Every company experiences staff
turnover. To ease these transitions,
many companies follow a scripted off-boarding process, including a formal or
informal exit interview.
A recent survey of HR professionals
showed that nearly 75 percent of all companies utilize some form of exit interview.
Properly executed, exit interviews provide a
venue for managers and executives to gain
accurate insights from departing employees.
“You want to hear supportive, positive
comments about your organization, but I
think the more successful employers are
the ones open to receiving criticism, and
knowing how to effectively respond to it,”
said Chris Roederer, senior vice president,
human resources, Tampa General Hospital,
and director, Tampa Bay WorkForce
Alliance.
Smart Business recently spoke with
Roederer about what you can learn from
departing employees, and how to develop a
formal and informal process to garner the
most honest and constructive input.
What kind of information can departing
employees provide to the company?
Departing employees can provide both
positive and critical information — and both
types are valuable. If feedback on organizational programs or processes is positive, it
may reinforce that you are doing something
that shouldn’t be changed, or can be built
upon to continue enhancing it. If the feedback provides negative or critical information, then it’s especially valuable for the
employer to address. The key to processing
the information is to look at the trends and
not isolated incidents. Some employees may
have a personal issue and decide to use the
exit interview to express dissatisfaction that
may or may not warrant further review. If
you begin to see a common trend developing
that negatively impacts the organization,
then it needs to be addressed.
How can business owners get past the negative stigma attached to exiting employees
and take advantage of the situation?
In most cases, employees don’t leave for
negative reasons so employers shouldn’t take an employee’s departure as personal.
Employees leave for many reasons including advancement opportunities, greater
compensation or relocation. I think the
employer first has to be open to receive the
information, and not always think that the
first thing the employee is going to do is
express negative feelings or dissatisfaction.
However, if it is negative, that’s when the
employers need to objectively receive that
information and take advantage of that data
to improve their organization. Remember, if
something is wrong, the worst thing for an
employer is to have no knowledge of a problem or situation, and exit interviews provide
a vehicle to know.
Who within the company should be handling
the exit interviews?
Based on my experience, exit interviews
should be conducted externally, for multiple
purposes. Employees are typically more
open with their comments because they
have a greater sense of confidentiality and
objectivity, and you’ll get a greater percentage of responses from departing employees.
Also, many organizations don’t have the
resources, depending on their size and
financial situation, to meet with every
departing employee. In addition to the
external exit process, organizations should
also allow for opportunities for feedback
internally prior to an employee’s departure.
Always offer an open door feedback policy
for internal one-on-one discussions and
maintain that personal contact with the
employee.
How formal or informal should the process
be?
The exit process should be a mixture of
formal and informal or, at a minimum, formal. If you’re doing it just one way, you’re
missing an opportunity. The formal part of
the exit process allows for the employees to
express their opinions while allowing for
you to gather documented data to determine
if trends exits. Ideally, the exit interview
should be conducted prior to the departure
of the employee. If the employee provides
feedback on a negative situation that warrants attention by the employer, the employment may be a situation worth salvaging.
Once an employee leaves, it makes it harder
to salvage the situation. In addition to the
formal exit process, you should also ensure
that the door is open for an informal meeting
with management or with a human resources representative. This gives the employee another opportunity to express his or
her thoughts, both positive and negative.
How can business owners best get honest
feedback and, in turn, use it to better business?
It’s like doing anything relative to employee communication and soliciting feedback.
You’ve got to communicate the results to
the existing staff to demonstrate your willingness to listen, take action and respond.
Too many employers do surveys and then
don’t respond. If employees sense it’s a
waste of time, future surveys become less
and less valuable, or reliable, because
employees will disengage.
CHRIS ROEDERER is senior vice president, human resources, Tampa General Hospital, and director, Tampa Bay WorkForce Alliance.
Reach him at (813) 844-7716 or [email protected].
