Making exit interviews work: properly collected and analyzed data can provide valuable insight into employees' attitudes

HR Magazine, August, 2004 by Martha Frase-Blunt

When Kate McFarlane recently left her job after five years, she took advantage of her exit interview to vent. "Our HR rep had gotten the impression I was leaving because I was tired of the commute, but there was much more to it," she says. "Over the years my department and the firm itself had deteriorated to a point where I found I could no longer work there. So when he said, with a big smile on his face, 'I hear you're leaving because you found a job close to your house,' well, I took a deep breath and let him have it. I went on for about 20 minutes about what was wrong with the firm, the department, the management, the morale, the lighting, everything."

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While McFarlane, like many departing employees, used the exit interview to express years' worth of pent-up frustration, she says, "I ended by saying that I hoped my honesty would help change some of the circumstances and that hopefully the firm could return to the great company it was when I joined five years prior."

A month later McFarlane learned that several managers had been let go, including the HR rep. "I like to think that it had something to do with me," she says.

The information collected in an exit interview can give a company a unique perspective on its performance and employee satisfaction. People who leave may be brutally honest about their experiences without fear of immediate repercussions. In addition, it's likely they have recently been job hunting and interviewing and can offer some useful intelligence on how the company compares with other employers.

HR consultant ArLyne Diamond, who operates Diamond Associates in Santa Clara, Calif., specializes in people and processes in the workplace. She says she is amazed that companies will go through an exit interview without knowing why or how to use the information.

"Basically, the exit interview has three purposes: to learn where the company can improve itself, to make sure employees leave feeling good about their service and, in some cases, [to encourage] the employee to stay under new circumstances," Diamond says.

Discovering why employees leave should be an essential part of a company's strategic planning, but many miss this opportunity.

"Some firms may feel they are small enough or turnover is so low that they know why their staff leaves," says Brooks C. Holtom, an organizational behavior and HR management specialist at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business in Washington, D.C., who does employment-retention research. "But it's likely they are making assumptions that will naturally be biased in the company's favor."

Exit interview practices and policies vary widely according to company size and industry, but human resource professionals agree on at least three points:

* The company should have a formal policy regarding exit interviewing.

* Exit interviews should be reserved for voluntary separations, because issues raised by layoffs and terminations for cause will require a special approach.

* Exit interviews should be extended to all departing employees--not just key performers or long-timers.

But opinions and beliefs about exit interviews begin to diverge on questions of whether they should be mandatory, who should conduct them and how formal they need to be.

Voluntary Or Mandatory?

Phil Guilliams, who directs technology staffing and HR for the call center outsourcer Precision Response Corp. in Miami, says, at least for his group: "Exit interviews must be required as a formal part of outprocessing. Without the employee expectations of an obligatory exit interview, many would not participate." He notes, however, that employees who still decline are not penalized.

Diamond agrees that an exit interview should be an accepted expectation of employees. "But legally employers don't have a leg to stand on if an employee refuses," she says.

To encourage more employees to participate in an exit interview, employers should stress the confidentiality of the discussions.

"People are sometimes nervous about saying too much and possibly burning bridges," says Guilliams. "They rely on former managers and team members for references and networking.

"One of the worst experiences I've had in my career arose from an exit interview where I had to report bad behavior by a manager. Almost immediately my comments got back to him, and he openly lost his temper in the office. It chilled the entire workplace."

Guilliams says he informs all departing employees that their comments will be scrubbed of identifying information before being shared with anyone in the office, with some exceptions. "If they report criminal behavior, sexual harassment, incidents of discrimination or other legal issues, I have an obligation to take action," he says. "I encourage them to be as honest as they can, [and I explain] that the point is to learn what we do well and what we can do better to keep our clients and staff happy."

Assuring confidentiality might be more difficult for small employers and those with low turnover because the sources of the intelligence may be obvious.