There is an expense associated to losing any employee in the time it takes for them to be replaced, the effort required to find a replacement as well as any recruitment and advertising costs on top of which there is the cost of losing knowledge and experience that is specific to the organization; Losing good employees is a problem where prevention is most definitely the best cure.

It is inevitable that employees will leave from time to time but a good employer will want to know why an employee has decided to leave to ensure that personnel are leaving for the right, and not the wrong, reasons.

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, especially those that are the result of a clash of personalities, are not always brought to the surface until it is too late.

A lack of career development and/or poor management are two common reasons for employee dissatisfaction that can often result in personnel deciding to change jobs. 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 employees are requested to evaluate their line managers).

While employed employees can be reluctant to criticize their managers for fear of the consequences, they can however be more candid when completing an employee exit survey.

Once an employee has decided to resign it is very unlikely that an Exit survey will prevent them from leaving, however the survey may help identify areas that if not addressed could result in more preventable resignations.

Lack of Career Development

Not all employers can offer, and nor do all employees desire, a clear and long term career path. There are just as many people that find comfort and security in doing one job well as there are people that need to feel that they are continual being challenged, learning new skills and moving onwards and upwards with respect to the corporate ladder. Organizations that succeed and excel need the balance of having high flyers and steady Eddies.

Having good records could prove to be very valuable long term and they also provide management with information that could help them improve the moral of an organization as well as productivity and the bottom line.

Sub-standard Management

Many a manager has achieved their managerial position through hard work and a deserved promotion, but a good worker does not always make a good manager and many are awarded a management position without any 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. If through an Exit survey a man-management problem were to be identified early it presents a realistic chance that the problem could be properly addressed and resolved with appropriate formal training and guidance.

Records

It is not that unusual for a person to leave an employer and put in a claim for constructive dismissal at a later date. With legal representation now adopting the ‘No win no fee’ model even good employers are finding this to be a real problem. 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.

Unless it is on record a tribunal will not necessarily accept an employer’s word that when an employee left they did so without indicating any grievance.

Timing

With the employee’s agreement Exit surveys can be delayed for a few months or be conducted as part of the termination process.

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.

The advantages with conducting an exit survey as part of the termination procedure is that although emotions may be running high it is probably more reflective of the employee’s state of mind and therefore closer to the reasons they have decided to leave (justified or otherwise). 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.