seminar on contemporary issues

8/9/2019 Seminar on Contemporary Issues

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SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

ROLE OF EXIT INTERVIEWS

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

MRS. RITA KUMARI ANKITA JAIN

LEC. IN LSB 10808364

RR1810B48


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Any project puts to litmus test of an individual knowledge credibility or experience and thus sole

efforts of an individual are not sufficient to accomplish the desire. Successful completion of a

project involve interest and effort of many people and so this becomes obligatory on the part to

record our thanks to those who helped us out in the successful completion of our project.

Life is a process of accumulating and discharging debts, not all of those can be

measured. I cannot hope to discharge them with simple words of thanks but we can certainly

acknowledge them.

At this level of understanding it is often difficult to comprehend and assimilate a wide

spectrum of knowledge without proper guidance and advice. Hence, I would like to take this

opportunity to express our Heartfelt Gratitude to Respected Mr. RITA KUMARI for his round

the clock Enthusiastic Support, Noble Guidance and Encouragement which made this project

successful. I am extremely thankful to him for making this project worth full.

ANKITA


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TABLE OF CONTENTS


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Exit interviews are inteviews conducted with departing employees, just before they leave. From

the employer's perspective, the primary aim of the exit interview is to learn reasons for the

person's departure, on the basis that criticism is a helpful driver for organizational improvement.

Exit interviews (and prior) are also an opportunity for the organization to enable transfer of

knowledge and experience from the departing employee to a successor or replacement, or even

to brief a team on current projects, issues and contacts.

Good exit interviews should also yield useful information about the employer organization, to

assess and improve all aspects of the working environment, culture, processes and systems,

management and development, etc.; in fact anything that determines the quality of the

organization, both in terms of its relationship with its staff, customers, suppliers, third-parties

and the general public.

Many employers ignore the opportunity that exit interviews offer, chiefly because exit interviews

have not been practised in the past, and starting them is a difficult initiative to undertake, given

the potentially subjective and 'fuzzy' nature of the results; the time involved; and the unspoken

corporate urge to avoid exposure to criticism.

Exit interviews are nevertheless a unique chance to survey and analyse the opinions of departing

employees, who generally are more forthcoming, constructive and objective than staff still in

their jobs. In leaving an organisation, departing employees are liberated, and as such provide a

richer source of objective feedback than employed staff do when responding to normal staff

attitude surveys.

As ever, corporate insecurity and defensiveness can be an obstacle to implementing exit

interview processes, so if the organization finds it difficult to begin the practice as a matter of

general policy, you can still undertake your own exit interviews locally with your own staff as

and when they leave.


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From the departing employee interviewee perspective, an exit interview is a chance to give some

constructive feedback, and to leave on a positive note, with good relations and mutual respect.

Recrimination, blame, revenge and spite are destructive feelings and behaviours, so resist any

temptation you might have to go out all guns blazing. Be calm, fair, objective and as helpful as

possible.

In the future you may wish to return to the organization (situations and people change), and you

may cross the paths of your ex-colleagues, managers in the future. The adage about treating

people well on your way up because you might meet them on the way down applies just as well

on your way out. The exit interview is an opportunity to shake hands and leave friends, not

enemies.


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CHAPTER -1

THEORTICAL BACKGROUND

We always talk/write about relations and respect every relation. Relation

between employer and employee is also one such relation. Gone are the days when people use to

stick to one job for rest of their life. The trust is lost and the faith is lost as well from both sides.

If an employer is having a policy of hire and fire, employees are also free to change their jobs

whenever they want. We are only reaping the fruits from the trees sown by us. Anyway, if you

are sitting across the table with your employee for an exit interview, probably that is the last

opportunity for you to change his mind and to retain him and if you are able to do it, you are not

only brilliant but excellent HR Professional.

WHAT IS EXIT INTERVIEW?

An exit interview is an entirely voluntary conversation held with an

employee who has given notice to quit their job. An exit interview is typically a meeting between

at least one representative from a company's human resources (HR) department and a departing

employee. The departing employee usually has voluntarily resigned vs. getting laid off or fired.

Human resources department might ask the employee questions while taking notes, asks the

employee to complete a questionnaire, or both. Exit interviews are most effective when the data

is compiled.

NEED TO STUDY THE EXIT INTERVIEW

While attrition is a natural process for organizations, replacing employees is

expensive. The cost goes beyond merely placing an advertisement for the opening in a

newspaper. It includes training a new employee, staff time for selecting a new employee, lost

productivity while the position is open and lost productivity until the new employee gets up to

speed. Understanding why people voluntarily leave the company can provide an opportunity for

the firm to make changes to reduce turnover rates -- and reduce the associated costs.


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GOALS OF EXIT INTERVIEWS

Employee exit interviews can result in measurable retention and performance increases for the

employees and for the business in general. Specifically, effective employee exit interviews are an

opportunity to diagnose and improve performance within the company:

Improve employee retention and reduce turnover.

Increase company objectivity by having employee exit interviews handled by a

fair and non-partisan third-party.

Benchmark against industry and company norms for the exit interview survey

items.

Compare exit interview scores against overall the Employee Satisfaction TrackingSurvey to determine if employee satisfaction impacts turnover.

Track trends in employee exit interview satisfaction to measure improvements

made.

