How to get honest answers in voluntary exit interviews

‍Why should you conduct exit interviews?

Exit interviews provide data points indicating the health of your employee experience. Four key areas to investigate:

• Management and leadership — sufficient support from line managers; clarity of expectations; how feedback and performance reviews were handled
• Work environment and culture — almost 50% of staff turnover is due to poor company culture; diversity and inclusion, team collaboration, communication, overall workplace dynamics
• Employee satisfaction or dissatisfaction — relationships with managers and colleagues; recognition and reward; personal and professional growth support
• Training and development — 94% of employees would stay longer at a company that invested in their learning and development (LinkedIn)

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How effective are exit interviews?

~75% of organisations conduct exit interviews; only 1% do them correctly; ~91% of Fortune 500 companies conduct them; only 15% of departing employees accept the invitation.

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Where exit interviews fail

• Underutilised data — many companies don't effectively analyse or act on the data gathered
• Generic processes — one-size-fits-all that doesn't account for individual experiences
• Lack of trust — if employees don't believe feedback will lead to change or fear retaliation, they won't be honest

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Why employees don't give honest answers

• Fear of burning bridges — negative feedback could affect future references
• Scepticism about change — if employees have previously voiced concerns without seeing improvements
• Misaligned HR departments — employees may view HR as aligned with management rather than staff
• Lack of anonymity
• External advice encouraging caution — e.g., Forbes article advising employees to "play the game during the exit interview"

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Problems with exit interview data

• Data overload without a system to process and interpret feedback
• No action plan following collection
• Missed trends — without proper analysis, patterns may go unnoticed

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Top 5 approaches to exit interviews

#1 Preparation — review the employee's background; determine whether departure was anticipated or unexpected; plan appropriate questions. Resource: aihr.com/blog/exit-interview-questions/

#2 How to request the exit interview — the invitation can make or break participation. Suggested text provided: "As we continuously look to improve our employee experience, we would value any insights you'd be willing to share… Please be assured that our conversation will remain completely confidential." If employee declines: respect their decision, offer survey alternatives as they avoid face-to-face awkwardness.

#3 Who is the right person to conduct it? — Don't use the employee's line manager. Best option: third-party company (only ~1% of companies do this) for maximum candour, unbiased questioning and confidentiality. Alternative: internal HR personnel or a trusted senior individual. In large organisations, standardised digital processes ensure consistency.

#4 Exit interview checklist — Download printable checklist at cognexo.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/EXIT-INTERVIEW-CHECKLIST.pdf

#5 Can you automate exit interviews with software? — Survey-based exit interviews offer key benefits: built-in anonymity, scalability; but surveys can't adapt in real-time to responses and employees may be less motivated to complete them.

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Automation earlier in the lifecycle is more valuable

Cognexo's position: measure engagement from day one — even as early as the pre-boarding phase — so issues that might lead to disengagement can be highlighted, escalated and dealt with before they lead to turnover. The best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

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