Adams & Garth Blog

As a leading Charlottesville staffing & HR agency, we know how valuable exit interviews can be. Unfortunately, many employers ignore the exit interview process for a variety of reasons.

• They may never have conducted these kinds of interviews before and don’t have a formal process in place.
• They don’t want to spend the time and energy to conduct exit interviews.
• And they don’t want to hear any criticisms from departing employees.

However, many times, these departing employees feel liberated and are therefore a rich source of useful information. During the exit interview, employers can learn about why the person is leaving (if they don’t already know) and also gain some feedback from them that can be used to improve the organization, from the working conditions to the pay and benefits.

So if you’ve never conducted an exit interview before – and you don’t know where to start – here are 12 critical questions to ask to get the process going:

1. What is your reason for leaving the company?

2. What triggered your decision to leave?

3. Is there anything that could have been done to prevent your departure?

4. What did you like most about your job?

5. What did you like least about your job?

6. How was your relationship with your supervisor?

7. Did you feel like you were given the resources and support to perform your job successfully?

8. Were you given clear goals and adequate feedback about your performance?

9. What suggestions do you have to make the company a better place to work?

10. What are some key qualities and personality characteristics that you feel we should seek in your replacement?

11. What are your thoughts on the company’s benefits and compensation?

12. Would you recommend a friend or family member work for the company? Why or why not?

There’s no point in conducting an exit interview if you’re not going to use the information you gather to your advantage. So once the interview is complete, don’t just file your interview notes away. It’s time to take action on the information, details, and criticisms that were discussed.

And if you need help developing a formal exit interview process, please contact Adams & Garth. As a leading Charlottesville staffing & HR agency, we can offer you an extensive range of HR services and solutions to meet your company’s needs. Contact us today to get started.