EXIT INTERVIEW-PURPOSE

The exit interview serves a number of important functions. When trends in

voluntary separations are tracked, the firm may be provided a valuable heads up concerning

discrimination problems. It can be anything: Discrimination between expertises, Discrimination

between profiles, Discrimination between Grades or categories or bands likewise. If a trend

reveals an inordinate number of women and minorities are resigning, there could be a lack of

advancement opportunities. By exploring these issues through exit interviews, the company can

learn about the issue and take corrective action.

Valuable feedback concerning training and development can be obtained during the exit

interview. If employees feel they are not properly trained to perform the responsibilities of their

jobs, they may leave. If employees feel that the assignments are not matching to their core

competence which compels them to perform poorly. Or some may leave when they perceive

there is a lack of opportunities for future positions. Using the exit interview effectively can also

provide the company with valuable feedback concerning benefits and compensation. This can be

both negative and positive. It is equally important to know what employees value and what they


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would like to see changed. The organization can provide a more competitive compensation and

benefits package if they utilize this feedback.

The public relations aspect of the exit interview is equally important. The interview is an

opportunity for the employer to end the employee's time with the company on a positive note. Anew relationship with the departing employee may be created. As the employee departs with

positive feelings about the organization, this will be communicated to remaining employees,

local community / technical fraternity and future employees. The end result may even be ease of

recruiting future applicants.

Therefore in brief the purpose of exit interview is:-

To find out why employees are leaving and to see if those reasons could be a mechanism for

change & improvement within their organization.

This is a chance for employee to provide constructive feedback about their work environment,

duties, processes etc. Then company can improve some things related.

Employers will either be hiring a replacement or handing your duties over to existing staff

either by expanding their role of via promotion.

Employee may have a list of clients that will need to be contacted with regards to their case

being taken over by someone new so that company should do this personally before employee

leave.

INTERVIEW PROCESS

Exit interviews can be both oral and written. The panel could comprise HR personnel,

and also the head of the department (but not the immediate supervisor.) Some experts also

believe that trained psychologists should be conducting the interview. What is imperative is that

none of the interviewers should have worked directly with the interviewee. It is necessary for the

interviewers to be clear about the objectives of the interview, and they should try to put theemployee at ease as soon as the process starts.

Exit interviews are more about honest feedback, hence they should be more on the oral side as

the tone, expression and conviction in statements made or feedback given can be judged better,

which is not possible in a written format. Moreover, most professionals will be wary of giving


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written statements although these can be used for objective questions and ratings, states Varma.

He adds that the manner of the questioning should be more like a discussion with open-ended

questions. The employee should be told about the purpose of the exercise and made to feel

comfortable. The environment should also be conducive for candidates to voice their opinions.

HOW TO CONDUCT AN EXIT INTERVIEW?

The exit interview may be conducted through a variety of methods. Some of the methods

include: face to face interview, phone interview and exit interview surveys.

Face to face interviews:- With this method, an HR representative meets individually with each

terminating employee.

Exit interview surveys are usually conducted by a form that is given to the employee on theirlast day or mailed to the employees home.

Telephone Interviews are conducted over the telephone by an HR Representative and outside

third party consultant.

TIPS FOR EXIT INTERVIEWS

Get a mixed panel of interviewers: HR personnel, department heads and maybe a

psychologist, but never the immediate boss of the interviewee.

Be focussed about the kind of information you would like to gather from the exit

interview.

Try to put the employee at ease as soon as the interview begins.

Keep the interview mood conversational; it should not appear a question and

answer session.

Ask both objective-type and open-ended questions.

Do not take a confrontational stand even when the employee turns argumentative.

Try to ensure that both you and the employee feel positive about each other when the interview

ends.


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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS IN INTERVIEW

What did you most enjoy about your job?

What did you least enjoy about what you were doing?

What did you like about the management style at the company?

What did you dislike about the management style at the company?

What would you have changed at the company if you had been given the

opportunity?

Is there anything that would have resulted in your staying with the company?

What is your new position providing you differently from your position here?

EXIT INTERVIEWS AIMS AND OUTCOMES

Exit interviews are best conducted face-to-face because this enables better communication,

understanding, interpretation etc., and it provides far better opportunity to probe and get to the

root of sensitive or reluctant feelings. However, postal or electronic questionnaires are better

than nothing, if face-to-face exit interviews are not possible for whatever reason (although I

remain to be convinced that there is never a proper excuse for not sitting down for 30 minutes

with any departing employee.....)

In some cases perhaps a particularly shy employee may prefer to give their feedback in a

questionnaire form, in which case this is fine, but where possible, face-to-face is best.

In terms of managing the interview, listen rather than talk. Give the interviewee time and space

to answer. Coax and reassure where appropriate, rather than pressurise. Interpret, reflect and

understand (you can understand someone without necessarily agreeing). Keep calm, resist the

urge to defend or argue - your aim is to elicit views, feedback, answers, not to lecture or

admonish. Ask open 'what/how/why' questions, not 'closed' yes/no questions, unless you require

specific confirmation about a point. 'When' and 'where' are also more specific qualifying


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questions, unless of course they are used in a general context rather than specific time or

geographic sense. 'Who' should be used with care to avoid witch-hunts or defamatory risks

(moreover many exit interviewees will be uncomfortable if asked to name people or allocate

personal blame - exit interviews are not about 'blame', the allocation of which is not constructive

and should be avoided for anything other than very serious complaints or accusations, which

must then be suitably referred as follow-up would be beyond the normal exit interview remit.

