Readers Respond: Your Favorite Exit Interview Questions, Tips, and Stories

The exit interview is a powerful tool that you can make use of to listen to the feedback of an employee who is terminating his or her employment with your organization. How you conduct the exit interview will determine the honesty and usefulness of the feedback you receive. The goal is, of course, honest feedback that you can use to improve your organization and prevent the loss of valued employees. What are your favorite exit interview questions? And, do you have tips about conducting an exit interview to ensure the trustworthiness and usefulness of the information you receive? Readers share exit interview stories.

• Readers respond to additional questions about Human Resources and management and share their workplace stories.

Exit Interviews

Exit Interviews are very good for a number of reasons. However, there are a number of commonly occurring mistakes being made by those that execute them. 1. The wrong person usually conducts them; the Report Manager or the HR Manager or an outside contractor. 2. They are conducted at the wrong time, in the last week of notice or after they have left. 3. They ask the wrong questions, ie. why are you resigning, which has a limited number of responses, ie. more money, closer to home, more opportunity... When we get this right we will have valuable exit feedback.

—Guest Michael Minns

Bureaucracy never cares who exits or why

I am an HR professional serving in a government power sector company for more than fourteen years. I now plan to voluntarily exit this organisation even when I am not sure to get a way out to fulfill my future needs. At this stage, the organisation has done a total suck of my mental and physical health at the age of 47 years. All my proficiency, knowledge, and skills have been humiliated throughout these years, but I compromised for the immediate necessity for money. Politically imposed, worst top management surrounded by corrupt, mean, unskilled non-professional middle management assisted by hopelessly poor performing lower management. Similar color staff do work in nexus for purely personal interest having no real well wishes for the organisation. Respected professionals/ employers/ employees, all academic H.R. concepts are ridiculous in real life situations. Don't wonder, I alone am responsible for complete HR for around 2300 manpower without any real office/men/machine/IT resources or support. Nobody cares if I am living/dead.

—Guest Ashok Chouhan

Exit interview

I have an employee who has great skills but refuses to communicate. I sat down with her/him to review points in our Employee Manual and he/she got up and said "I'm done talking" and resigned. Do I need an exit interview? How can I conduct one with someone who would rather resign than talk? (Susan says, you can try to schedue one, but they do not have to participate. This individual will probably choose not to. You should follow your normal practice to not treat this person differently.)

—Guest beacon

Face to Face or just leave the place

An exit interview must be done face-to-face in order to convince the employee that somebody is listening. Otherwise it's an insult. If HR can't be bothered to speak to me in person, that's a good reason to leave all by itself. Surveys are a dime-a-dozen. To show class, listen live.

—Guest Michael

Exit Interview Useful

The Exit Interview questions were covering most of the points which one can freely share while leaving the organisation. Any employee leaving an organisation is a loss to any organisation. Here the organisation is not only losing person but also losing the time spent on training, moulding as per company culture, experience and, last but not least, the personal contacts he/she established in the course of his/her tenure. This loss is difficult to quantify. Feedback form is a good tool to excercise for betterment and improvement of working conditions of any organisation. Management can take appropriate actions to minimise the attrition which is a big challenge.

—Guest vijay Laddha

A Check for an Interview

When an employee is terminated, they understand that their last check is a "live" check and they must pick it up at the corporate office. They call to make an appointment to pick up their check and at that time they understand that they will be given an exit interview. Since the employee wants their last check, they are more willing to go through this process.

—Guest Morgan