Although they are considered to be pointless by some companies, exit interviews are actually one of the most effective ways to find out the truth about how well your company is doing. Unfortunately, the number of employees who actually take such interviews is very less.
Exit interviews are a good source of feedback from outgoing employees who are resigning from the organization. An exit interview can be very beneficial to the company because it offers the following:
A truthful and rare look into the running of the company
The feedback on a company from a working employee is barely useful, because such data is always biased. Most current employees in an organization would never give honest feedback because they are still part of that company. Consequently, employees cannot break away from their sense of loyalty toward the company- either voluntarily or involuntarily. Consequently, you would only get biased feedback about the organization’s running, and the only thing that would differ is the degree of bias.
On the other hand, an employee who has ended his/her tenure in the company amicably is more likely to give an honest, no-holds-barred feedback about the organization before leaving. Employees who have resigned are no longer obliged to be the torchbearers of the organization, and they can freely talk about the good and bad points about the company.
What makes such unbiased and truthful feedback important is that it is also one of the rarest ways to find out how well the company is doing on the inside. Clients and other third parties can always give unbiased viewpoints of the company- but they cannot judge how the company works and treats its employees because they are not a part of the workforce. Employees who are leaving the company, on the other hand, are perfect candidates because they are fully aware of the working of the company and are not bound by it anymore, making them the best judge.
Why are exit interview rates so low?
The question that still remains is, “how can you get enough employees to give exit interviews to accurately measure the working of your company?” To answer this question, you must first gauge the reasons for the low rate of exit interviews in companies:
- The process is too long, and time is the last thing an employee would give to the company when he/she has resigned
- The interview is confusing and may be too invasive or discomforting for some employees
- The employee feels that exit interviews are just a formality by the HR department
- The employee is too angry with the company to commit to any kind of feedback session
Tips to improve exit interview rates
Now that you know some of the major reasons for low exit interview rates, here are some tips or measures that you can follow to improve the numbers:
- Go back to your exit interview process, and look at it from the viewpoint of the employees. See what can be changed to make it less of a hassle
- Make your exit interview more friendly and easy to complete. You can even make it an online feedback test.
- Try to include multiple choice answers, with optional written feedback. You can also add a ‘no comment’ or ‘cannot say’ option for questions that may seem too invasive
- Keep the process as short as possible, and try not to keep the person waiting for a long time
- Talk to employees who are resigning and let them know the importance of exit interviews. Assure them that their answers will be taken seriously.
Most importantly, you must continuously review and improve the structure and the content of your exit interview to get the best results. Always consider the importance of such interviews, and keep looking for new ways to improve your exit interview rates.
