Benefit of Exit Interview

Benefits of exit interview

The information collected in an exit interview can give a company a unique perspective on its performance and employee satisfaction. People who leave may be brutally honest about their experiences without fear of immediate repercussions. In addition, it's likely they have recently been job hunting and interviewing and can offer some useful intelligence on how the company compares with other employers 1.

Most people viewed exit interview as a means of determining why an employee has decided to leave an organization, rather it should also be considered as a way to identify consistent trends, patterns and themes -- and, ultimately, to reduce future turnover. Thus, it is a learning tool for an organization to address employee concerns and to correct ongoing problems. For example, Vertrue, a Stamford, Connecticut, company that operates seven call centers in North America, uses exit interview data to create profiles of candidates with the best potential for staying with the company for an extended period of time, As a result, Vertrue, which has 2,000 employees, now boasts a turnover rate less than half of the industry average (which has been estimated to be as high as 300 percent a year) 2 . Similarly, Don H. Harris, a manager of staff development for Belk Sores Services in Charlotte, North Carolina, credits the use of exit interviews in his article entitled “The benefits of exit interview” with a decline in his organization’s IT turnover rate (please see table below) since the company implemented several changes such as improvement in benefits program, continual training, and upgrading salary range following the comments from the departing employees.3

Turnover Rates

Year Turnover

1995 23%

1996 24%

1997* 14%

1998 7.3%

* Year changes were implemented

Additionally, having a policy of holding exit interviews shows all staff, not just departing staff, that you care and are interested in making your organization a better place to work. You are willing to listen to constructive criticism and to act upon staff input to create a better workplace for present and future employees. This response should lead directly to improved staff development, training, retention, and succession planning. To illustrate, according to Doug Weiss, a senior vice president of Vertue, besides the