Prepare your exit interview questions and topics that you'd like to explore, especially when you

believe that the interviewee has good experience, appreciation and understanding.

Take notes and/or use a prepared questionnaire form.

Importantly, see also the job interviews page for interviews techniques, which relate to exit

interviews too. Remember simple planning aspects such as arranging a suitable time and place,avoiding interruptions, taking notes, preparing questions, being aware of the body-language and

feelings of the interviewee and adjusting your own approach accordingly, etc.

Obviously the style of exit interview is different for someone who is being asked to leave,

retiring, being made redundant, dismissed, or leaving under a cloud, compared to an employee

leaving whom the organization would prefer to retain. However everyone who leaves should be

given the opportunity of an exit interview, and the organization can learn something from every

situation. In certain situations (where appropriate) the exit interview also provides a last chanceto change a person's mind, although this should not be the main aim of the exit interview

situation.

When the interview is complete say thanks and wish the interviewee well. If there is some

specific checking or follow-up to do then ensure you do it and report back accordingly.

After the interview look at the answers and think properly - detached and objective - about what

their meaning and implications.

Take action as necessary, depending on your processes for analysing and reporting exit interview

feedback. If there's an urgent issue, or the person wants to stay and you want to keep them, then

act immediately or the opportunity will be lost.


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BENEFITS OF EXIT INTERVIEW

y They provide an opportunity to 'make peace' with disgruntled employees, who might

otherwise leave with vengeful intentions.

y Exit interviews are seen by existing employees as a sign of positive culture. They are

regarded as caring and compassionate - a sign that the organisation is big enough to

expose itself to criticism.

y Exit interviews accelerate participating managers' understanding and experience of

managing people and organizations. Hearing and handling feedback is a powerful

development process.

y Exit interviews help to support an organization's proper HR practices. They are seen as

positive and necessary for quality and effective people-management by most

professional institutes and accrediting bodies concerned with quality management of

people, organizations and service.

y The results and analysis of exit interviews provide relevant and useful data directly into

training needs analysis and training planning processes.

y Exit interviews provide valuable information as to how to improve recruitment and

induction of new employees.Exit interviews provide direct indications as to how to improve staff retention.

y Sometimes an exit interview provides the chance to retain a valuable employee who

would otherwise have left (organizations often accept resignations far too readily

without discussion or testing the firmness of feeling - the exit interview provides a final

safety net).

y A significant proportion of employee leavers will be people that the organization is

actually very sorry to leave (despite the post-rationalisation and sour grapes reactions of

many senior executives to the departure of their best people). The exit interview

therefore provides an excellent source of comment and opportunity relating to

management succession planning. Good people leave often because they are denied

opportunity to grow and advance. Wherever this is happening organizations need to

know about it and respond accordingly.


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y Every organization has at any point in time several good people on the verge of leaving

because they are not given the opportunity to grow and develop, at the same time,

ironically, that most of the management and executives are overworked and stretched,

some to the point of leaving too. Doesn't it therefore make good sense to raise the

importance of marrying these two situations to provide advantage both ways - ie.,

facilitate greater delegation of responsibility to those who want it? Exit interviews are an

excellent catalyst for identifying specific mistakes and improvement opportunities in this

vital area of management development and succession.

y Exit interviews, and a properly organised, positive exit process also greatly improve the

chances of successfully obtaining and transferring useful knowledge, contacts, insights,

tips and experience, from the departing employee to all those needing to know it,

especially successors and replacements. Most leavers are happy to help if you have the

courage and decency to ask and provide a suitable method for the knowledge transfer, be

it a briefing meeting, a one-to-one meeting between the replacement and the leaver, or

during the exit interview itself.


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CHAPTER -2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Understanding Employee Cycle Through Exit Interviews: Conceptual Framework And

Case Illustration

Rohtas Kumar

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Ajay Kumar Garg

University Business School, Panjab University

Sarang JagdaleIndian Institute of Management Bangalore

Jai Y. Advani

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

South Asian Journal of Management, Vol. 11, No. 4, October - December 2004

From this article I have analysed that in this age of "knowledge workers", people are the most

important assets for the continual success of the organizations. The big question for

organizations is "What are the determinant factors to attract and retain the best talent". Nothing

less than a complete system of employee communication tools could serve to enhance an

organization's ability to retain its top talent.

These communication tools are employed by organizations to understand the employee cycle,

which helps in attracting and retaining talent by providing best fit. This paper conceptualizes the

methodology for understanding the employee cycle by using the information generated through

the exit interviews.

Previous research has focused on quantitative analysis of the data collected through exit

interviews ignoring the insights that qualitative analysis could have provided. Qualitative data

collected through open-ended questions are source of well-grounded and rich descriptions, and

explanations of processes in identifiable local contexts.

With qualitative data one can preserve chronological flow, see precisely the consequences of

each event, and derive fruitful explanations. Qualitative research framework to analyze the rich


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data collected through exit interviews is developed to gain a holistic (systematic, encompassing

and integrated) overview of the employee cycle: its logic, its arrangements, and its explicit and

implicit rules. The framework developed is illustrated by taking a case of a Software Company in

India.

Date posted: February 22, 2006 ; Last revised: February 22, 2006

2.Confession Times

By David J. Skyrme , Knowledge Management Expert .

