Exit Interviews

Exit interviews. This is what we're going to be talking about today on this episode of How to Lead, the podcast for CEOs, founders, and leaders who want the perfect balance of authority and empathy. My name's Kate Waterfall Hill, and I'll be sharing some ideas from over 30 years of working in business and leadership development.

Don't forget, if you want to learn how to become a better leader, you can sign up to my free Intentional Leadership guide, or take a look at one of my coaching programmes and get my personal support with your leadership challenges. And you can find all the information at waterfallhill.co.uk.

Let's take a look at my alter ego, Linda, the bad manager, and see how she goes about executing an exit interview.

“HR has asked me to do an exit interview with you. Obviously, we're very upset that you're leaving. They want me to ask you why you're leaving. Pretty darn obvious, isn't it? You got a better job, right? No loyalty these days. Better you got offered a bit more money, didn't you? Now you're off. Oh, it's not that?

Oh, what is it then? You don't like the culture here? What, one where we have to ask you to work for a living? Oh, it's not that you mind hard work. Well, what is it then? The lack of recognition. Poor briefing. And blame for not meeting expectations and public humiliation when something doesn't go right, even when it's out of your hands.

Well, tiny bit harsh. Well, and being overlooked for promotion, overwhelmed with workload, understaffed and stressed. Right, um, so what shall I put on the form then? You were offered a better job, yeah, that probably sums it up nicely, doesn't it?”

So it's not too difficult to see that Linda didn't do this terribly well, but before I go on with this episode, I'm just going to recap what an exit interview actually is, because some of you might not have had an exit interview ever and don't really know what I'm talking about.

An exit interview is simply a conversation between an employer and employee when they're about to leave. So it's asking the employee for any feedback that might be useful for the employer to know. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 24 percent of employees believe that their exit interview feedback will be meaningfully acted upon.

I'm quite surprised that the number's that high, but the statistic alone tells us everything we need to know about why exit interviews often fail to deliver value. Why would the employee spend time in the exit interview giving constructive feedback if they didn't feel it was going to be acted upon?

So let's examine why these really crucial conversations often feel like trying to close a stable door long after the horse has not only bolted, but has already started a new life in the Bahamas. So first of all, there's timing.

Many organisations treat exit interviews like a box ticking exercise, scheduling them in their employees final hours. By then, most people have mentally checked out and are more focused on their farewell drinks than providing constructive feedback. Secondly, there's the implementation challenge.

Organisations collect exit interview data with all the enthusiasm of a squirrel collecting nuts only to store it away with similar effectiveness. It sits there, gathering digital dust, while the same issues that drove people away continue to flourish like weeds in an unattended garden.

But here's what makes this particularly problematic. When your team sees that Exit Interviews don't influence any positive change, because they've witnessed it with colleagues who've left before them, they lose faith in the process entirely. Why bother giving honest feedback when history suggests it will be ignored?

The real value of exit interviews lies not in conducting them, but in what you do with the information. organisational growth. Your remaining team members will notice if you take action on feedback from departing colleagues.

It shows that you're committed to continuous improvement and that you value honest input, even when it's maybe challenging to hear. So what's the solution? Here are three practical approaches that don't require waiting until somebody's halfway out the door.

First of all, there's the stay interview practice. Instead of waiting for exit interviews, implement regular stay interviews. Although this, phraseology is a little bit trite, it's a good idea to have structured conversations with current employees about what keeps them engaged and what might tempt them to leave.

Think of it as preventative medicine for your team's health, rather than a post-mortem. I found it particularly effective to ask for feedback on specific areas rather than just a vague question like, Are you happy here? Ask them to score or give a one liner about how clear they are on the company's objectives and vision.

Do they have clarity? Do they understand their team's purpose? Do they get their own role and responsibilities? And do they have the right level of autonomy and support? Using a simple score means you can track trends over time and focus on areas that are maybe dipping for some reason. Then you need a feedback loop, some sort of continuous feedback system where concerns can be raised and addressed in real time. This could be through monthly one to ones where you have a clear structure and actual follow up.

You could have a system where people can make suggestions anonymously, but make sure you actually review them and act upon them. I also suggest you conduct regular team health checks with measurable outcomes.

