Making the Most of Exit Interviews
Posted June 3rd, 2013
Exit interviews are fairly commonplace at companies today. Different companies do them in different ways, but not all companies are getting the most out their exit interviews.
One thing you can do to improve exit interviews is to use interviewers who have been specifically trained for that purpose, and who have no connection with the company, according to business consultant Leigh Branham.
Conducting an interview is not as easy as it sounds. The interviewer needs to make the person feel comfortable, to establish a connection. The interviewer needs to know how to probe for answers, asking follow-up questions.
Also, it is important that the interviewer not have any connection to the company, as this would most likely inhibit the former employee from responding candidly.
It is also helpful to conduct the interview after the employee has left the company, Branham says, rather than just prior to the person’s last day on the job. An employee can experience a lot of strong emotions as he or she gets ready to leave and tying up a number of loose ends. This is not the best time to do the interview because the person is just too distracted. After a few weeks, however, when the former employee has had time to regain his or her equilibrium, the interview is likely to yield better results.
You also need to guarantee to the former employee that whatever is said at the exit interview will be strictly private and confidential, so that the person has no fear of retribution. Again, the person is more likely to believe such a guarantee if it comes from someone not connected to the company.
To increase the validity of the results, the company should interview everyone who leaves, Branham says. This will enable the business to find out the full range of reasons why employees leave, and which reasons are more prevalent.
Also, to maintain the reliability of the results, the exit interview questions should not be changed once they have been set up. Everyone should be answering the same questions to enable the company to get a clear picture of why people leave, and to make comparisons.
Does your San Francisco firm need new employees to replace those who have left? Do you have questions about the process? Contact Bayside Solutions today to learn more about how we source, vet and place IT and other skilled professionals for Bay Area firms. We look forward to hearing from you.