This article tells that EVERY time an employee puts in his papers, a senior HR colleague of

mine starts preparing for what he terms the `confessional'---the Exit Interview. It is not

something that many HR managers look forward to because sometimes they can be emotionally

draining and depressing. Exit interviews are indeed confession times. If it is not done right, the

wrong approach is used or you are not sure what kind of feedback you want and how best to use

it, this last interview will have little meaning.

Exit interviews are valuable for organisations to know how to retain their talented staff and

improve their work culture. It is a perfect forum to find out the issues impacting the company. It

is a mistake to treat this as just one of the formalities to observe before someone leaves.

Managers need to know the right etiquette and `prepare' for this final conversation. Of course

there are always some tips that can help you get the most out of it.

3. The Importance of Exit Interviews

I have analysed that Exit interviews are a great resource for employers to find out what is going

right and wrong with their company. However, employees will most likely feel intimidated in an

exit interview, so it's important to give the reasons for it. The article gives few tips on what to do

and what not to do when participating in an exit interview. Exit interviews are excellent

opportunities to talk with employees about what they liked or what they didn't like about their

job. The human resource Professional conducting the interview should be open-minded about

this meeting, as he will get valuable information that can be used to make positive changes

within the organization.


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4. Use Exit Interviews to Dramatically Reduce Staff Turnover

This article mainly enlightens the idea about how exit interviews helps in reducing staff turnover.

In the present scenario what is the first thing companies would do if they started losing their key

customers to their competitors? Well the simplest way to find out why they are leaving and stopthe loss of business is to obviously ask them. To find out what made them leave you and what

attracted them to another supplier. In the same way, you should make exit interviews with

employees who leave your business a standard part of their procedures.

5. Reasons why employees leave?

Since from studying this article I came to know about that one of the common reasons for

employees to leave is incompatibility with their boss/ superior, it is smart to let the employeedecide whom he wants to talk to besides the HR manager. There may be things he does not want

to discuss with the HR department. You may find it easy to conduct the interview in your office

but sometimes it may intimidate the employee enough for him to remain silent. If possible have

it on a neutral territory. It can be done informally too, over a cup of coffee or even lunch.

As one of the main reasons behind exit interviews is to improve the company so that

other employees don't leave, frame your questions in such a way that they elicit thoughtful

responses rather than safe platitudes. Remember not to make it an interrogation. Just listen and

do not defend.

Keep the session non-controversial so as to get as much information as you can. Let the

employee speak his mind about what he thinks of the company and its people, air his grievances

of the wrongs done to him, if any. Any learning that you carry from this `confessional' will only

help you avoid more such sessions in the future. Learn and act after every exit interview. One of

the goals of an exit interview is to learn from them so that you can put processes in place, which

will reduce attrition rate.

7.The Exit Interview - A Valuable Tool for Reducing Turnover

-Contributed By Sheryl R. Sever.

This article tells about how employee turnover get impacted by the exit interviewsThe exit

interview is often overlooked as an extremely valuable retention and organizational effectiveness


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tool. The purpose of exit interviews is to understand individuals' perceptions and experiences and

get feedback about the job the employee held, the work environment, and the organization. A

well-crafted exit interview system can help reduce turnover and increase employee satisfaction

and commitment. The exit interview should be positive, relaxed, and ensure that employee leaves

on a good note. Its great PR. Some employees may even decide to return to your company

8.Conducting an Exit Survey - Why bother if they're already leaving?

From the given information I have analysed that many of experts think that conducting exit

interviews is wastage of time and money. Actually in organizations who cares about what


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employees that are leaving our company think? The fact that we're letting them go means we

didn't really want them anyway.

Chances are they're a disgruntled staff member who will just use it as an opportunity to rant. So

why should I listen to what they have to say about our business?' What do you do if you have a

hole in your bucket? You plug it! (Fast), A great opportunity to learn from your mistakes, The

'naked truth. A pulse on HR program effectiveness. Protect your employment brand and

reputation.

9.Increasing Employee Retention through Employee Exit Interviews

Employee exit interviews are an important part of HR management and monitoring employee

retention and satisfaction. Just as it is important to hold a sales interview to find out why you did

not get an account, it is important to understand why an employee leaves and what information

you can use to avoid future employee losses.

Avoidable losses result from employee job dissatisfaction, poor management practices, the lack

of advancement opportunity, and sometimes personal harassment by or conflict with a co-worker

or manager. A recent employee retention survey suggests that nearly 70% of employees leave

their jobs because they do not feel valued! Another purpose is to help employers avoid litigation

down the road, caused by illegal activities or by "disgruntled" employees.

Employee exit interviews can change the climate of the organization by changing management

style, making changes that reflect employee opinions, and creating value recognition programs

where needed. One key to increasing the employees opinion of the organization is in the

management of expectations. Realistic job expectations are important and management should

focus on creation of proper expectations.

CHAPTER-3


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Different ways of conducting exit interview

Powerful On-line Retention Diagnostics

Almost 90% of managers believe employees leave because of 'pull' factors such as better pay orcareer opportunities - rather than 'push' factors that occur long before employees start looking for

greener pastures. Organisations that keep ahead of these realities will reap the rewards ofsustained competitive advantage.

