An exit interview is separate from the termination meeting. Information exchanged at exit interviews may benefit both the company and employee. For example, you may learn that a supervisor is not leading employees as well as you thought. Or, you may find that your employees need more training in a particular area.
A representative from the human resources department typically conducts exit interviews. If you don't have a formal human resources department, a senior manager other than the employee's immediate supervisor should conduct the interview. Of course, the objectivity desired from an exit interview is lost if you have also conducted the termination meeting. Thus, in a very small company, you might want to provide the employee with a simple exit interview survey, and ask them to complete and mail it back to you.
In the case of a terminated employee, discuss or clarify the reasons for the termination. For employees that have resigned, the employer may learn about the reasons leading to the employee's decision.
Listed below are steps to guide you through the exit interview process.
Prepare for the interview by briefly talking with the employee's manager and reading the employee's personnel file, performance appraisals, and other documents.
Set a meeting agenda. Allow enough time for discussion.
Prepare questions similar to those of an employee attitude survey such as:
Do you feel management communicates well?
What changes would help employees do their jobs better?Schedule the meeting as close as possible to the employee's departure from the company. Many companies plan this as the last stop for departing employees.
Explain the purpose of the interview to the employee that is to gather information about the employee's perception of the company and how it treats employees.
Assure the employee that comments made during the exit interview will remain anonymous except in the case of allegations of misconduct.
Be prepared to answer employee's questions.
Set the right tone. Be warm, receptive and interested in what the employee has to say. Listen. Don't insert personal comments, provide opinions or defend the company and its actions. Your role is to gather information and stay objective.
Review any noncompetition or nondisclosure agreements they may have signed.
Gather or verify that all company property and material has been returned.
Document the exit interview.
Many companies develop an exit interview form that is completed by the interviewer.
