We’ve experienced a lot of turnover in the past two years—many employees have decided to quit and move on to other companies. On an employee’s last day, I meet with him or her to go over final paperwork, benefits, COBRA, etc., but I think we should also interview the departing employee to find out why he or she is leaving and how he or she felt about the company. Can you give me advice on what I should ask to elicit informative responses? —B.L., HR Manager, Riverside
It’s unfortunate that you’ve been experiencing employee turnover recently, but you’re taking the right steps by wanting to be proactive and learn why employees are leaving to help prevent other employees from quitting. By conducting a thorough interview with a departing employee, you can obtain valuable information that may help you reduce turnover, boost retention, and give you some insight into what your organization is doing right in employees’ eyes and what could be better.
As you mentioned in your question, you already meet with departing employees to wrap up their employment relationship. You can easily incorporate probing questions into this exit meeting. Here is an exit interview questionnaire— you can ask a departing employee these questions and record the answers, or you could ask the employee to fill it out. Remember to review the answers and consider whether and how you can use the information to improve your company.
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Please answer the following questions using this key:
Unsatisfactory – U
Fair – F
Satisfactory – S
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23. Why are you leaving our company?
24. Could we have done anything differently to keep you here?
25. Did you have a performance review with your supervisor at least once a year? Yes No
26. Did you have training sessions? Yes No
27. What additional training would you have wanted?
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