“They wanted to know if it was because of something they had done wrong. The fact was, I was improperly trained, but I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble, so I just said I couldn’t handle all the cranky customers.”
---Comments made by a former retail clerk after an exit interview
When an employee resigns and the actual reason is not fully understood by the employer, such a scenario also begs the question: “How many more employees and revenues will be lost because employees have not been properly trained?”
Next question: Will an exit interview program solve the costly problems related to high employee turnover?
Actually when an employee is voluntarily on his or her way out the door, a formalized process does not guarantee that he or she will be candid and forthcoming—if the reasons are more than just personal. In order to discover the real reasons, an employee exit-interview process must be well-crafted and skillfully structured.
As part of the overall employee-relations cycle, exit interviews should also be handled by a neutral person (someone other than an employee’s supervisor). Ideally you are hoping that a departing employee might become a little bolder when faced with a less-threatening environment.
When put into practice, however, some employers can make some faulty assumptions about how to approach the exit-interviewing process.
An employer might ask, “Why even bother?”
The short answer is when exit interviews are skillfully developed and expertly crafted, employee responses can provide an employer with valuable information. Using that information to make critical workplace improvements can eventually help reduce expensive employee turnover and increase employee retention and boost morale.
Highly engaged and more satisfied employees are also more productive. They in turn affect higher levels of customer satisfaction, which strengthens business growth.
True, once an employee has made a decision to leave, and he or she subsequently resigns, you are not going to keep this person from leaving by conducting an exit interview. Still employers should not lose out on this opportunity to gain important information.
For example, many HR professionals are growing increasingly concerned about the rising number of harassment and retaliation claims being brought against employers. These EEOC-related claims and cases are not only very costly and demoralizing to an employer, but they can also jeopardize the employer’s reputation and brand image. If a resigning employee can help shed light on any potential harassment problems, for instance, unnecessary heartache and suffering might be prevented.
So how can employers avoid making faulty assumptions about this process? For starters, I’ll share a few introductory tips for how employers should approach the exit-interviewing process:
1. Avoid relying strictly on such tools as multiple-choice questionnaires. When departing employees are asked to respond to such standardized formats, you are not going to get the specifics that you need. While these questionnaires are designed to provide you with statistical data, you will not get the more relevant or applicable information that can be gained directly by asking open-ended questions. Not everything is best handled through automation.
2. Avoid asking strictly ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ closed-ended type questions. Again, in order to learn more specifics or gain valuable information, you will want to ask more open-ended questions. For example, which of these two questions would provide you with better information?
· A closed-ended question: “Did you get along with your boss?”
· An open-ended question: “Tell me about the relationship you had with your boss.”
3. Avoid collecting exit-interviewing data and then filing it away in a file folder. If you’re going to all the trouble, expense and effort of conducting exit interviews, make sure you make the exercise a worthwhile and cost-effective process. In other words, you will certainly want to take the time to follow up on any information that can help you and your staff better lead and manage the business and the employees in the future.
4. Avoid ‘blowing off’ or dismissing a former employee’s comments. Instead, you will want to be professional, open and objective. In other words, don’t fall into the trap of dismissing what an individual is sharing with you by jumping to conclusions. “Oh, Suzie is just angry.” Or, “We are not really going to put much stock into what Suzie is saying because she was upset.”
Finally, employers that decide to conduct exit interviews should also have a real passion behind the process and a ‘message behind the madness,’ if you will.
I am a strong advocate for collecting former-employee feedback, but only when done for a purpose. As an objective, the information gained should be later applied strategically in productive and beneficial ways. You will find that when former employees feel safe and secure in sharing sensitive information, they, in turn, will often reveal very critical and vital information.
Because the value for the exit-interview process can often be lost due to a lack of understanding or awareness of HR best practices, I am preparing to publish a series on this topic for HRTools.com. Check back soon to read Part Two!