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Does Manager Tools have a podcast covering giving Exit Interviews? I couldn’t find one. The cast ‘Handling Exit Interviews’ deals with Exit Interviews from the point of view of being an interviewee.

What about when you have a direct leaving, should I give him an Exit Interview?

Has anyone got any thoughts on it?

Thanks,

Duncan

acao162's picture

I've used the One on One setting to do a casual exit interview.  In those cases, I ask about training, mentoring, did you feel supported by your supervisor, other staff and the public.  Any improvements they can suggest to manuals, processes or policy.  I ask pretty broad questions with the intent that they can be positive and helpful, leaving the exiting employee to feel, one more time, like we really valued them & will miss them.

Sometimes it turns a little ugly, I must warn you - a piling on of every problem, complaint and issue they ever had.  For instance, one of our supervisors did a traditional exit interview and it cemented why the employee hadn't worked out. By the end, I think the employee felt better & we learned a lot about our screening and hiring process.

Dani Martin's picture
Licensee Badge

Hi Duncan -- Thank you for your question. It's not one I've heard asked before, yet when I read your post I thought "interesting question!"

We (Manager Tools) don't recommend giving exit interviews. We don't think they work. When people resign, they're already feeling anxious and stressed which lessens the chance that they'll provide helpful information.

The solution as we see it is to have such great relationships with your folks that they don't leave and if they do, you'll know why. When I was a manager doing O3's ever week, I was never surprised when someone resigned nor unclear about the reasons why. As with so much that we deal with as managers, the answer is better relationships. :-)

I hope this helps, Duncan! Thanks again for posting.
Dani

engineering_mgr's picture

Dani,

Thanks for the advice on not solicting exit interviews from your reports. I had 2 leave my team of 4 in the last month, and I feel clear why. Some factors were in my control and I could have mitigated better, some not. But both resignations were not a surprise - just the exact timing. I was happy for them both on their new opportunities. This would be a great future podcast.

 

mrreliable's picture

I agree with Dani. I had the unfortunate and painful experience of an exit interview once, and the manager started asking me a bunch of questions about my experience with the company. I resented the heck out of it. I said, "You just fired me. Why the &*%@ would I want to sit here and chat with you while we go down memory lane?"