Skip to main content

What Exit Interviews Can Do To Keep Your Staff

Many small business owners may not be aware of the hidden costs of employee turnover. While the causes of employee turnover may be unavoidable in certain small business (constraining salary budgets, lack of career track progression) many other factors may be in play.  The exit interview is not a forum for changing a departing employee's mind, but it may be the forum for finding out how you can prevent any future losses.

In November 2012, the Center for American Progress published a study in which they estimated that:
"• For workers earning less than $50,000 annually.... Business Costs to Replacing Employees = 20 percent of salary, the same as across positions earning $75,000 a year or less..."
• Among positions earning $30,000 or less... The typical cost of turnover ... is 16 percent of an employee’s annual salary"

So what should you ask, and who should do the asking?  Exit interviews can be done in-person or after the departure of an employee via computerized survey.  In my experience, the most useful knowledge is gleaned in person to person interviews and carried out either by Human Resources, or an independent third party. This is because many people may not want to open up as to the real factors behind their departure especially to someone they report to, or feel they may need a reference from in the future.  Especially if they are departing due to a negative experience with a particular person or direct supervisor, or because they have been asked to leave the company.

Ideally, the exit interview should be an opportunity for the employer to obtain useful information on how well they are doing in relation to business processes which affect employee morale, and to look for areas of opportunity for improvement such as:

  • Opportunities for advancement
  • Organizational culture
  • Compensation and benefits
  • Training and development opportunities
  • How well the recruitment and selection processes met the individual's expectations of the job they actually performed
  • The level and kind of direct supervision they received
  • What was enjoyable or frustrating about the organization, or their job
  • What ideas they have for improving their position or the organization
The exit interview should also be used as an opportunity to review any agreements that were signed upon hiring the employee, and to manage any paperwork or procedures  that may need to be completed prior to parting such as the return of company credit cards, business cards, computers or keys.

At Namaqua Consulting, we offer outsourced services which include the option for us to design and conduct Exit Interviews to meet your organizational needs, and provide recommendations based on the information we collate as to how improvements can be implemented to avoid further turnover and hence, further costs.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Workplace Harassment Training is Essential for Small and Large Businesses

The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) is in the process of creating a new task force to prevent and address the issue of workplace harassment. The newly sworn in Commissioner of the EEOC commented that: "The EEOC is working to leverage our resources to have a greater impact on the persistent problem of workplace harassment," said Yang. "By identifying underlying problems in workplaces and industries where we see recurring patterns of harassment, we are developing strategies that focus on targeted outreach and education as well as systemic enforcement to promote broader voluntary compliance." Small business owners need to be aware that the EEOC will be looking with equal force at employers across industries, and they need to be sure that they take precautionary measures to educate themselves and their employees on the nature of harassment and discrimination. Many employers may not be aware that they are responsible, and their supervisors are...
1 comment
Read more

Passive Aggressive Behavior – Understanding and Managing it in the Workplace

In the Radical Collaboration world, we talk of three different kinds of working environments: While the Red and the Green Zone may be obvious in how they show up, the Pink Zone is equally powerful, and just as destructive as Red Zone thinking. Essentially, two words sum up the Pink Zone, “passive aggression”, but many hours and emotional frustrations result in its expression! Why does it show up, and how can you deal with it when it does? There are many reasons why people can become or act in a passive aggressive manner: They feel powerless or voiceless, and this is a way for them to have impact. They do not enjoy conflict and perceive deeper interactions with others as having the potential for conflict. The politics of the workplace may dictate that it is unsafe for them to speak out especially if it is against a superior or a well-liked colleague. The management style of the company is such that open communication is discouraged, or that bad behaviors are not managed. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Space For - And Power of - Apology

Recently, I found myself in a situation where I become the unwitting focus of a poison email copied to eight other people.  I was stunned.  My immediate reaction was a knee-jerk response, wanting to send a smarting reply that would put him down, and show how I was the unwitting victim of his surprise attack. Instead, I chose a different route, and decided to slow down.  My Radical Collaboration training has taught me that taking a breath and stepping back from something when I notice a physical or emotional reaction, gives me the ability to try to understand my own “need” behind my reaction.  In this situation, my need was to be seen as competent and in control by others.  As a result, I had to own that it was MY interpretation of his email which fed MY own feelings of incompetence, and I had to manage that, not him.  He did not intend my reaction. By understanding that about myself, it allowed me to divorce my reality from an attempt to interpret hi...
Post a Comment
Read more