends or patterns that may require attention in the future.

Common exit interview mistakes to avoid

It’s important to ensure that the last interaction you have with a departing employee is positive and fruitful.

Here are three common exit interview mistakes to avoid:

1. Denying or avoiding critical feedback. It can be easy to take a defensive stance when someone is providing feedback or criticism. But your organization should welcome it, and an exit interview isn’t the place to refute any criticisms—whether it’s fair or not.
2. Oversharing. It might be tempting to respond to exit interview feedback with a bit of insider information, especially if you’re close with the departing employee. However, it’s important to ensure you remain professional and don’t let anything slip in that could create any legal problems for your company.
3. Pressuring or forcing employees to participate. You may have employees who don’t want to do an exit interview. While it can be disappointing, don’t force them, as it likely won’t result in a productive conversation. If you have paperwork they need to sign or procedures they need to complete, provide them with a task list and due dates before their final day approaches.

Revisit your offboarding process regularly

The exit interview is the perfect place to ensure both you and the departing employee leave with the right information, and the right impression. By following these exit interview best practices, you’ll be able to say goodbye on great terms.

But before they leave, take some time to revisit your current processes to make sure you haven’t left anything to chance. Learn how to create a solid offboarding process that leaves a lasting impression on employees with our complete offboarding checklist.