I was asked recently about exit interviews, specifically the questions a company should ask to get the best feedback from their outgoing employees. I decided to share the list here. To be honest, I'm not at all a fan of exit interviews. That's why, after my list of questions, I'm also including the advice that I give to employees.
In a perfect world, an exit interview is a conversation, with no strings attached (consequences) meant to get honest feedback and insights from departing employees. The employee’s responses would be used to make small and large improvements in a number of areas.
Questions to ask:
1) In your resignation, you gave ___________ as your reason for leaving. Do you have anything to add to that, or can you expand on that reason?
2) What prompted you to start looking outside the company for a new job?
3) Did you talk to your manager before or after you started looking externally, to see if those reasons could be mitigated?
4) Tell me what you enjoyed most about your job?
5) Tell me what you enjoyed the least about your job?
6) Think back to your onboarding at our company. Did you feel like the process properly acclimated you for your job? Were your job responsibilities and expectations made clear?
7) Were you provided with the resources you needed to be successful in your role?
8) In one or two sentences, how would you describe the culture of our company?
9) What can you tell me about your relationships with your manager and coworkers?
10) Did you ever have concerns about inconsistent or unclear communications from the management team?
11) Were you able to grow in your role? Did your time here meet your career advancement expectations?
12) Were you satisfied with your full compensation and benefits package?
13) How does your compensation here compare to those offered by your new employer?
14) If it were in your hands, what improvements would you make to our workplace and culture?
15) Is there anything else you’d like to share about your time here?
Now for the other half of my advice...
As a career coach, I emphatically suggest that employees forgo taking part in exit interviews. In my 20 years in this industry, I have exactly zero examples of a company taking advice from an outgoing employee to make things better for their current and future employees. On the other hand, I have plenty of examples of emotional outbursts (on both sides), lost references, and burned bridges. That’s not to say that EVERY exit interview ends badly, but why take the chance? After all, if a company were truly interested in employee feedback, they would have a formal process to gather information before someone is walking out the door. It’s also worth noting that if the only way a company can get feedback from their employees is through an exit interview, they’ve got a huge management problem…which is what they’d hear in an exit interview.
But what if your employer schedules time on your calendar while you’re still getting paid? Yes, it’s possible that you may not be able to get out of one if your manager or HR really, really wants to conduct an exit interview. In that case, be neutral. Focus on the skills you developed on the job rather than the problems. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being bad and 10 being good), stay solidly in the 5-6 range. Don’t sell your soul with false praise, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot with the harshest of truths.