Employee exit interviews are one of the most overlooked tools when it comes to improving employee engagement and retention.
Perhaps employers feel too awkward or find it too difficult to ask exit survey questions – but it is one of the most important steps in the employee experience cycle, because it gives you the opportunity to have a conversation about how your team really feels, and get insights that would unlikely ever be shared by team members who are still employed.
It can also provide your team members with closure, and help both parties move on amicably.
Really good exit interview questions don’t beat around the bush – they encourage open and honest conversations, even when the answers are confronting or hard to hear, so you can address pain points in your organisation and prevent more employees leaving.
An exit interview is a meeting between an employer and a leaving employee to discuss the team member’s reasons for leaving and feedback about their experience at the organisation.
This information helps companies improve their policies, culture, and employee retention strategies.
Exit interviews are a chance to gather really frank feedback from departing employees – often giving you insights that might not surface during their time working with you.
Unlike other forms of feedback, exit interviews and surveys can uncover systemic issues within your company’s culture, which are often the challenges that need to be addressed most, but are overlooked.
Unlike other forms of feedback, exit surveys can uncover systemic issues within your company’s culture, which are often the challenges that need to be addressed most. 
An exit interview and an exit survey both have the same goal – understand why an employee is leaving and gather feedback to improve the workplace.
The main difference is how they’re executed – an exit interview is face-to-face chat, whereas an exit survey is completed via an online form or survey platform.
Both have benefits and are great ways to get insights, just in different styles.
Yes, exit surveys conducted with Stribe are completely anonymous.
To protect anonymity, you won’t be able to view exit surveys responses until a minimum of five employees have completed the survey, after that all results will be loaded into your reporting dashboard for viewing.
On the other hand, exit interviews are not anonymous, as they are conducted face-to-face.
This could cause exiting employees to feel uncomfortable and withhold their true feelings and experiences, so we would always recommend opting for an anonymous exit survey instead.
Why should employers bother conducting exit interviews?
Exit feedback and conversations with employees may be difficult to hear, but they give you valuable insights into how to drive forward your business and avoid more talented employees leaving.
In exit interviews, you’re going to want to focus on measuring metrics that cover reasons for leaving, role feedback, and opinions on managers, pay, and company culture.
Also try to gather insights on the working environment, development opportunities, and whether they’d recommend your organisation to others in future.
These metrics will lead you to identify improvement areas, enhance your retention, and strengthen employer brand.
Download the free PDF of this employee exit survey question template via the form at the top of this article.
In our opinion, a good exit survey will always have three things key things – clarity, anonymity, and accountability – which means you will act from the feedback given!
This part of the exit process can be awkward and intimidating, so it’s important to communicate with people about why it’s part of the off-boarding process. Explain that their feedback is appreciated, and will make a difference to the future of the business.
When people understand why behind something, they are more likely to participate.
Let’s be realistic for a moment, when employees make the decision to leave it’s usually because they aren’t happy with something going on in the workplace! (Not always, but often).
That means you must be prepared to hear negative feedback and ask some difficult questions.
Our tip is to keep an open-mind and remind yourself that feedback is a gift, not a punishment. As the saying goes – listen to understand, not to reply.
We’ve already touched on this point, but it’s so important it’s worth reiterating. Active listening strategies will help you to understand the perspective and experiences of exiting employees – listen to what they have to say and implement meaningful change from their feedback.
That’s all it takes to build a happier, healthier team!
Finally, always take a moment to say thank you and show your appreciation for your employees’ time and feedback.
About the author
Starting out her early career as a journalist, Jade Madeley is an accomplished content writer with 8+ years’ experience across business, personal finance, SaaS, human resources and employee engagement. Working with Stribe, she crafts insightful content that brings complex HR topics to life and drives meaningful action.
