When someone decides to leave your organization, it’s important to conduct an exit interview. Some human resources professionals dismiss the value of an exit interview, but in practice it takes a minimum amount of time and resources to conduct one, and you glean valuable resources you can use to improve your entire workforce management strategy. Specifically, you discover why your talent is honestly leaving, so that you can take measures to improve retention in the future. Get the most out of your exit interviews by following these 10 steps:

1. Focus on the Positive – Some turnover is a positive. Focus your exit interviews only on good employees who you are sorry to see go.
2. Don’t Use the Boss – Never have an employee’s direct superior conduct the exit interview. This tends to put people on edge and comprises the quality of their responses.
3. Make Your Intentions Clear – At the start of the interview, explain why you are conducting it and what you hope to get out of the process.
4. Keep it Confidential – Reassure the departing employee that anything they reveal will be kept strictly confidential both inside and outside of your organization.
5. Be Brief – There is no reason to conduct a long, overly complex exit interview. Try to limit the duration to no more than 20 minutes, and focus only on key areas.
6. Stay One-on-One – When you conduct a team interview or multiple interviews, departing employees may feel like you are ganging up on them. Keep things personal and you will get more open and honest answers.
7. Know the Reasons – Check in advance whether an employee is leaving for another job or for “personal reasons.” Employees leaving for personal reasons may be less forthcoming for fear of reprisal down the road.
8. Ask for a Summary – Before asking more specific questions, request that the employee summarize their experience at your company. This strategy tends to reveal unexpected and worthwhile information.
9. Destroy the Documents – Following the interview, write any reports or summaries necessary and then destroy your original notes. This is the only way to ensure the interview doesn’t negatively affect the departing employee later on.
10. Track the Data – As you conduct more and more interviews, tabulate and track the responses you’re getting to try and spot patterns/trends. That kind of systematic approach is the only way to turn exit interviews into meaningful drivers of change.

After you’ve finished the exit interview process, it’s time to get serious about the recruiting process. Find resources to help you connect with better candidates faster by working with the experienced staffing professionals at Morris Bixby.