#414 Exit interviews - procedure, details, benefits - article by Niels Brabandt
Exit interviews - procedure, details, benefits
an article by Niels Brabandt
Employees leave your organisation.
This moment happens whether you like it or not. The question is how to deal with it. Exit interviews are one way of covering many important aspects. Unfortunately, many organisations on the market still do not conduct exit interviews or perform them without structure, with the wrong approach or objectives.
How can you conduct exit interviews that deliver the desired benefits for you and your organisation?
Best practice
An important factor is the right date. It is often decided that an exit interview should occur close to the time of the notice of termination. This decision is wrong, as you aim to convince an employee to stay. This approach is not the goal of an exit interview. Make sure that the person conducting the interview is neutral. The manager with whom a dispute previously arose or the HR person who defended the manager's side in the dispute is not suitable here. Neutrality is the top priority. An exit interview is not an argument.
The exit interview itself is semi-structured. Fully structured exit interviews quickly sound like the fulfilment of a duty, a list to be ticked off, a necessary burden. Semi-structured interviews provide questions as a guideline and then leave enough room for further explanations so that the conversation does not appear too rigid. Psychological safety must be guaranteed at all times.
The basic procedure is to listen, document, and conclude. There is no defence of misconduct, no justification, no pretended reasons, and certainly no accusations against the person leaving the organisation.
Benefits
Well-conducted exit interviews offer a variety of benefits. You often find out the reason why the person leaves the organisation. Some of these could have been avoided, others are beyond your control - an important distinction. As the interviewer, never judge or condemn the reasons. If you are given no reason or only pretended reasons, this is a clear warning signal for the management and organisational culture, which indicates a need for immediate action.
In a good interview, you will find out numerous details about satisfaction and the actual organisational and management culture. You will also find out whether your pay is still competitive and in line with the market, which is playing an increasingly important role nowadays. Career developments, or the lack thereof, are often insights you can gain.
After the interview, it must be clearly seen that there is a process to improve the situation for the future. Simply recording necessary fields of action without any real activity will quickly earn you the reputation of a list-swiping administrative unit. Real improvement is absolutely essential.
You can learn more about these topics in detail in this week's videocast and podcast - see links below.
Implementation
Professional training or further interviewers' training is essential for implementing these fundamental requirements. Regardless of management experience or organisational affiliation, nobody conducts an exit interview well without professional training. Neither a cheap online course nor a one-page document with predefined questions sent by e-mail will achieve the desired results. It is customary for interviewers to undergo a review. This step is not intended as a punishment but as feedback. A second, equally professionally trained person offers feedback, reflections, the outside view that you can never have yourself.
Here, too, it is important that there is a binding follow-up. The usual excuses from the manager being from another generation, excuses as to why someone does not want to be trained or further trained in this area, or the suggestion that the manager is rather old-fashioned and authoritarian anyway does not help anyone. Stop making excuses for the non-delivery of today's job market expectations.
Conclusion: Exit interviews are invaluable and extremely useful, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of organisations, but only if they are carried out correctly, professionally and purposefully.
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More on this topic in this week's podcast: Videocast / Apple Podcasts / Spotify
For a transcript, check the videocast.
Is excellent leadership important to you?
Let's have a chat: NB@NB-Networks.com
Contact: Niels Brabandt on LinkedIn
Website: www.NB-Networks.biz
Niels Brabandt is an expert in sustainable leadership with more than 20 years of experience in practice and science.
Niels Brabandt: Professional Training, Speaking, Coaching, Consulting, Mentoring, Project & Interim Management. Event host, MC, moderator.