Essential exit interview questions to help improve employee retention

Losing a valued employee is never fun. Interviewing said employee to find out the reason why they are leaving can be torturous. However, listening to the real reasons behind their decision to leave the organization can be very telling for the future of the remaining employees and potentially for the future of the company.

The 12 questions that are mentioned in this article are designed to dig into the real issues that the employee may have had and the answers to these could possibly save the organization from losing more valuable employees. However, only if there is action being taken to resolve the underlying (or obvious) issues can there truly be improvement. Taking action and creating change when the issues are initially raised can significantly help with employee retention, because interviewing an employee upon their exit can be too late to change.

The manager or supervisor that is conducting the exit interviews must be prepared to hear some hard criticism and may have to hold back emotions as the answers to these questions may feel as though they are being said directly to the interviewer. Preparing the interviewer of these factors ahead of time will help make the exit interview much more efficient and effective.

In global mobility, we focus more on the employee experience at the beginning of their employment rather than at the end of it, but it truly comes full circle. Ensuring that employees are taken care of throughout their entire tenure at an organization is the best way to increase employee acquisition and retention.