Employee Exit Interviews for Feedback

What is an Exit Interview? The Employee Exit Interview’s Purpose

An Exit Interview is a Question & Answer session conducted with a separating employee. Exit Interviews can be face-face, voice-based calls, or through online exit interview websites (aka exit surveys). An exit interview can be delivered by the employer or an independent third party. Outsourcing exit interviews increases assurance of confidentiality.

The purpose of employee exit interviews is to capture the employee experience, identify the motivational drivers toward separation, and to determine the action(s) that will decrease the likelihood of recurrence. Exit Interviews are one of the three (3) pillars of the “Employee Feedback Triad” for people analytics (New Hire Surveys, Stay Interviews, Exit Interviews). This is because it is an irreplaceable tool to gather exit interview feedback and determine why people leave, which can only occur when people leave. As a data-gathering tool, a valid Exit Interview pinpoints “Why Employees Quit” with the highest accuracy. There is no alternate instrument that can replicate it with any comparable confidence. Therefore it is considered an essential data source in Talent Management.

Why Use Exit Interview Software to Conduct Exit Interviews?

Well-crafted Exit Interview programs help companies gain valuable insight from all entities involved in a separation (HR, Manager, Peers, etc…). These insights serve to target high-potential new hires during recruiting, and increase current high-performer talent retention. The exit interview process can mitigate the impact of the departing employee and calibrate future retention strategies.

By gathering positive and constructive feedback, employers that outsource employee exit interviews are able to prioritize their retention solutions and action plans to get results faster.

How much do exit interviews cost?

Exit interviews help eliminate assumptions

Management tends to view compensation as the primary reason employees leave companies. A recent survey that found 89% of managers believe employees leave for more money, but 88% of employees listed reasons for leaving other than compensation.* Additionally, recognize the potential value of conducting exit interviews from involuntary separations (or terminated employees) to reduce legal exposure and to identify characteristics of those who do not fit the organization.

Disengaged employees think about quitting while you pay them

Competent and qualified high performers always have job prospects. Who you want to retain are the hardest to keep:

Based on extensive research, 65% to 84% of employees are passively or actively looking for new jobs, while employers estimate this number to be 37%.*
Additionally, research shows that the highest traffic period for job seekers viewing online job postings is between 10am to 2 pm**, and Careerbuilder.com indicates that peak times for job search are around lunch time.
Furthermore, over 70% of all employees negotiate and accept competitors’ job offers during work hours, while you pay them.

Once employees disengage, you cannot stop them from job searching. If you don’t know why employees leave, you will not be able to keep your employees from leaving. Still not sure what an exit interview is? Exit interviews are one of the most cost effective tools you can use to gain insight to help continuously engage and retain your best employees. You can improve the workplace so that even if some employees resign, more don’t follow.

Retaining good employees will only get harder

FACT: As unemployment decreases, turnover increases. With more companies competing for your top talent, investing a few dollars to retain is far cheaper than the cost to replace. Whether their reasons include recognition, better benefits, direct supervisor, or career opportunities, you need to know. An exit interview is the ideal, and often only, way for you to uncover exactly why your employees resign. For a company to get the best insight, it is important to exit interview everyone who separates. Contact us, and learn more.

Web Exit Interviews

If capturing feedback from separating employees for a flat-fee online sounds appealing, Web Exit Interviews are the way to go. In most exit interview software, a customizable email is sent directly to the employee’s email inbox. If you choose to outsource exit interviews With ExitPro, you can also save time by attaching custom “Separation Documents” to the exit survey invitation. If the employee does not complete the Exit Interview, automatic reminders are sent to increase completion rates.

When completing the exit interview, employees have the option of entering their comments as well as self-selecting codes that best capture and reflect their responses. With an HRIS integration, it is also possible to completely automate the exit interview process – set it up once and have reports delivered directly to your inbox.

Web Exit Interviews may be the best choice if:

Employees have an email account on record
There are documents to send/receive during the separation process
Cost is a consideration (get widest feedback for the lowest charge)
Your staff may wish to respond to the web exit interview outside of typical work hours
Managers or HR need to complete survey questions related to the separating employee
Full automation of the separation and Exit Interview process is desired

Get 5 Free Web Exit Interviews

Live Voice Exit Interviews

When you want to provide the most personalized experience and obtain the fullest insight from separating employees, choose Live Voice Exit Interviews. Often over the phone, these exit interviews are most appropriate when organizations want a complete picture of the employee’s perceptions. Live Voice exit interviews are used with staff, managers and directors to capture the complex impact of employee departures. Some firms apply Live Voice exit interviews for all staff when they want to make a statement that “Our people are important here”. Other employers target a “High-Value” or “High-Volume” staff population.

Companies have several options in how they conduct exit interviews. ExitPro supports every format. Outsourcing exit interviews with Live Voice interviews, provides your organization with trained exit interview specialists administering exit interviews and capturing data, while still getting ExitPro’s advanced reporting and predictive analytics. All exit interview data is processed by ExitPro, and your organization will have real-time access to ExitPro’s comprehensive reporting and trend-tracking features. If you have an existing exit interview process, leverage ExitPro to streamline and centralize all exit interviews.

Live Voice Exit Interviews might be the best choice if:

You want to capture as much insight and commentary as possible
Not every employee has a reliable email address on file
The highest possible completion rate is desired
The strongest employee experience is key to your Employer Brand
Employees might be hesitant to provide feedback electronically

If you are interested in outsourcing exit interviews, exit interview specialists can act as impartial third parties whose objective is to help your company completely understand why your best employees leave. The outsourced approach allows for more confidentiality and privacy, resulting in more candid employee feedback.

View our types of Exit Interview software here.

SMS Text Exit Interviews (or) Mobile Exit Surveys

If you want to increase exit interview completion rates cost-effectively, SMS Text or Mobile Exit Interviews is a great option. Everyone has a phone and they rarely put it down. With constant texting and streaming, this method will result in higher view rates and completion rates. With 20 years of experience we see that the more mediums an organization adds to send exit interview forms, the more likely employees will respond. SMS Text enables employee relations managers to encourage honest and candid employee feedback from staff in written form and send instant messages in several languages all without access to a computer.

A QR Code is often associated with Mobile Exit Surveys and is a growing medium for employee feedback. Facilitating SMS Text or QR Codes for exit surveys increase response rates highest for hourly staff like retail, warehouse, manufacturing and blue-collar employees. ExitPro was the first exit interview software to automate SMS Text invitations to conduct exit interviews.

Mobile or SMS Text Survey Invitations are a great addition if:

Your workforce requires a mobile-friendly solution
Separating employees are “offline” who do not have company emails (such as those in the fields, hourly workers, or transient workforce)
Interest in attracting the Gen Z and Millennial populations
Desire to increase exit interview completion rates by 5-10%

Paper Form Exit Interviews

Sometimes organizations need to implement Paper Form Exit Interviews. Employees in manufacturing, retail, mining, telecommunications, transportation, or other field-based industries may not have access to the Internet. In these cases, a printed exit interview form or questionnaire is provided. If a paper form exit interview process makes the most sense for your organization, you can still get all the benefits of using ExitPro along with the support of trained exit interview specialists. All exit interview data can be entered into ExitPro by another employee at your organization and will be processed using the same technology; your organization will have the same access to ExitPro’s comprehensive reporting and trend-tracking features.

Paper Form Exit Interviews may be best if:

Provides convenience for employees who do not have easy access to the Internet
Very straight-forward procedure for the separating employee

Request A Demo Today