Master the Exit Interview

Unleash a true superpower for organizational growth. Employee turnover presents challenges for every organization. Beyond the time and effort it takes to recruit and train new team members, an employee's departure—especially a key contributor—can impact morale, disrupt workflow, and place additional pressure on the remaining staff. Whether it’s a heavier workload or the loss of camaraderie, employee departures can take a real toll on team dynamics and overall productivity. One effective way to curb high turnover rates is to harness the power of exit interviews with departing employees to identify any steps you can take to bring about meaningful change within your organization that can prevent future departures. Often these interviews are an opportunity to improve your company’s culture, operations, and morale.

In this post, we will discuss what exit interviews are, why they are important, some common misconceptions about them, and some best practices we've seen over the last 20 years in the PEO industry.

What are exit interviews?

Exit interviews are intentional conversations had between an employer and a departing employee to discuss the employee’s experience with the company, reason for leaving, and honest perspectives. Exit interviews are ideally held face-to-face, though virtual interviews have become more commonplace as the ability to work online has expanded. More rarely, phone interviews or exit surveys can be conducted if the timing doesn’t allow or extenuating circumstances prevent in-person communication.

‍

Why are exit interviews important?

Exit interviews are important for understanding why employees are leaving your organization. They show turnover patterns, offer understanding as to the nature of a departure, and provide actionable feedback that you can use to improve your operational efficiency or company culture. They can help organizations identify the need for and provide a clear career growth plan for improving employee development, a strategic and effective tool for retaining talent. Exit interviews also provide valuable insight into what organizations can do to remain competitive in the market for the best employees.

‍

Structure and timing

Exit interviews should not be conducted by the departing employee's immediate supervisor. Instead, selecting a member of the leadership team or a manager from another division ensures a more objective perspective—someone who can listen, synthesize the feedback, and present it constructively and without bias. Ideally, meeting with your employee 3-4 days before their departure offers enough time to gain insight from their perspective while not offering too much time for retaliation if their remarks seem inflammatory. It also gives time for processing through the conversation and asking follow-up questions that can clarify their remarks. Completing your exit interview early allows the employee to focus their last day on other things that provide closure, like gathering their belongings and saying goodbye to coworkers.

Common misconceptions about exit interviews.

1. If the employee is already leaving, why bother?

Some employers and managers may assume that once an employee has decided to leave, exploring their reasons for doing so is no longer valuable. As a result, they may unintentionally overlook the opportunity to gain meaningful insights from the departure. However, exit interviews provide the opportunity for curious managers and owners to learn about their company in a way that they may not have had their pulse on. The key is approaching the conversation with an open mindset, willing to learn and ask the right questions. Asking the right questions can help you understand an employee’s motivation for finding new employment. Some reasons you may not be able to do anything about are if they are relocating because their spouse has been transferred, or if they are moving to be closer to family to care for a sick loved one. But other reasons are within a company’s ability to control and change: if an employee is leaving because they found a similar position paying higher wages or perceive that employees are being treated unfairly. (This perception, whether real or not, can have compounding effects that must be addressed.)

‍

2. Managers are not interested or afraid of feedback.

Sometimes, managers or employers might avoid exit interviews because they don’t want to hear why someone is leaving and accept that. It can be hard for leaders to accept that an employee has a different perception of how the organization is performing than what the leader has idealized in their mind. The hard truth here is that managers or owners who are unwilling to view exit interviews as opportunities for organizational and personal growth are short-changing themselves and their remaining employees by missing opportunities for improvement and change.

‍

3. Exit interviews are only for negative feedback.

The previous misconception is rooted in the belief that exit interviews only provide negative feedback that the manager or owner is not interested in. Fortunately, when approached with the right spirit and mentality, many exit interviews are the opposite. They are an opportunity for your departing employee to share what they appreciated about the organization and position, the impact their manager had on them, or even acknowledge the professional growth they experienced during their time with the company. This type of positive feedback is equally as important as it can be used to encourage managers and team members towards mutual goals.