Online Exit Interviews

Save time and money by outsourcing your exit interviews. Workforce Retention's model for

collecting and reporting online data is based on extensive research focussed on illiciting truesentiment from exiting employees. Too often the power of data captured through exit interviews

is not realised. Workforce Retention offers a cost effective exit interview program that provides

powerful insight into why your key talent is leaving. Workforce Retention's model will save HR

time, reduce overheads.

Phone Exit Interviews

Outsource your exit interviews with Workforce Retention's cost effective third party exit

interview programs. Using specialised staff to sensitively collect information from exitingemployees via a telephone exit interview, Workforce Retention successfully uncovers the root

cause of employee turnover and allows you to view powerful online reports on such things

as; the top five reasons for leaving, demographic profiles of former employees and insightful

drill downs into reasons for exiting.

Internal Exit Interviews

You can have the flexibility of allowing internal staff such as HR or management conduct

internal exit interviews for your organisation with the reassurance of knowing the exit data is

being captured centrally and reported objectively for the entire organisation.

New Powerful Retention Tool -

Workforce Retention has developed a Retention, Engagement & Commitment Assessment

Program RECAP. This powerful diagnostic tool helps you identify flight risk and nip it in the

bud within 12 months.


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It has two-fold value. Firstly, it captures the preferences, values and expectations of each

individual as they enter the workforce. Then six months later, it recaptures the employees

satisfaction against those same unique preferences. The comparative data highlights important

gaps and identifies the risk of losing the employee through a retention index, and their level of

engagement and commitment to the organisation through an engagement and commitment index.

The data is captured independently encouraging greater candour from the individual via email

workflow. It is then compiled into a one-page profile that the manager accesses via a web link.

How Do We Compare The Data?

The data is taken from the employee as they enter the workforce. At this point the culture, norms

and attitudes of the workplace have not yet made an impression on the individual so their

expression about what they value is untainted and candid. Six months later those questions rated

with high importance are given a satisfaction rating by the employee.

INDIAN SCENAIRO OF EXIT INTERVIEWS

In India the trend of exit interviews are not so prevalent. The exit interviews are not taken

formally in the India. Informal procedure is adopted by Indian companies. They just get the

information from the employee at the time of resignation. The data is not formally compiled

properly. It is just an informal talk between the employee and employer that why he is leaving

the job. The role of exit interviews has always been debated. While there are many who vouch

for it as one of the best ways to get feedback on people and processes in an organisation,

detractors insist that it is nothing more than a HR formality. Their argument goes like this. Is it

possible to derive objective assessments from people who are about to leave a company? Will

their disclosures be free from personal bias? Would it not have been better to ask them the same

questions six months earlier and act on it to make them stay back? Does the organisation really

believe that the information obtained from an exit interview can help in retaining the remaining

employees? Though the list of questions is long, in the IT/BPO industry exit interviews are

regarded as an important tool that may lead to lower employee turnover.

However at the same time some of the major companies do believe in taking interviews of

employees who are going to leave. Some of the names of companies are given below

y Motorola


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y DCM Shri ram Consolidated Limited (DSCL)

y Wipro

y NIIT

y Whirlpool

y Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

y Infosys

y Balaji firms

y TVA Infotech

y Kenexa Technologies

y Epicenter Technologies

Approaching exit interviews with a closed mind is self-defeating. Interviewers tend to

rationalise: they dont want to acknowledge negative comments, says Aquil Busrai, Executive

Director (HR), Motorola.

As most exiting employees dont speak the whole truth, Busrai takes the following measures:

Keeps a tight check on the quality of the exit interviews;

Scans the interview formats to ensure that his HR team doesnt do a

slapdash job.

A consultant at Andersen Consulting says, Exiting employees want to leave with a feel-good

factor, so that the channels of returning remain open. Thus, the inadequacies of the job are rarely

highlighted. The most crucial question is: how do you gain the trust of your employees? The

opportune time, the consultant feels, is to wait until the dues have been settled.

At DSCL exit interviews are conducted on the last day of the tenure of a exiting employee.

However, companies like Motorola and Whirlpool prefer to delay the interview till the last day.

Well-trained HR managers are the best bet for extracting quality information from exiting

employees. However, exit interviews should be conducted by someone not in the direct line of

command, says Dilip Ranjekar, Corporate Executive Vice President (HR), Wipro.

Eventually, firms must capture the information emerging from these sessions. In-depth

interviews coupled with a structured questionnaire tend to be exhaustive and rich in detail.

Companies that cotton on to the need for in-depth interviews often strike a goldmine of


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information. Senior HR managers at DSCL spend at least two hours talking to employees who

are leaving.

The key question, according to DSCLs HR head Radhakrishna, which gets the employees to

reveal what they think, is: If we could change some things to get you back, what would theybe?

He feels that to get an idea about the exiting employees mental make-up companies should take

the help of behavioural psychologists

y Companies like Motorola and Whirlpool prefer to delay the interview till the last day.

y Balaji firms use to conduct it a week before the departure of an employee.

y NIIT use to do one-one interaction

After recession

Many IT companies including Infosys, Wipro and Accenture have unofficially

stopped taking exit interviews for employees in the last few months.

While HR personnel at firms never conducted exit interviews for staff leaving through

involuntary attrition (due to bad performance), this practice is now being extended to those who

leave voluntarily as well, according to industry sources.Further, a large part of the voluntary attrition now includes several employees who are being

forced to leave on the pretext of poor performance and lack of projects.

