Do You Know Why
When an employee leaves there are indirect costs in relation to the time and effort that is required to replace any employee as direct recruitment and advertising costs, there are also less tangible cost associated to losing knowledge and experience that is specific to an organization; Losing good employees is a problem where prevention is most definitely the best cure.
It is a fact of life that employees will leave from time to time but it is useful for an employer to understand the reasons for an employee to leave so that they can be sure that personnel are leaving for reasons that are right and not reasons that are wrong and avoidable.
Concerns of employees can be identified early by the regular use of well designed job satisfaction surveys, allowing for problems to be resolved and helping to minimize needless loss of staff. However some problems, for example those that are the result of a clash of personalities, do not always come to light until it is too late.
Two of the most common reasons personnel decide to leave an organization is due to a lack of career development and/or poor management. Both of these problems can be difficult to identify even for organizations that adopt regular 360-degree appraisals (i.e. where as part of the overall appraisal process, employees may be asked to evaluate their managers).
Some employees while still employed may be reluctant to criticize their line managers for fear of reprisal; however they can be more candid when completing an employee exit survey.
It is unlikely that an Exit survey will prevent any individuals from leaving but it will help identify problems that could, if left unchecked, could result in poor staff moral for the remaining staff and worse case scenario, more resignations.
Limited Career Development
Not all employers can offer, and nor do all employees desire, a clear and long term career path. Some people find comfort and job security in doing one job but there are just as many who prefer to be continually challenged, always acquiring new skills and steadily moving up the corporate ladder. A successful organization will maintain the balance of having high flyers and more modest and humble employees.
Where losses due to a lack of career development are occasional they may also be inevitable, but where they are frequent, then changes to the organizational structure might need to be considered to allow for greater career development of the employees.
Poor Management
Many managers achieved their position through promotion, but it does not always follow that a good worker will automatically make a good manager and often people are assigned management position without any formal management training.
Managers who perform poorly can be quick to discredit the views of disgruntled staff, ‘I am glad they went it saved me getting rid of them’ and ‘they were useless anyway’ may prove to be common responses to those managers being asked if there are any problems that might be causing people to leave the organization.
It is understandable that senior management would want to support their line managers by giving them the benefit of any doubt and a poor employee may not be averse to unfairly criticising their line manager. But by conducting exit surveys, if a man-management problem were to be identified early there is a good chance that it can be addressed and resolved with the appropriate formal training and guidance.
Records
It is not uncommon for people to leave an employer and at a later date put in a claim for constructive dismissal. With ‘No win no fee’ legal representation this has become a real problem for even good employers. Exit surveys will at best, provide a valuable record of the employee’s reasons for leaving, and at worse, provide early warning that a possible claim might be expected.
A tribunal may not readily accept the word of an employer that when the employee left they did so without indicating any grievance.
Timing
Exit surveys can be conducted as part of the termination procedures or they can be delayed for a few months if the employee is in agreement.
There can be an advantage in delaying an exit survey for a few months in that a former employee may be less emotional and more honest with their views and may be in a position to compare their previous role with their new role.
Conducting an exit survey as part of the termination procedure has the advantage that although the leaving employee may be emotional their views may be more reflective of their true state of mind and therefore closer to the real reasons they have decided to leave. If left until later any comparison between their old and new roles may be the result of them putting on a brave face, and if reasons are given that require action, the delay may well hinder the problem from being resolved.
Summary
Organizations will generally benefit in a number of different ways by including exit surveys as part of their employee termination procedures. They will at the very least provide good records that could prove very valuable later, at best they will provide management with information that can help improve an organization spiritually and with the bottom line.
See the following survey for sample exit interview questions.