I’ve been there—sitting by an exit interview, the ultimate dialog that formally closes the door in your job. My eyes had been swollen, and a lump fashioned in my throat because the interviewer turned on her digital camera. I wasn’t positive what to anticipate, what questions would possibly come or why the assembly had appeared so shortly on my calendar. I had by no means had one earlier than.
Because the interview started, she defined that it was firm coverage to ask me a sequence of survey questions, and I used to be requested to reply them actually. I nodded, and the survey started. I didn’t wish to be there—I didn’t wish to lose my job two days earlier than Christmas. However I agreed, hoping that my solutions would possibly enhance the corporate ultimately.
That have stayed with me. Since then, I’ve typically questioned if there’s a greater method to conduct exit interviews. Is there a proper or unsuitable method to do them?
All corporations are totally different, however there are methods to make exit interviews somewhat higher for these concerned. Let’s check out a number of.
Conduct exit interviews face-to-face
In keeping with Deborah McGee, president and CEO of PZI Group, a consultancy targeted on human assets outsourcing, one of many largest errors corporations make is skipping exit interviews altogether.
“It’s a disgrace as a result of I feel they lose out on useful data,” she says. “It’s a possibility for the worker to debate points that they could have felt… or issues that presumably the corporate may have achieved higher.”
McGee additionally emphasised that exit interviews ought to be carried out by human assets. This helps HR see what their inside managers are doing, whether or not in good methods, dangerous methods or ways in which may be detached, she explains.
She provides that exit interviews ought to be dealt with in individual, quite than by sending a survey to an worker’s inbox. “It ought to be achieved nose to nose. If any individual’s leaving your group, it is best to take the time to at the least spend 5 [or] 10 minutes with them,” she says.
Timing is one other key issue. It’s vital to not conduct an exit interview too early, as the worker nonetheless must work there, McGee explains.
At McGee’s firm, she prefers to schedule exit interviews two days earlier than the worker’s closing day. This provides them sufficient time to share their ideas whereas additionally permitting them to say their goodbyes and take part in farewell actions, like a closing lunch.
The objective is to make sure that they go away on a constructive word and keep a good relationship with each their colleagues and the corporate tradition, she says.
Watch what questions you ask
When conducting an exit interview, McGee suggests asking questions like, “‘What did you want about your place?’” She explains that it’s vital to keep in mind that no one hates every thing about their job.
Different questions to contemplate embody, “What would you will have achieved otherwise in the event you’d had the chance?” and “Would you take into account coming again to work for this group?”
McGee additionally recommends steering away from sure questions, equivalent to, “What didn’t you want about your supervisor?” or “Was there anybody particularly you had points with?” Whereas departing workers would possibly select to share these particulars, McGee stresses that the interview shouldn’t really feel like a witch hunt.
Whereas HR ought to have a information or template with inquiries to ask, it ought to function simply that: a information. Interviewers ought to take the time to know the person they’re interviewing—quite than merely studying off a listing of survey questions—and likewise remind them the place their efforts had been valued.
“Particularly in the event that they’re not leaving by alternative, then reward them for what they did for the corporate,” McGee says.
Don’t take suggestions personally
Exit interviews will be uncomfortable on each ends, particularly if the interviewee is hostile or upset, McGee says. It’s vital to acknowledge that the worker could also be going through tough circumstances, equivalent to dropping their insurance coverage.
“They’re in a very onerous spot that makes it uncomfortable,” she explains.
McGee additionally emphasizes that interviewers ought to keep away from taking damaging suggestions personally. “It should really feel private as a result of it’s individual to individual,” she says, however it shouldn’t be taken that means.
Total, an exit interview ought to be simply as vital as onboarding because it represents the worker’s closing expertise with the corporate. Due to this, it’s vital to know the aim behind the exit interview and make sure that it’s dealt with respectfully, McGee says.
What to do earlier than attending to an exit interview
Though exit interviews typically happen resulting from layoffs, they’ll additionally occur when workers select to go away for higher alternatives. Earlier than it will get to that time, it may be useful to verify in along with your workers whereas they’re nonetheless working in your firm.
“We truly do keep interviews,” McGee says. After six months or extra, she asks her workers, “‘Why do you stick with us? What are we doing effectively? How can we make it higher for you?’”
Conducting keep interviews addresses workers’ considerations proactively and creates a greater work surroundings, McGee says, which helps workers select to remain quite than go away.
Photograph by fizkes/Shutterstock.com