Companies are not seeing adequate value in these exit interviews, as mostly only negative

feedback comes through. Also, there are companies like Mphasis which outsource exit

interviews to third party consultants which adds to the cost of operation.

An Infosys employee told Financial Chronicle, Unlike earlier, employees who leave voluntarily

are not given an opportunity to give feedback through exit interviews. Earlier employees were

asked to provide reasons for quitting and the delivery manager would take inputs personally. But

now an employee just fills a basic form on the internet and then you leave. No emphasis is

placed on feedback anymore.


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The open door policy is there just for namesake. However, according to people in the know

there is no official communication on this practise. Said Vamshi, who was asked to quit Wipro a

couple of months ago, Companies feel it is a waste of time and money since employees leaving

in this recessionary environment will tend to give negative feedback.

Agreeing with this, a project leader with Accenture said that he was told, unofficially, to stop

taking exit interviews for his team. However, companies like TCS and MphasiS are exceptions.

MphasiS HR head R Elango said, People tell you lot of things about the organisation that one

doesnt get to know otherwise. However he concurs that some of his peer firms who are

retrenching or optimising their headcount have stopped the process.

Their logic it seems is: Why spend so much on these interviews? he added.

Officially, there was no response from Wipro and TCS on the issue.

According to Anshuman Das ofCareernet, which has forayed into outplacement service forIT

industry, an exit interview for a single person in India on average would cost about Rs

3,000 and $200 (over Rs 9,000) for an employee in the US. Most companies outsource their

processes to third party HR firms to conduct exit interviews and outplacements.

Survey results: TechRepublic members weighin on exit interviews

byMike Walton | Oct 27, 2000 7:00:00 AM


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What is a Good Participation Rate for Exit Interviews?

Research shows that the average response rate for paper and pencil exit

interviews is approximately 30-35 percent. This means that a company with 2000 employees and

a 15 percent turnover rate would expect to receive about 100 completed exit interviews per year.

At this participation level, the organization is getting exit feedback from just five percent of the

total employee population.

With just a little extra effort, you should be able to double that response rate. Sixty-five percent

or better is a good goal for exit interview participation. This can be accomplished with paper and

pencil exit interviews, web based online exit interviews and telephone exit interviews.


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Measuring Your Participation in the Exit Interview

To measure your response rate, divide the number of completed exit interviews by

the number of employees from whom you requested an exit interview. Ideally the second number

should equal the total number of terminations but for practical reasons this is generally not the

case. As an example, if you have 125 completed exit interviews from 300 people whom you

asked to complete an exit interview, your participation rate is 125 / 300 which equals .416 or

41.6 percent.


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Best Exit Interview Ever

BACK TO HOME PAGE


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WHY IN INDIA IT IS NOT SO FAMOUS?

Just a formality?

Most people leaving an organisation do not consider exit interviews as anything more than an

HR formality. The reason is not difficult to guess. I left my previous company because I was

finding it difficult to continue working with my project head who was not a peoples person. In

fact, many of my colleagues were unhappy working with him. I thought that the exit interview

would be a good platform to reveal the problem, because even if I were leaving others would

benefit. I realised how wrong I was because the organisation has done nothing even after four

months, although they have lost two more people, says one lady who asked not to be named,

and who is now working with a Pune-based organisation.

Sinha says that if a trend emerges not from a bunch of interviews about a certain practice that the

company follows (and which leads to dissatisfaction), then that practice needs to be examined.

This could also be true for organisational structures and key personalities, he points out.

Sceptics argue that if the common questions asked during exit interviews are actually asked

every six months it can go a long way toward making employees happy. If feedback from these

question and answer sessions are used to implement improvements in the organisation, it might

stop many employees from leaving in the first place.

Factors why india is not using exit interviews to great extent

Cost

An exit interview for a single person in India on average would cost about Rs

3,000 and $200. After the recessionary period no employer wants to pursue this activity more.

Because the cost cutting is main criterion for them to be competitive in the market so they

mainly concerned about the cost cutting there fore they had been quitting from these type of

interviews for the employees who are leaving.


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Time

Employer thinks that it s the wastage of time and resources to be spent on the

employees who are leaving from the organization. Because they have become non-performing

assets to them, as they dont need them in organization then why to waste time and resources onthe departing employees. The process is predictably simple while most people think its a big

waste of time. If a person resigns, you already know why he is leaving. But mostly the stated

reasons are far from true, most resignations state personal reasons or better prospects. If one is

being discharged, he will be angry and wont tell anything useful anyway. Why bother then?

WHAT TO DO TO INCREASE RESPONSE RATESFOR EMPLOYEE EXIT

INTERVIEWS?

Employees who leave your organization are generally willing to provide feedback. However,

where termination is due to employee deficiency or cutbacks, the employee may fear, be

dismayed, or even be angry at the company. To obtain useful information in this type of situation

requires special care. It is useful to identify why employees sometimes choose not to participate

or complete exit interviews.

Face to face exit interviews are uncomfortable for the employee.

Psychologically the person may not want to participate they may be in denial or

want to leave this chapter in their lives behind.

The exit interview may be too long, detailed or contains requests for unimportant

information.

The exit interview questions may be confusing or personally invasive.

Employees dont believe that the company will value the exit interviewinformation provided.

Employees are afraid of repercussions from information provided or statements

made.


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Employees are angry with the company, the employment situation, management

or co-workers.

Employees forget to complete the interview or lose the interview form.

