Why exit interviews are important for businesses
Most people think employees leave because of money, but that's far from the truth. Sometimes, it's about culture, leadership and people...
Resigning from your place of work has always been something that comes with its own set of stereotypes.
There's this underlying tendency to assume that resignations are linked to drama. People often associate resignations with money, better perks, growth, development, and promotions.
However, there's no way of knowing unless an exit interview is conducted. It sounds harsher than it is.
Kalayvani Verappan shared an interesting perspective on the value of exit interviews in businesses and how they can help them transform their operations.
Read more: Are your emojis breaking workplace rules?
Verappan wears many hats in the business field. She is a business founder, a recruiter, an HR Consultant, a Trainer, and a Coach.
She said that while many SME's consider exit interviews as an HR formality, they fail to see the value it adds to their business models. "An 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. When someone leaves, they often share the truths they didn’t feel comfortable voicing before, and those lessons can transform your business", says Verappan.
Check out the benefits or learnings businesses can get from exit interviews.
- Despite what many people think, people don't always leave because of pay. Many leave due to culture, leadership, or lack of growth.
- When you sit down and take the time to listen to departing employees, you might often be surprised to hear all the areas of your business that they found worked well.
- Talking it out in an honest and open way can assist you to identify hidden issues or processes in your team. "Sometimes, minor conflicts or broken processes only surface when someone exits."
- By approaching the nitty, gritty stuff, you can identify opportunities to retain staff rather than let them go or even strengthen your current retention methods. "The insights can guide better hiring, onboarding, and employee engagement strategies.
One client I worked with recently discovered, through structured exit interviews, that their team felt disconnected from leadership. A few small changes in communication and feedback loops made a huge impact on morale and retention.
Understanding that you shouldn't do things to tick boxes is vital. Doing so will only cause you to disconnect more from your team.
If you commit to exit interviews as a source of learning, do it with purpose and intention.
"𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 “𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱.” (LinkedIn)
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