Exit Interviews: What to Record and What to Do With It
Exit interviews only help if the answers are recorded consistently and actually reviewed. What to ask, what to write down, what to keep out of the file, and how to act on patterns.
Most organisations run exit interviews. Few can say what they changed because of one. The conversation happens, notes go into a folder, and the pattern that would have explained a year of resignations is never seen. An exit interview is worth doing only if you ask consistent questions, record answers in a comparable way, separate individual issues from trends, and review the results on a schedule.
Who should conduct it
Not the person's direct manager. People leaving are rarely candid with the person they may be leaving because of. HR, a manager from another area or a neutral third party gets better answers. Offer a written form as well as a conversation; some people will write what they will not say.
Ask the same core questions every time
- What is the main reason you are leaving?
- What would have made you stay?
- How would you rate your relationship with your manager, the workload, the development opportunities and pay? (Use a fixed scale.)
- Did you feel able to raise concerns while you were here? Did you?
- What should we keep doing? What should we change?
- Would you consider coming back, or recommend us to a friend?
Fixed ratings and a fixed list of reasons for leaving let you compare across leavers. Add open questions for the detail.
What to record
- Date, who conducted it, and the format used
- Primary and secondary reasons for leaving, from the fixed list
- Ratings on each scale
- A short, factual summary of comments, in the person's words where possible
- Any issue that needs action now, flagged separately
- Whether the leaver agreed to comments being shared, and in what form
When a comment is not just feedback
Sometimes an exit interview surfaces an allegation: harassment, discrimination, a safety breach, fraud. That is no longer feedback; it is a matter that may need investigating whether or not the person is leaving. Record exactly what was said, tell the person what will happen next, and handle it through the right process. If the concern is a disclosure of wrongdoing, see handling whistleblowing reports confidentially.
What not to put in the file
Keep the record to what was said and what you will do. Leave out the interviewer's opinions of the person, speculation about their next employer and anything about health that was not needed. Remember that in many jurisdictions the leaver may be able to request a copy of what was recorded about them.
Review the pattern, not just the person
Aggregate results every quarter or half-year: reasons for leaving by team, manager, length of service; average ratings; repeated comments. Anonymise when reporting upward, especially in small teams where one comment can identify its author. The value is in the trend: three leavers from one team citing workload is a finding; one is an anecdote.
Close the loop
Record what you decided to change and when you will check whether it worked. Exit interviews also feed practical handover: capture what the leaver knows that is not written down anywhere, as covered in how to hand over a case when someone leaves.