Given a 5-10 minute time window and that about 7 multiple choice questions can be answered

per minute, 35-50 questions is the maximum. Text input questions take longer and will decrease

the number of multiple choice questions (trade 1 text question for 3-5 multiple choice questions).

For all of the reasons discussed above, keep employee exit interview questions simple and short,

focusing on evaluations of different job components (effectiveness of) and identification of

needed changes. Questions about feelings and emotions are particularly difficult, especially if the

employee has been terminated from the job.

Including Former Employees in the Exit Interview Feedback Loop

Angry employees who are angry or feel they have been treated unfairly have the greatest

potential to damage the company. However, these same employees also place great value on the

opportunity to have their say and provide feedback to someone who might listen to their side of

the story.

Tell employees leaving the company that their feedback will be evaluated by the director of HR

and that their comments and evaluations are important. If the employee makes suggestions, it is

appropriate to send a letter thanking them for their honesty and to report on the value and

implementations that are to be made based on their recommendations. No doubt, the employee

still has friends at the company who may learn of the communication and the value the company

places on suggestions for improving the workplace.

Build Your Exit Interview Process to Increase Response Rates

The employee exit interview process within your organization can be structured to maximize the

quantity (response rates) and quality of feedback. Begin with an audit of your exit interview

process to determine how employee exit interviews are conducted.

How is HR notified that an employee exit interview needs to take place?

How soon after the notice is received does the interview need to take place?


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Who is responsible for initiating and conducting the exit interview?

How is the employee notified of the exit interview?

When does the employee receive notification of the need for an exit interview?

What is the employee told about the exit interview?

Is the interview process unbiased and free of repercussions?

What encouragements are used to secure employee cooperation for the exit

interview?

When and where will the employee complete the exit interview?

Is there easy access the exit interview materials?

Does the employee have privacy when completing the exit interview?

Does the employee have the choice of completing the interview at work or at

home?

Is the exit interview easy to complete?

Are supervisors and managers supportive of the exit interview process?

Are supervisors and managers fearful about receiving negative feedback from

employees?

Is it easy for employees to submit their exit interviews?

Post Employee Exit Interview Followup: Job Comparison Questionnaire

Approximately three months after the completion of the employee exit interview survey,

consider sending a Job Comparison Questionnaire that contains questions related to current

employment status, and asks for a comparison of their new and previous job with your

organization.


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Exit interviews: A necessary evil?

Exit interviews have become routine in organisations before final departure of employees. But

ask them "why?" and most prefer a studied silence. Several organisations are conducting them as

a matter of course without bothering about the inferences to be drawn from an analysis of suchinterviews. Are they really necessary in a sector which has one of the highest rates of attrition?

Do exit interviews give an insight into the problem? Or are we knocking on

the wrong door for the right answers and are therefore, still clueless?

Employees leave an organisation for various reasons. But the ones leaving voluntarily,

following office protocol, will have valuable information which can be used as a resource to

compile data about the organisation. If you want your organisations true

picture through the eyes of your employees, then exit interviews are an invaluable managementtool. The answers provided in exit interviews can be the basis for formulating a draft policy for

employee retention. Since the feedback on the organisation is from

exiting employee, they are expected to be genuine and unbiased.

Typically, an exit interview is a meeting between a senior executive from the company

(preferably human resources (HR) department) and the exiting employee. It's easier to fight the

enemy if you know where to hit. And to fight the giant of 'attrition', exit

interviews can be used as the arrow to strike right at its Achilles' heel.

Exit interviews open doors to internal systems and workings within the organisation that affect

an employee's career in the company. They provide an insight into the values that employees

attach to systems, processes and management of the organisation. Many reforms in the appraisal

systems, leave management, human resource management and many other improvement

initiatives can be taken on the basis of exit feedback.

Sharing her opinion on exit interviews, Surbhi Saxena, Senior Manager, Employee Relations,

First Advantage Offshore Services Private Limited said, "Exit interviews are a cost-effective

means of collecting data to not just help in improving recruitment, selection, placement and

training practices, but also reduce employee turnover. These interviews help

in identifying poor practices in an organisation that can be then eliminated or remedied." Most

importantly they help in minimising the risk of legal actions later, Saxena adds.


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Since these interviews are generally conducted just before employees' departure, they can

disclose their feelings about the company without the fear of repercussion. But Saxena believes,

"A better time to conduct such a meeting is while an employee is still committed and not when

he/she is on the way out. Ideally, at least a week before his/her departure."

Explaining the reasons for varied employee turnover, Navin Joshua, Executive Director,

Customer India said, "Just as the motivating factor for each employee varies so does the factor

resulting in the turnover of the employee.

However, exit interview feedback does help study of employee turnover trend." But cautions

Joshua, "To rely solely on feedback would be foolhardy, for an employee on his way out may be

biased and judgmental about the company and its systems. The organisation should

spend an equal time gaining feedback from employees throughout their association with the

organisation."

Saxena too supports, the view and cautions, "With exit feedback you need reality-check so that it

does not lead to a witch-hunt." Saxena believes that these interviews can sometimes lead to

character assassination and may divert from the main goal of conducting such

interviews.

The interview should be conducted professionally and as far as possible steer away from

personal grievances. Therefore, though more stress should be laid on the right questions to ask, it

is equally important to know which questions are not to be asked." The employees should be

well informed about the process of exit interviews. Although, legally an employee can refuse to

give this interview, if it is communicated well in advance within the organisation that it is a

standard procedure and all the exiting employees are required to give it, it may not scare them

away.