‍

4. Exit interviews are a waste of time.

When Syndeo clients feel that exit interviews are a waste of time, we often take time to understand their perspective and why they have the beliefs they do. Using their experience as a springboard, we can educate on the benefits of interviewing departing employees—things like preventing turnover, improving retention, using the feedback to make changes that attract top talent, and even being proactive to address personnel issues before they become bigger issues. Even though changes may not be made in time to prevent that employee from leaving, with a willing, teachable spirit and commitment to actionable change, you can prevent other employees from leaving for the same reasons.

Best practices for your exit interviews.

Find the right person to conduct the interview.

In most circumstances, exit interviews should be conducted by an objective third party who can receive the departing employee’s feedback. As previously discussed, if it can be avoided, a direct supervisor or manager should not conduct the interview to get more candid feedback.

‍

Be personable; set expectations right away.

As the interviewer, it’s essential to create a comfortable environment and clearly communicate the purpose of the conversation from the start. Let the employee know that the goal of the exit interview is to gain insights that may not have surfaced during their time with the organization. While it’s not intended to be a session for airing every frustration, it is a valuable opportunity for them to offer honest feedback to help the company improve. By outlining the goals and setting respectful expectations upfront, you build a foundation of trust that encourages the employee to share their perspective openly and constructively.

‍

Practice active listening.

Truly listening means more than just hearing—it means engaging. In an exit interview, active listening helps the interviewer fully understand the employee’s perspective. That includes paraphrasing what was said to confirm accuracy, asking for clarification when broad or vague terms are used, and reflecting the employee’s words back to them. This approach not only builds trust but also ensures that feedback can be remembered, understood, and passed along accurately, verbatim when necessary, to the appropriate leadership.

‍

Be curious and have an open-ended discussion.

Along with active listening, a humble, curious spirit will go a long way toward encouraging open-ended discussion and digging out the valuable insight your departing employee has to offer. Positioning yourself in this neutral manner will help you to remain objective without getting defensive so you can accurately relay to the management the challenges shared by the employee. Ask questions that foster an open-ended discussion with a set of predetermined questions. Even better, tailor generic questions to the exiting individual to address all of the subjects that need to be talked about. Questions should be about a variety of subjects, including compensation, company culture, management/leadership effectiveness, peer-to-peer relationships, career growth opportunities, recognitions/awards, why they are leaving, and what could have improved their experience with the company. The most important thing is to understand the employee’s position with empathy, and not to negate their lived experience because your perception might differ.

‍

Look for feedback to improve.

Finally, conducting exit interviews without a genuine intention to evaluate and act on the feedback gathered does a disservice to both the departing employee and the organization. If employees sense that their comments are being dismissed or collected only as a formality, the value of the exit interview diminishes significantly. This perception can lead to a cycle where future employees are less inclined to share honest feedback, making the process ineffective over time. Instead, organizations should approach each exit interview with the aforementioned curiosity and an open mind, viewing the insights shared as an opportunity to identify patterns, address root causes of turnover, and improve the overall employee experience. When taken seriously, constructive feedback becomes a powerful tool for long-term organizational growth and culture improvement.

‍

Exit interviews provide unique insights that are hard to capture through other means.

Though it seems counterintuitive, exit interviews are an incredible tool for retaining a highly-motivated workforce within your organization. The insight garnered through a well-conducted exit interview is a stepping stone to improving operational inefficiencies, company culture, and employee performance. Communicating changes implemented based on this type of employee feedback to your remaining employees can go a long way toward building trust within your organization, boosting company morale, and overall growth. Even if the first attempts at changes are ineffective, employees appreciate knowing that their feedback and that of their peers does, in fact, move the needle.

Reframing: the real superpower of exit interviews.

When done thoughtfully, exit interviews can do more than just provide closure—they can be a strategic tool for transformation. By listening to departing employees with openness and intent, you gain unfiltered insight into your company’s culture, leadership, and everyday operations. This feedback, when evaluated and acted upon, helps you build a healthier workplace, strengthen team morale, and reduce future turnover. Instead of viewing an employee’s departure as a loss, reframe it as a valuable opportunity to improve. Use the power of exit interviews not just to look back, but to move forward, better equipped to retain your best people and foster a workplace where more employees choose to stay.

‍

For more information on how to conduct effective exit interviews, contact your Syndeo HR Business Partner. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe to our newsletter for more thought-provoking HR content from Syndeo. To learn more about how outsourced HR services can get you back to business, contact Syndeo today!

‍