Many companies use an exit interview to exchange feedback with an employee who is leaving the company.
Sometimes an employee’s career in a particular job ends abruptly: they resign, or are suddenly fired, and do not come back the next day. In these cases, there is no opportunity for an orderly and productive conclusion of the employee’s career, nor for the company.
On other occasions the end occurs in a more progressive manner, for example with a few days’ notice. It is then possible to carry out some closing action to clarify under what conditions the person leaves and what are the outcomes of their relationship with the company (or the lack of them, which are also interesting to know).
Why conduct exit interviews?
The usual way to perform this closure is an “exit interview”. This technique is a useful tool to identify possible failures in the organization, to find out why the company is not being able to retain an employee who may be very valuable or to learn about their experience in the company.
However, it is not uncommon for exit interviews to be poorly done or not done at all, and therefore of no use. This in itself reflects a major flaw in corporate operations that must be corrected: it is legitimate to decide not to conduct exit interviews, but doing them badly is even more damaging to the company than not doing them at all.
Exit interviews are based on a very simple assumption: employees must be considered as a source of relevant information for the company. It is true that they are not always a 100% reliable source of information, due to the high level of subjectivity that some of their opinions may have, but they are a source of information after all.
Analyse interview content
If we finally decide to conduct the interview, we must analyse the information given by the employee and, if necessary, take it into account for future decisions that can improve the performance of the company. This way, we will be functioning as a smart organisation, that is, one that is able to take advantage of its own experience in order to improve.
Interesting, concrete answers, illustrated with examples, can be really relevant. However, poor answers to an exit interview or notable inconsistencies between different sources of information should also be considered relevant.
From the interviewee’s point of view, it may be lazy or uncomfortable to undergo this encounter. It can also be a good opportunity to make a few things clear before losing contact with the company you have worked for, or a golden opportunity to leave a good lasting impression.
On the other hand, it is no secret that, in some companies, the exit interview serves only for dissatisfied employees to express (in a not very assertive way) their dissatisfaction so that the person in charge of interviewing them can comply with the file and continue with what they were doing.
However, smart and resilient companies use the material gathered in the interview to improve their performance, because they assume that every employee who has been through the company is a key informant in designing improvement strategies for the future. In addition, employees who take this encounter more seriously deliberately take control over their own responses in order to create a certain impression on the company they leave.
How to approach an exit interview
In an exit interview, the interviewer can ask anything, even questions that the interviewee does not expect or whose usefulness is not very clear.
Remember that you do not have to share every comment that comes to mind during the interview, especially if you are not asked about it. However, preparing some possible answers in advance will allow you to reflect on important topics of the conversation without responding hastily under the pressure of the moment.
The important thing is not to confuse spontaneity with improvisation and spend some time preparing for the conversation. For example, consider what attitude you want to adopt during the conversation. Here are some tips on how to go to your exit interview with the right attitude.
Recommendations for attending your exit interview
| Recommendation | Description |
|---|---|
| Communicate Assertively | If your relationship with the company has been conflictive, it is unlikely to change at the last moment. However, the key to handling conflicts is to manage them respectfully, maintaining a good relationship between both parties. Assertiveness means avoiding aggressive responses and knowing how to set respectful boundaries: a brief and neutral response that is polite and does not leave you in a bad light. |
| When in Doubt, Be Prudent | Life can take unexpected turns, and you never know who you might encounter in a future job. As much as possible, maintain a constructive and restrained attitude during the interview. |
| Remember Common Mistakes | The three most common mistakes in an exit interview are directly attacking company members, providing responses with little content, and giving negative information about yourself. |
| Have a Strategic Vision | Sometimes, short-term emotions drive us to respond impulsively, which can be harmful in the future. Therefore, whenever possible, it is advisable to maintain a professional and reliable attitude until the very end. |
| Take the Opportunity to Gather Information | If needed, this is your chance to ask questions about things you want to know about yourself and the company, considering that you won’t have many more opportunities to get this information from your supervisors. |
| Prepare Your Role in Advance | Regardless of what you encounter when you enter the office, decide whether you want to adopt a more listening or participative attitude. The listening approach allows you to get through the interview without committing much, but it might not provide you with any interesting insights. The participative approach lets you gather more useful information, but there is a risk of saying or asking something that may not benefit you. If possible, find out if there is anything specific you need to prepare when you are invited. |
| Anticipate Some Answers | Although the exit interview may not seem crucial to you, it is advisable to take the time to prepare for it. Take a pen and paper and put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes: what do you think they are likely to ask you? If you can, try to contact a former colleague who has already had an exit interview, or friends who have experienced them at their jobs, and make a list of possible questions. |
Can I ask questions in my exit interview?
Of course. Although you are the interviewee, you can consider asking some questions yourself if they are important to you and you think you are capable of asking them with the right attitude. Here are some examples of questions you might be interested in asking:
1. How would you rate me as an employee?
2. In what areas do you consider I have contributed the most to the company?
3. What areas of improvement do you think I have left pending?
4. What do you think I have contributed in general to the company during this time?
5. To what extent have you fulfilled the expectations placed on me at the time of my hiring?
6. What will the company do with my answers to these questions?
7. Would you consider me joining the company again in the future?
If the interviewer intends to give you feedback on your performance rather than just collect the information you want to give them, it will not be necessary for you to ask these questions: the interviewer will spontaneously provide you with this information.
However, if there are any questions about your career with the company that you don’t want to miss, consider proactively asking about it in case your interviewer doesn’t provide you with that information. If you don’t, chances are you won’t have the opportunity in the future to know the answer.
Mental well-being for companies
At ifeel, we understand that it is not possible to take care of the company without taking care of the psychological well-being of its employees. To do so, we have a mental well-being solution for companies, designed by our team of occupational well-being psychologists with one main objective: to help companies place employee health at the center of their strategy to build their mission statement.
Thanks to this partnership, HR department heads can receive personalised, data-driven advice on making good decisions in a company, getting the most out of their teams, and taking better care of the psychological well-being of their people.
Moreover, this program offers employees a holistic mental health care service structured at different levels according to their needs. This service includes, if required, online psychological therapy with a psychologist specialised in cases like theirs. Try our program today so you can see how it could help you.
We hope you have found this post about how to approach an exit interview interesting. If you want more information about our mental well-being solution for organisations, simply request it and we will contact your team as soon as possible. You may also be interested in this post about psychosocial risks at work.
