June 19, 2025

Getting the Most Out of Exit Interviews

by Our content team

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If used correctly, exit interviews can provide an insight into employee opinions and attitudes towards your organization, as well as giving individual employees a sense of closure on the employment relationship. Here we offer tips on how to plan, conduct and use the findings from exit interviews to help reduce turnover and protect your employer brand.

Choose the interviewer carefully

Employees can feel guarded about discussing their views and opinions with someone from within the organization, so consider using an external specialist to conduct exit interviews. If this is not possible, think about involving the HR department.
External specialists and HR practitioners are more likely to possess the skills to conduct exit interviews effectively: the ability to ask the right questions and demonstrate objectivity and diplomacy.
Consider allowing the employee to choose whom they would like to conduct the exit interview, as this may encourage a more honest response.

Be Consistent

Use exit interviews universally across the organization, and invite employees to participate on a voluntary basis. To improve participation rates, consider using some form of incentive, such as gift vouchers.
If this is likely to prove costly, consider asking leavers to conduct a paper-based or online questionnaire. You could choose to conduct face-to-face exit interviews only with employees whose knowledge or experience is important to the business and/or those you will find difficult to replace.
When designing the exit interview, it is useful to adopt a format where the answers can be converted into scores. This makes the interpretation and analysis of results easier.

Be Prepared

Before the interview, gather key information about the employee. This might include their length of service, performance record, training and development record and their key achievements.
Consider talking to their line manager and/or colleagues to ascertain the events leading up to their resignation, and to shed light on possible reason(s) for leaving.
Based on your research, prepare a list of specific topics for discussion with the employee which are most appropriate to the individual, their leaving circumstances and your organization. Your organization may have an exit interview template for this purpose, or you could develop your own where appropriate.
Some employees may use the exit interview as an opportunity to vent their feelings about the organization. Responses might include feelings of guilt, anger, disappointment and blame. Be prepared for emotional reactions, and recognize the need to remain calm and objective throughout.
Give employees time to prepare for the meeting, by giving them advance notice of the questions. This will allow them to consider their responses and formulate answers.

Ask the Right Questions

Remember that the aim of the exit interview is to ascertain the employee’s views and gain their feedback on the organization. Use an open questioning style to enable the individual to comment fully on each issue.
Avoid using leading questions, and ask for specific examples from work situations to enable you to consider issues in context.
Give the individual time to answer each question, and use further probing questions if necessary, to investigate beyond an often superficial or vague initial response.
In some situations, the exit interview can be the last chance to retain a valuable employee. Where appropriate, discuss possible ways to address the employee’s reasons for leaving e.g. could you allow the individual to work compressed hours or work from home?

Show Appreciation

An exit interview is a good time to give employees credit where their skills and experience have benefited your organization.
Thank the employee for participating, and provide reassurance that their confidentiality and anonymity will be maintained.

Analyze and Publicize the Results

Collate the exit interview data over a period of time (e.g. quarterly or annually), and identify any emergent patterns and trends. These might include a higher turnover in a particular business area or department, or specific posts.
Aim to provide an integrated profile of exit data by combining it with other key organizational indicators such as length of service, age of leavers and vacancy rates.
Present the findings to line managers and senior management in a regular quarterly or annual report. Provide an overview so that key trends and patterns can be easily identified and ensure that the data is anonymous so that individuals cannot be identified.

Take Appropriate Action

Consider appointing a specific group or committee with responsibility for reviewing exit data and taking appropriate action. Ensure the input of senior management.
Commit to acting upon the findings of exit interviews, and accept that change may be required at a strategic level. Key areas to address may include the organization’s culture, the prevailing management or leadership style(s), availability and access to training and development opportunities, policies and procedures or the reward and remuneration framework.
Depending on the results, you may wish to consider taking specific action to protect the retention of key groups of employees or critically important areas. Such a response might include provision of targeted training such as team-building activities or reorganizing key teams to reduce workplace pressure.
Conduct a regular evaluation of the impact that the changes have had on turnover rates, and whether employees’ reason(s) for resigning change over time.