One of the key areas of concerns for any organization- either big or small, is employee retention. Hence, the 
best time for an employer to improve on its employee retention strategy is by reading the minds of employees leaving the organization through exit interviews.
Here are the top 5 questions that you should your employees during their exit interview:
- Why are you leaving?
This is the first logical question that should be asked to break the ice. However, when you tell your employees to be honest in answering such questions, tell them that this conversation remains confidential and will be mainly used for the improvement of the company as well as employees. You may get different answers to that, such as, salary issues, work-life balance, better career opportunities, commutation problem, or other personal reasons like relocation, health issues, or marriage. This helps the company to look into the serious matters such as less competitive salary packages, unmanageable work hours and other issues.
- Did the job meet your expectations?
As soon as the employees say NO, you have immense scope to gauge the reasons that can allow you to closely understand the areas your organization needs improvement to bring in more employee satisfaction. Even if the answer is YES, it allows you to know your positive sides and leverage them for your future performance. Getting all the different reasons for YES and NO would not immediately change the overall work scenario in the company, but this would definitely help you to sell your jobs to the best talents in the market.
- Did the company provide you with the necessary resources to work efficiently?
Is your company providing employees with the required resources to deliver excellent work? This is important to know as employees’ performance and productivity is directly proportional to the company’s success. The question will let you analyze what types of investments are required in the future to make employees deliver the best. Providing the required resources reduces employee issues and also reflects that the company understands the employees’ requirements.
4. Did your work and role fit into your picture of personal goals?
When an employee joins an organization, he/she looks for personal growth also. This question helps the company to understand that how efficiently it achieves employee satisfaction and ensure their personal growth. Nowadays, when Millennials constitute a good number in the workforce, they eagerly look to see their work role fitting the bigger picture of their lives. Hence, it is vital for the company to keep their present and future employees engaged with the organization by giving them opportunity to align work with their personal goals and interests.
5. Would you recommend the company to others looking for a job?
This closing question helps to say goodbye on good terms with the employee and get some references from them in the future. Moreover, this question is definitely worth a shot to see how satisfied your departing employees are with the company. At the end, tell them that they are always welcome to join their team anytime in the future.
Last Words:
Overall, the purpose of an exit interview is to make a constructive conversation with the employees leaving your organization. Remember, it is a great way to get truthful information about employee satisfaction, managerial style, work environment, and workplace ethics. Moreover, it also provides an insight about the skills the company should look for a particular job role in the future hiring.
So, go ahead and have a one-on-one conversation with your departing employees.
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