Exit Interview Form FAQs
1) What’s the purpose of an exit interview form?
Exit interviews help employers understand why employees are leaving the company (e.g., higher salary or better benefits elsewhere, work-life imbalance, denial of a request to work remotely, etc).
By asking these departing employees about their reasons for leaving, employers can identify strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities within the organization to improve retention and engagement company-wide.
Exit interview surveys can also provide insights into how employees perceive the company and what improvements the company could make to improve the workplace environment or employee benefits.
Additionally, a proper exit interview form can improve a company’s risk management process, potentially uncovering situations, like discrimination or harassment, an employee may have encountered before they officially leave the organization.
The more you know about an employee’s departure before they exit, the more likely you are to address and defuse any issues internally, reducing the risk they’ll take further action — such as seeking litigation, complaining on social media, or requesting an external investigation.
2) What questions should you ask in an exit interview form?
Your exit interview form should be specific to your company culture, industry, and overall messaging, but there are still some universal questions all exit interview forms should include. Here are seven questions — and a few granular follow-up questions — you should ask:
- What is/are the main reason(s) you’re leaving this position?
-Were there specific events or circumstances you experienced while in your position that made you want to leave and/or work elsewhere? If so, what were they? If not, what was the deciding factor (e.g., change in career path, lack of growth opportunities, personal/familial responsibilities, etc.)?
- If you have a new position lined up, what does it offer that we can’t/don’t (e.g., higher salary, better benefits, the ability to work from home, etc.)?
-Did we attempt to match it? If we had offered to match it, would you have stayed?
- Did you feel your management team and coworkers adequately supported you here?
-Did your managers give you clear goals and objectives?
-Did they provide you sufficient and thoughtful feedback on how to improve?
-Did we give you the tools (software, training, hardware, etc.) to succeed?
- How would you describe our company culture?
-Did you align with it?
- Did you feel your job responsibilities changed at any point after we hired you?
-If so, in what ways? Did that affect your decision to leave?
- What were your favorite and least favorite aspects of your job?
- What can we improve on as an organization (e.g., training and development, staff support, company culture, etc.)?
While asking short, straightforward, closed-ended questions (using Likert scales or rating systems, for example) will improve completion rates, it’s important to ask some open-ended questions too.
Asking employees to provide further detail about their employment experience — instead of just having them answer “yes or no” or “satisfied or not satisfied” questions — will give you a deeper understanding of why they’re really leaving.
3) What questions should you avoid asking in an exit interview?
While exit interview questions can vary from business to business, there are a few you should never ask, regardless of organization type or industry.
Avoid questions that address office gossip, involve your opinion on company issues or other employees, or request the employee to reconsider exiting.
These questions can stir up anger and frustration in the employee — especially if they’re leaving for a particularly unpleasant reason — or provide fodder that they can then share with their former colleagues who still work for you.
Also, avoid asking questions about an employee’s family or religion. Not only can these types of questions make employees feel uncomfortable, but they may be against the law in some cases.
Keep the focus of the interview on the employee who’s leaving — this is about their feedback, after all — and remain as impartial as possible.
Ask questions that will help you understand the employee’s experience at the company and how they felt about their job. That way, you can identify areas that need improvement and prevent employee departures in the future.
4) What are some common exit interview mistakes?
When done correctly, exit interviews provide valuable insights that can help a company make adjustments to retain its employees. However, a few common mistakes can make exit interviews less effective:
- Not asking all employees a standard set of questions. A lack of standardization makes it difficult to compare results and identify patterns.
- Not making the exit interview process confidential. Employees may be less likely to give honest feedback if they think their employer could use their responses against them.
- Not following up on the results of exit interviews. If a company doesn’t use the insights it gains from exit interviews, it’s unlikely retention will improve.
5) How can I make sure my company conducts effective exit interviews?
Exit interviews can provide valuable feedback, but if a company wants them to be effective, it must conduct them properly. Here are some tips for ensuring your exit interviews are effective:
- Make sure the questionnaire is clear and concise. The questions should be easy to understand and relevant to the individual’s departure from the organization.
- Allow enough time for completion. Give respondents enough time to answer the questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.
- Respect confidentiality. Ensure that respondents feel safe answering the questions honestly and without fear of retribution.
- Follow up as needed. If respondents have additional comments or suggestions, follow up with them after the interview to get more details.
- Analyze the results. Review the data collected from the exit interviews and look for trends or patterns. Use this information to improve your organization’s policies and procedures.
6) Can an exit interview or exit interview form be used against the company?
The short answer is not really. Employees aren’t required by law to participate in exit interviews, and they’re free to be as forthcoming or tight-lipped as they want. However, there are some exceptions depending on the state.
For example, in California, an employer can use information obtained in an exit interview to defend themselves against a wrongful termination lawsuit. If you’re in a state with similar laws, be sure to consult with an attorney before conducting an exit interview.
Exit interviews can be particularly helpful in ascertaining whether the departing employee plans to take any further action against the company. More importantly, exit interviews can provide insight into critical grievances — salary and benefit issues, communication breakdowns, and various employment disparities — that an organization needs to address before more people leave.
7) How can your company and its HR department benefit from exit interview forms?
HR and your company as a whole can greatly benefit from using exit interview forms and conducting exit interviews. They enable you to not only learn about why your employees decided to leave, but also to collect key insights on how to better serve your current employees as HR professionals.
By gathering and analyzing exit interview responses, your HR team and your company can identify patterns or similar narratives around why people leave the team. To retain staff and keep current employees satisfied, it’s key to learn what went wrong or what could have been done better to keep an employee. Exit interview forms allow HR departments to lead their teams to success with data-driven results.
8) What are the key benefits of using the Exit Interview Form for employees and employers?
As mentioned above, a lot of the key benefits of using this Exit Interview Form template revolves around learning and growing as an HR team and a company. Exit interview forms can also benefit current employees and employers by encouraging company-wide changes to better suit employee issues and requests.
9) What information should be included in the exit interview form?
Exit interview forms should include form fields for the employee’s name, job title, last day of employment, reason for termination, and custom questions specific to your company or organization. Tailor your exit interview form to ask a number of questions specific to your company and culture to make the most out of your exit interviews.
For example, you could ask why the employee chose to leave the company, if there was anything more they could have done to keep them on the team, if they would consider rejoining the team, and more, depending on what topics you’d like to target specifically.
10) When should I fill out the exit interview form?
You should fill out an exit interview form when you’re about to leave your job. Usually, employers send this form out during an employee’s last week or day of employment.
