Exit Interviews are very beneficial – but should you be doing them now, in the midst of Covid?
This week I’ve been asked twice about conducting exit interviews – so it seems exit interviews are quite topical. Given that many organisations are letting people go, making redundancies or have many employees on job seeker allowance – is now really a good time to conduct exit interviews?
Personally, I would recommend exit interviews are an ongoing part of business as normal in your organisation. They are a great chance to find out why people leave your organisation, what people loved about working for your organisation and what surprised them about working for you. Exit interview information can be very valuable in helping you shape your Strategic Attraction and Retention Plan. If you would like help with exit Interviews, developing a Strategic Attraction and Retention Plan or helping managers understand their role in retention please contact bridget@developmentatwork.com.au and see https://www.developmentatwork.com/attraction-retention/
Is now the right time though?
If you conduct exit interviews now, what departing employees say may be partly influenced by covid – and you will still find out what attracted them to the organisation and the role; what they expected; what was better than they expected; and what disappointed or discouraged them (assuming you get the right person to ask the right questions).
How are exit interviews managed to offer as much practical value as possible?
I believe the most crucial 2 factors are:
- Who conducts the exit interview (i.e. if they are leaving because of their manager’s poor leadership style it’s pointless asking their line manager to conduct the exit interview).
- What they believe will happen with the information (i.e. will it affect their reference negatively, will it be filed and never looked at or will senior managers take the information into account and make improvements).
Exit interviews offer the most practical value when:
- An external independent person conducts them (or, in a large organisation, someone trusted from Human Resources)
- A number of exit interviews are conducted in a short time frame, so results can be anonymised and collated into key themes before reporting back to the organisation
- Senior managers make it clear that they are keen to hear the results and will commit to reviewing the information and making improvements.
- You collect information on the positives and the negatives (so senior managers want to hear it).
What are the main weaknesses of exit interviews and how are these avoided?
There’s a saying “People join organisations and leave managers” – meaning they are attracted to work for an organisation based on what they believe it will give them, they leave because of what they got (sometimes, sadly, because of the poor leadership style of their boss).
The main weaknesses of an exit interview are:
- Having a tick and flick piece of paper that people believe just gets filed in a filing cabinet
- Having the line manager conduct the exit interview or have access to the results (the person leaving is unlikely to be honest if the line manager is a key part of why they are leaving)
- Asking fixed questions that limit the person’s responses
How to avoid these weaknesses
- Ask an independent consultant (experienced in conducting exit interviews) to interview people (face to face, phone or via zoom).
- Let the consultant guide the questions.
- Let your employees and the consultant know:
- Many people are being interviewed and the results will be complied by the consultant and anonymously presented back to the organisation with recommendations
- Your line manager will not have access to your interview
- The CEO/GM is very interested in reading the results and is committed to identifying ways to improve employee retention and satisfaction. They want you to be honest.
If our organisation is pivoting fiercely, how do we utilise exit interviews to help guide direction?
Whatever you discover in exit interviews will help you attract and retain future employees and assess if there is any key message you need to communicate now to enhance employee retention.
Let’s look at some hypothetical examples:
- A manufacturer has just started making face masks. If their previous exit interviews revealed people left because of higher pay elsewhere or poor leadership skills then those results would still be relevant and would need addressing. If exit interviews revealed that people were leaving previously due to seeking work that “made a difference” then this manufacturing company might decide to communicate more strongly now to attract and retain employees based on the fact that their work is making a difference to the health and wellbeing of the country.
- An aged care organisation conducting exit interviews 6 months ago and today could compare the results to see if people were more or less inclined to resign now and could examine whether the exit interviews shed any light on the reason for voluntary resignations now (e.g. are people scared for their health or are they saying it’s about better pay elsewhere, needing to retire, or pointing the finger at leadership style or lack of resources).
Whatever the results you would be able to guide your attraction and retention plan (e.g. examine how many people in your workforce are reaching retirement age and adjust your workforce planning and recruitment; examine if leadership style needs improving and whether managers need educating on the Manager’s Role in Retention (a workshop I run!), examine how your pay compares to other local opportunities that your employees could take up; examine if people feel uncared for and stressed due to perceived lack of resources – especially low staffing or lack of masks and sanitisers).
Bridget Hogg says “It’s key to conduct exit interviews on an ongoing basis so you can make comparisons across time; it’s vital they are conducted by a trusted person; and it’s essential to have senior managers listen to the results and commit to considering how to make improvements.”
If you are a HR Manager seeking support for people in your organisation please contact us on 8322 8455 / bridget@developmentatwork.com.au for a free no obligation meeting and quote – we would love to talk to you about how we can assist you. All our services are positive psychology based.
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