According to a recent report by Glassdoor, it costs an average of 21% of a lost employee’s salary to replace them. This can add up quickly if your company is struggling with high turnover. As a way to understand the underlying causes associated with an employee’s departure, many companies turn to exit interviews. This allows soon-to-be former employees an opportunity to provide feedback on their work. In an ideal world, you’d like to know these things prior to the employee leaving. However, by utilizing exit interviews, you’ll have the knowledge to make sure it doesn’t happen again. In this blog, we will look at four benefits of exit interviewing and a few best practices that should be implemented to get the best results.

Benefit #1 - Gain Understanding of Management Concerns

“Employees don’t quit their jobs, they quit their managers” - this is a common phrase that emphasizes the impact management has on turnover. While this may not be accurate in all circumstances, it is true that a company’s management will have a significant effect on how a business operates on all levels. Initially, problems with management can be difficult to spot. One reason is because relationships between managers and staff are individualized. But if you are seeing a steady stream of exits from a specific department and poor management is brought up by each employee, you will now have confirmation to back up any actions that may need to be taken.

Benefit #2 - Stay Current on Compensation and Benefits

Another common reason for people to leave an organization is because of better offers in terms of a salary, benefits, or both. During the exit interview process, you may get an idea of what other businesses in the areas are offering. You'll understand if you’ll have to adjust your compensations and benefits package. Alternately, if they are leaving for a different reason, you can use that information to position your company’s unique perks and culture with future candidates.

Benefit #3 - Discover Opportunities for Employee Development 

An issue that is becoming more present in the workplace is the high level of importance employees are putting on career development and growth. That is matched with a willingness to leave their current company if those goals aren’t being reached. At this point, any form of stagnation in the workplace, whether in job title or duties, is something that companies can’t afford to let happen. During an exit interview, you’ll want to find out ways that you can prevent your most motivated employees from leaving. If you’re looking for a place to start in making sure your employees are satisfied, take a look at our posts on workplace happiness and engagement.

Benefit #4 - Fortify Brand

By asking departing employees for feedback, you’re showing that you value their opinions and want to improve the company. This will allow you to gather information about branding efforts that might have fallen short or where actions don’t line up with stated values. This information can then be used to strengthen your communication with current employees and candidates.

If you’re looking to start your company’s exit interview process or just want to make sure you’re on the right track, consider implementing the four best practices listed below:

- Develop a formal policy regarding exit interviewing
- Designate a consistent party to conduct the exit interviews
- Extend request for exit interviews to all departing employees
- Use for all voluntary separations (issues such as layoffs and terminations will require a special approach)