GAINING FROM EXIT INTERVIEWS.....

Exit interviews serve as excellent tools for Organizations/ Managers to know why employees opt to leave their company. However, the most opportune time to conduct an exit interview remains a highly debatable issue. Some people want it to take place the moment someone has resigned while others are of the opinion that there should be a time lag of one month to even one year before a person can be dispassionate about the reasons for his / her exit. The issue can be argued convincingly from both standpoints.

It is said that the person leaving the company is best placed while exiting to be honest and forthcoming. However, is it really true? The employee would not be airing his/her grievances for fear of being given a negative report to the company he/she is joining. From the perspective of the departing employee, he/she may be emotionally charged and not able to provide constructive feedback immediately. After a lapse of a few months, he/she is more likely to be honest and frank.

It is, therefore, fair to conclude that

• An exit interview should be stress-free and the HR section should derive benefit from it by gaining an insight into the employee’s mind.
• Exit interviews should be conducted professionally (preferably with third party support) and should be a positive experience for both the employer as well as the employee
• Exit interviews are best outsourced since the employee would be reluctant to be totally frank if the interviewer happens to be from the company he is leaving. Interviews conducted by internal sources will generally get responses which are favorable to the company.
• Exit interviews should be designed to help management understand the full scope of reasons behind a voluntary separation.
• The responses elicited during an exit interview should be disseminated and scientifically analyzed.
• As far as possible, exit interviews should be conducted in a structured format.
• Fresh recruitment and retention of key individuals should be the targeted outcome of exit interviews.
• A departing employee should be made aware that the company values the inputs that he will give.
• Professional firms undertaking third-party exit services will help the corporate gain meaningful insight through comprehensive exit interviews.
• Outsourcing exit interviews helps in truly identifying problem areas before they have a further destructive impact on the company's success.
• Being a third party, outsourced companies are better placed for getting more candid and open information.
• Benefits which accrue from third-party driven exit interviews include reduction in employee attrition, gauging employee satisfaction, increasing objectivity and tracking trends in exit interviews to make sure improvement is being made towards the desired directions.

According to me “Third- party operated exit interviews mean more professionalism, honest responses, interactive employees, strategizing for preventing losing valuable employees in future and many more.”