>In yesterday’s Advisor, we presented results from our 2014 Termination and Exit Interviews Survey. Today, more findings from this study, including best practices and methods regarding severance pay.
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A total of 1,892 individuals participated in this survey, conducted in December 2014.
Best practices
When asked which exit interview practices are most important, the responses varied widely but several themes emerged, including:
- Conducting interviews in person, either on the phone or face-to-face, 17.8%
- Having consistency in the process and in the questions asked, 16.2%
- Following through by addressing issues brought to light during exit interviews, 14.5%
- Getting honest feedback and finding out how the organization can improve, 16.03%
Reviewing exit interview information with key stakeholders is a priority for 3.6%, and keeping exit interview information confidential or distributing it only on a need-to-know basis is important for 6%. Finding out an employee chose to leave the company is important for 4.5%, and conducting the interviews in a timely manner is important for 3.1%. Identifying trends and/or issues that should be corrected is a valued practice for 3.3%, and ensuring the exit interview is a conversation rather than just a question/answer session is important for 3.7%.
Program needs
As for what our survey participants’ exit interview programs lack, for 2.3% it is an online system for departing employees to provide information and any kind of program at all for 1.8%. For 5.8%, it’s better, more relevant questions and confidentiality is a concern for 1.7%. Nothing is missing, however, for 5.8%. Below are the top five “missing ingredients” that keep survey participants from managing a more effective exit interview program:
- Creation of and/or follow-through with an action plan regarding the information obtained during exit interviews: 25.3%
- A process for aggregating exit interview data, generating reports, and tracking/measuring follow-up: 23.3%
- Consistency in application of the exit interview process: 16.4%
- Participation of and/or honest information from departing employees: 14.7%
- Buy-in from all stakeholders, particularly management team members: 12.3%
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Severance
Severance pay is offered to departing employees for 32.8%. Of those, 52.5% offer it when there is an involuntary termination, and 71.8% offer it when there is a RIF (reduction in force). The amount of severance pay is determined by length of service for 81.4%, with position level as a factor for 48%. Departing employees are required to sign a release form to obtain severance pay for 74.8% and only under certain circumstances for 13.4%.
Survey participants
A total of 1,892 individuals participated in this survey, which was conducted in December 2014. Of those who identified themselves, 55.1% represent private, for-profit companies, 22.1% are with nonprofit organizations, 11.1% are with public entities, and 11.8% work for government organizations.
The majority (53.4%) of our survey respondents provide HR services to a workforce of 1 to 250 employees. Another 13.6% provide guidance to 251 to 500 employees at their organizations and 10.6% have a workforce of 501 to 1,000 employees. Companies with more than 1,000 employees account for 22.4% of survey participants.
A little below 25% of survey respondents (23.5%) have a workforce that is more than half exempt employees. As for union representation, 7.5% of the employers surveyed have a workforce that is 50 to 100% unionized and 88.4% have a workforce where less than one-fourth are union employees.
Over half (56%) of the participants are in service industries; 15% are in agriculture, forestry, construction, manufacturing, or mining; 8% are in wholesale, retail, transportation, or warehousing; and 2% are in real estate or utilities. The remaining 19% indicated “other.”
Thanks again to all who participated!
From conducting exit interviews to dealing with the C-suite to routine discipline and documentation, HR never sleeps. You need a go-to resource, and our editors recommend the “everything-HR-in-one” website, HR.BLR.com®. As an example of what you will find, here are some policy recommendations concerning e-mail, excerpted from a sample policy on the website:
- Privacy. The director of information services can override any individual password and, therefore, has access to all e-mail messages in order to ensure compliance with company policy. This means that employees do not have an expectation of privacy in their company e-mail or any other information stored or accessed on company computers.
- E-mail review. All e-mail is subject to review by management. Your use of the e-mail system grants consent to the review of any of the messages to or from you in the system in printed form or in any other medium.
- Solicitation. In line with our general policy, e-mail must not be used to solicit for outside business ventures, personal parties, social meetings, charities, membership in any organization, political causes, religious causes, or other matters not connected to the company’s business.
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We should point out that this is just one of hundreds of sample policies on the site. (You’ll also find analyses of all the HR-related laws and the current critical issues, plus downloadable job descriptions, and complete training materials for hundreds of HR topics.)
You can examine the entire HR.BLR.com program free of any cost or commitment. It’s quite remarkable—30 years of accumulated HR knowledge, tools, and skills gathered in one place and accessible at the click of a mouse.
What’s more, we’ll supply a free, downloadable copy of our special report, Critical HR Recordkeeping—From Hiring to Termination, just for looking at HR.BLR.com. If you’d like to try it at absolutely no cost or obligation to continue (and get the special report, no matter what you decide), go here.