I have conducted many Exit interviews and I have found they are pretty useless. Here’s why:

1. The individual emotionally let go a long time ago. 

2. The reason for leaving is not always salary. 

3. Exit interviews are not always accurate. Many people like to leave on a good note so they don’t tell the real reason why. 

Too often when employees start to leave their companies, HR makes sure to schedule exit interviews to find out what is going on. It’s like trying to figure out what went wrong after being served with divorce papers. I think time and energy would be much better spent focusing on creating a culture of transparency, open communication and most importantly training managers on how to lead (treat people well). 

The truth is if you are aware of issues as they happen and most importantly take the necessary steps to rectify them — then you may just find yourself not needing to conduct exit interviews at all. 

Some comments 

David Mcaskill – Agreed!  I believe that employee retention is very important and the way to keep good employees is to engage them on a regular basis.  Direct questions work.  What are we doing correctly?  What could we do better? etc. 

From Kelly P – Thanks for this post Brigette. As a leader, one should very rarely be surprised when a staff member leaves . If you are connecting, coaching and building a trusting relationship with your staff, you will know if the position is not working and why before an exit interview

From Dawn – Well said!! Best to treat people well and follow up consistently with employees. Listening to employees is the best feedback you can get on whether or not you are doing a good job as an employer. Working with an employee to resolve any issues and creating a positive work environment that values open communication is key to retention.

Anon – It’s always about the money

Another – it’s never about the money – it’s about the culture , the leader, not learning, pressure cooker  or a mixed bag of them .

What was your reason for leaving?