Exit Interviews Conducted By Over 90% Of Companies

According to a study by the Society of Human Resource Management, over 90% of companies conduct exit interviews. Exit interviewing is one of the most widely used methods of gathering employee feedback.

Exit Interviews Versus Employee Satisfaction Surveys

One of the benefits of exit interviews over employee satisfaction surveys is that they are conducted when an employee is leaving. This diminishes the urgency in which a company must act on the feedback provided in the exit interview. With employee surveys, it’s imperative to act on the results of the employee satisfaction surveys as quickly as possible. Once you provide employees the opportunity to tell you where the problems are, they expect immediate action on those problems. With exit interviews, you have a greater opportunity to review the data and look for trends over time. Employers can take action on problem areas as they see fit without causing further concern among employees.

Post Employment Exit Interviews

One of the newest fads is conducting the exit interview after the employee has been gone from the company for 3 or 6 months. The theory behind this strategy is that employee will have a better perspective on things once he or she has had a chance to reflect on his or her employment. Therefore, the employee is expected to provide more valuable information in an exit interview if it is held six months after employment. In research that Nobscot has conducted, this theory has yet to hold up. The majority of companies that have tried these kinds of Post-Employment exit interviews found that the results were similar to those conducted immediately upon termination. Additionally, it’s difficult and time consuming to reach employees this far after employment has discontinued.

Generally, you can expect to get the most valuable information by exit interviewing a few days before or after an employee leaves the company. The employee’s employment experiences are fresh in his or her mind and the employee is usually happy to express their final thoughts before leaving the company.

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© Copyright B. Carvin, 2002. Reprint with permission, email bncarvin@nobscot.com

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