Exit Interview

Definition: The Exit Interview is conducted at the time an employee is separating from the organization. The main purpose of the exit interview is to determine the employee’s reason for departure.

Through this interview, the organization can get an effective feedback from the departing employee and can assess the weakness and the strength of a firm. It is often recommended to have a face-to-face interview with the departing employee in order to have an effective communication and to give him the sense of how important he was for the organization.

In case the employee is shy and is reluctant to give the feedback in person, then the mailed questionnaire is the best method to gain insight on his departure.

Organizations conducting the exit interview makes the existing employees feel good about the culture of an organization and sense of being heard at their difficult time of separation.

Through the exit interview, an interviewer tries to ask all the questions from the interviewee to arrive at the definite reason for his departure. These questions can be:

• Why are you leaving the job?
• What compelled you to quit the job?
• How do you feel about the company as a whole?
• What did you like the most about your job?
• What didn’t you like about your job?
• How were your relations with your supervisor and the other teammates?
• Will you recommend this organization to your friend to work with?
• How the things can be improved, if any?
• What is your perception of about the management?

Sometimes the companies do not conduct the exit interviews with a fear of negatives associated with the employee’s departure, but in doing so, the company is not maintaining its relation with the employee and not letting him rejoin the firm at any point of time in the near future.