Whilst most of us are trying to forget Covid, in terms of employee stability it has cast a long shadow.
If you can bear to, take yourselves back to 2020 & 2021. Many people lost their jobs or simply weren’t extended in their contract or temporary roles. Everything was very uncertain and consequently those who were in permanent employment stayed put even if they weren’t happy. As the economy started growing, albeit weakly in 2022, there was increased and quite vigorous hiring and in some cases people simply took the first job they were offered.
Fast forward 2 or 3 years – the cost of living crisis meant everyone wanted more money but with companies under pressure too, their expectations rose and basically everyone was under pressure. So many people were looking elsewhere thinking the grass is always greener. Sometimes it is sometimes it isn’t.
Regardless of the climate and circumstances, people do change jobs and that change is often healthy for both employee and employer. But as an employer you don’t want to lose your best people if you can help it and also lots of people resigning at the same time can be unsettling for everybody. So what can you do? Maybe nothing but it’s vital to know why people are leaving – whether you do anything with that information is up to you but it’s better to know than be in the dark.
So the exit interview should be a critical component of your retention strategy. Provided it’s done in the right way by the right person. There’s loads of techniques and questions but the ones that have worked best over the years for Peach and some clients we have worked with are as follows;
* First and foremost the exit interview should not be conducted by the Line Manager and should be conducted in an open, relaxed environment so that the employee feels comfortable and safe to be really honest. In an ideal world outsourcing this to an independent person is likely to get you the most honest feedback. At no point should they feel that their reference is under threat or that their feedback will be shared indiscriminately.
* It should be conducted on the penultimate or last day of their employment.
* Whatever questions and format you use, use the same ones so that comparisons or patterns can be made.
So our Top 3 questions are
- What could we have done to make you stay?
Most people say nothing and say no more. Some say you could have paid me more – often a red herring when they know that this would not have been possible. Usually better pay polls no higher than 3rd in most surveys.
- What do we do well?
Unless you’re a terrible employer there’s probably loads of things you do well. Hopefully this will get the session into full swing following the stilted response to question 1 and this is hopefully when they really open up. It’s also really good for companies to understand which of their practices, benefits etc are appreciated.
- What could we do better?
The killer final question – in some ways it’s asking for the same information as question 1 but it’s softer and having reminded people what’s so great about your company from question 2 this is the time when, if ever, they’ll open up. Having done this at Peach years ago and for some of our clients more recently it still amazes me what people reveal. And once they have you can either try to do something to change things or not but at least you have a choice. If patterns start to emerge and it turns out you’ve lost 3 good people because of a common cause you may decide that action is needed however tough that might be.
And finally if you’re a candidate reading this and you get the chance of an exit interview, be brave and be honest, not personal – you could be improving the situation for the next person and if everyone did that workplaces overall would be happier and more productive.