How Can We Make Exit Interviews More Insightful for Better Attrition Management?

Hi,

I am working as an AM in HR for a software firm. One of the major challenges most companies face is attrition, and one of the things I want to do this year is attrition management. We have a process of an exit interview and analysis, but I personally feel that it's limited to stating most of the facts like tenure trend, rating trend, etc. These are more like employee record facts. Is there any way that I could do an analysis on some other factors that could be gathered by exit interviews?

Please help.

Hi Geetika,

The main aim of conducting the exit interview is to know the reason why an employee is leaving the company. This is like feedback to the company wherein it can improve its work environment. You have to know the basic reason or motive that prompted the employee to leave the company. Make a written statement of this and forward it to the concerned top management official as feedback who can take appropriate measures to improve the condition.

From the exit interview, we can identify where the company is lacking, such as whether the pay scales are not at par with the market, or there is a lack of a good work environment or teamwork, or if the relationship between superiors and subordinates is not maintained properly. Many reasons like these can be known, and accordingly, you can improve those areas, providing a quality environment for the remaining employees and retaining them.

Hope it's clear.

Regards,
Navya

Dear sender,

Exit interview is basically a feedback format given by the employee who has resigned from the services of the company. It gives the reason for leaving, circumstances that would have prevented his departure, what he likes most about his job, what he likes least about his job, supervisor's rating, departmental rating, job training, rate of pay for his job, workloads, cooperation within the departments, suggestions to make the workplace a better one, his comments, and finally, the interviewer's comments will be added in the exit format.

Hope this guideline will help you.

With regards, L. Kumar

Hi,

How many of us will reveal the correct facts for quitting? Who conducts the exit interview is also very critical. Theoretically, it is either the CEO or the HR head along with the operational Head who will sit on exit interviews. With the attrition so high, it is difficult for senior people to sit on exit interviews. I still recommend the following, and some companies follow this:

1. Exit interviews will be conducted by the CEO if a person with more than 10 years is quitting.
2. If it is more than 5 years, then the HR Head and Operational Head must sit on the panel.
3. For 3 to 5 years, a senior person in HR and a senior person in the operation must conduct this exercise.

Exit interviews also become meaningless when conducted by people who are just one year old in the organization and who are also in search of a job. Just imagine a junior person conducting this interview and his resume is on all job portals! Format is critical, I don't deny, but the purpose is to bring out the real reason.

Siva

Exit interview templates depend on the company and its policies. Often, individuals leaving a company may not disclose the actual reasons to avoid leaving on a negative note. Those departing in frustration may also withhold information, feeling their voices won't be heard. Therefore, if you are considering creating a new structure, please outline the steps you would take; otherwise, it may just become another document in your file.

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Best regards.

Please find attached the exit interview format which is designed for trial purposes. Kindly review it before you proceed.

Although exit interviews are conducted with utmost seriousness, the candidate may not be in a mood to express their real reasons for quitting. Rarely does the candidate reveal the true information, so the exit interview form needs to be simple and direct to make the candidate feel comfortable during the process.

Hi,

An exit interview is basically, as we know, merely feedback from an outgoing employee. It is not always true that he/she will give you honest feedback. Sometimes, an employee has been with an organization for more than 10 years but one day, they get an opportunity elsewhere that they find more lucrative. Despite this, due to their attachment to the organization over the years, they may always speak positively about the company even when leaving.

It is an art that needs to be developed by an HR manager to extract true feedback from outgoing employees. The exit interview format should remain confidential, and simply filling out a form is not sufficient. Counseling is required as soon as the resignation is submitted. Retaining employees in today's ever-changing scenario is a real HR challenge.

Hi,

An exit interview is basically, as we know, merely feedback from an outgoing employee. It is not always true that he/she will give you honest feedback. Sometimes, an employee may have been with an organization for more than 10 years, but one day they receive an opportunity elsewhere that they find more lucrative in various aspects. However, due to their attachment to the organization over the years, they may always speak positively about the company even when leaving.

It is an art that an HR manager must develop to obtain genuine feedback from outgoing employees. The exit interview format should remain confidential, and simply filling out a form is not the end of it. Counseling is required as soon as an employee submits their resignation. Retaining employees in today's rapidly changing scenario is a real HR challenge.

With regards,
Anar

Well, I agree with most of you, and I have been conducting exit interviews with all our resigned employees for the past few years to try to find out what we could have done better or what could have been done to retain that employee. As some of you mentioned, there is a possibility that the employee may not be entirely truthful about the reasons that led to his/her decision. Sometimes, I feel that the whole exercise becomes futile, and conducting a trend analysis seems impractical when the data itself is not reliable.

I need to devise a method that incorporates factors such as tenure, performance, compensation, designation, project involvement, and other inputs from the employee to generate an effective attrition analysis report tool.

The purpose of conducting an exit interview is to understand the reasons for the employee's departure. It is true that many employees may not disclose the true reasons, anticipating a smooth exit. Therefore, it is essential for HR to facilitate this session and uncover the underlying reasons.

The common reasons for employees leaving usually include:

1. Job role/challenges
2. Undefined goals or changing goals/priorities
3. Personal reasons such as education, marriage (often in the case of women), or personal or parental illness
4. Compensation

It would be beneficial to collect their contact details and gather their feedback after a period of settlement, perhaps 2 or 3 months later. By then, they would have adjusted to their new job and might be more willing to share their thoughts. Consider implementing this approach.

Cheers,
Bala

Well, I agree to a certain extent that it happens for formality, but I guess it's on us - the HR professional who conducts the exit interview - to make it useful for future forecasts or any kind of trend analysis.