The key here is consistency. And more importantly, again, visible action on the feedback received. Then you need an action plan. So when you do exit interviews, have a clear process for analysing and acting on the feedback. Make sure there's somebody responsible for looking for patterns across multiple interviews.

Create quarterly reviews of exit interview themes and develop specific action plans for addressing any recurring issues that you see keeping on coming up. Most importantly, communicate the actions taken back to the remaining team so they know that you're taking action.

Because nothing kills morale faster than watching colleagues leave for preventable reasons, especially when you know that the people leaving gave clear feedback on exit and nothing changed.

I've talked about Satya Nadella before, who, when he took over as CEO of Microsoft, he implemented a system of regular pulse surveys and feedback sessions. This wasn't just about collecting data. It was about creating a culture of continuous listening and improvement.

And as a result, Microsoft's employee satisfaction scores improved significantly and they saw a marked decrease in voluntary turnover. Here's what makes Exit interviews truly valuable when done right. They provide a unique perspective from someone who's experienced your system's culture and leadership style firsthand.

They often highlight issues that current employees may be hesitant to raise. They can identify blind spots in your organization that you might not be aware of. And when you act on the feedback that you get in an exit interview, it really demonstrates to the remaining team members that the people's voice matters.

The truth is, if you're only finding out about problems in exit interviews, you're probably already a little bit too late. It's like waiting until your house is on fire to install a smoke alarm.

So instead of firefighting when it's maybe a little bit too late, think of managing your team like tending a house plant. Regular attention, care and maintenance will always yield better results than trying to resurrect a plant that's already decided to give up on you. So, remember these key points.

Don't wait for exit interviews to gather feedback. Implement regular interviews or conversations. You might want to call them a stay interview, but maybe not if you don't like that term. But make sure there's a continuous feedback loop. Have a clear action plan for implementing changes based on feedback that you receive and communicate those actions back to the team so that they know you're doing them.

And use specific measurable questions rather than vague ones so you can have a score or a benchmark and look for patterns and themes across multiple interviews. The goal isn't to eliminate exit interviews entirely, they still have their place, but by the time you're conducting one, it should merely confirm what you already knew, rather than revealing surprising new information about why you're losing talent.

If you're finding you're doing more exit interviews than you'd like and you want to have a look at staff retention, perhaps it's a good idea to have a review in a sort of root and branch type manner about employee engagement. it might be that you need to look at your compensation and benefits packages, for instance. Make sure they're competitive. Have a look at professional development opportunities, training programs and coaching opportunities, things like that. it might be something to do with work life balance.

Maybe flexible working. more generous holiday allowance. Make sure you've got good recognition programs in place so you're acknowledging achievements and a positive workplace culture that fosters inclusion, psychological safety and strong team relationships.

Again, a regular feedback mechanism with structured performance reviews and open communication channels is really, really important. Also, if you can give people meaningful work that connects employees to your organization's purpose and impact, that's a really useful thing to do. Some organisations do really well having regular retention risk assessments to proactively identify flight risks before they leave. In a future episode of How to Lead we'll be looking at really good onboarding programmes that integrate new hires effectively from day one and that can often help with retention as well.

But the first step if you're losing people is to make sure that you give them time. Ask them really good questions, and importantly, take action on their feedback. Exit interviews can give you fantastic insights to understand departure reasons and address systemic issues. After all, it's a great opportunity to pick somebody's brain when they're not worried that it might affect their promotion prospects.

That's all for this week's episode of how to lead. And if you've enjoyed it, please do follow for more leadership insights. And remember, if you'd like my personal support, do take a look at my website, waterfallhill.co.uk. I've got more information there on my leadership accelerator programme, which is having an upgrade.

So do take a look and see about my Institute of Leadership accredited programme there.

I'd be delighted if you could like, leave a review and share with your fellow leaders to help spread the word. It doesn't have to be frustrating, this leadership lark. You too can enjoy being an authoritative yet empathetic leader. It just takes a decision to be more intentional about your interactions with others and some great tips on how to influence positive change and of course, a great guide by your side.

So until next time, listen more, advise less and lead well.