Exit interviews can also help in creating a positive environment, wherein

the employee may want to re-join at a later stage and would not hesitate to do so.

Saxena stresses on some of the pitfalls to be avoided while conducting these interviews, "Treat

the exiting employee with respect and ensure that he or she knows that there is

no penalty for speaking freely or otherwise." She adds, "Have a trusted person to chair these

meetings. The person conducting the exit interview should be one with a good amount of

individual credibility and should avoid leading questions, questions on specific issues or


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individuals. He should also be a good listener. The interview should be properly timed." Last but

not the least, she adds, "It should project a good picture of the organisation to

the exiting employee and show it in a caring light.

Some organisations even hire a third party consultant or a behavioural psychologist to make this process of conducting exit interviews more effective and reliable.

"According to a research, when a company switched to a third party firm, it found less than 70

percent correlation between what employees said during an internal company

exit interview vs when interviewed by a neutral third party," said Saxena.

The interviews should be precise and the questions relevant. Says Joshua, "The content of an

interview must be specific to an organisation's requirement. However, in general, the interview

should focus largely on systems, processes and people's behaviour that directly affect the

employees' day-to-day working in the organisation." After the interview, the crucial part is to

assimilate all the data in statistical format so as to draw conclusions. The way in which this data

is processed leads to better inferences and concrete results. Says Saxena, "Try and assimilate the

data into various buckets. It should be presented as a statistical model as opposed to getting into

individual issues. Use the result to generate trends that can show areas of repetitive concern that

need to be addressed."

To make it a better experience for the employee and the employer, the environment or the place

where the interview is conducted should be informal and away from the work area. The

interviewer should be unbiased with a neutral approach. Some companies even request

employees for written feedback for more specific and accurate record. All in all, there is no

reason to deny the importance of exit interviews for the employer and the employee both.

If conducted properly, it can help the employer ensure that no other employee leaves for similar

reasons. It also benefits the departing employee with constructive feedback and he can leave on a

positive note with hopes of returning in future, if so desired.


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Guidelines for determining the exit interview content

As with all questionnaires, it is important to strike the right balance between information needs

and survey length when putting together an exit survey instrument. There are six key guidelines

that should be kept in mind to help ensure that the end result is a useful and effective survey:

1. Do not focus solely on the employees reasons for leaving although this is

extremely important information, it is also critical to include broader measures about the

employees attitudes and experiences so as to help identify the issues and concerns that

may not surface when asking about reasons for leaving.

2. Ensure that there is more than one way for employees to express their reasons for

leaving including several open-ended questions for them to include their own

comments so as to get a full perspective on the decision to leave.

3. In order to get beyond a focus on the decision itself, incorporate key attitudinal

measures such as the employees satisfaction with the job itself, an assessment of the

organizations work culture and effectiveness of its various lines of communication, how

well the employees job responsibilities were defined, perceived opportunities for

advancement and the employees perspective on the amount of training, feedback and

recognition received.

4. Recognize that, for maximum effect, any exit survey system needs to be

implemented consistently and in such a way as to encourage employees to share their

opinions as honestly and candidly as possible.

5. Incorporate the ability to examine results not only on the basis of individual results

but for the organization as a whole, as well as on the basis of the relevant diagnostics,

such as region, department or manager.

6. Remember that there is an important distinction to be made between idiosyncratic

reasons for leaving, over which the organization has little control, and systemic reasons

for leaving, over which the organization can exercise substantial control.


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RECOMMANDATIONS

y Remember that they are actually helping you here by sharing what could be valuable

information. So be positive, dont take criticisms personally. There may be things you

do not agree with but dont be defensive. Be dignified and thank them for their

feedback.

y If you do this consistently with every person that leaves youll get a clearer picture of

what motivates your staff and what you could do to improve employee satisfaction (and

therefore retention).

y Ensure that you conduct an exit interview consistently with every leaver regardless

of whether they are going to a competitor, moving out of town, taking a career break or

even retiring. Theyll all have something valuable to tell you.y This information is priceless. You may not be able to use it to keep the person who is

leaving, but you can certainly use it to prevent others leaving and so save yourself a lot

of time, money and effort in recruiting and training replacements


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CONCLUSION

With the recognition exit interviews can provide an opportunity for valuable feedback, new

approaches are being used. Trends in exit interviews today include outsourcing and automated

surveys. Some companies have opted to delegate the exit interview to a third party firm that

specializes in conducting these interviews. The rationale is departing employees may be more

open and honest with an objective third party. These interviewers are often trained in asking

probing questions and can elicit more information.

The information solicited from the exit interview is only valuable if it used. It must be

disseminated to the appropriate people within the organization and then actually used to make

positive changes. Otherwise, the company has missed a valuable opportunity


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES OF WEB PAGES

y http://www.humanresources.hrvinet.com/exit-interview/y http://jobsearchtech.about.com/cs/interviewtips/a/exit_interview_2.htm

y http://jobsearchtech.about.com/cs/interviewtips/a/exit_interview.htm

y http://www.expertbusinesssource.com/blog/1260000326/post/590037259.html

y http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_interview

y http://www.insightlink.com/exit_interviews_employee_turnover.html

y http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050117/technologylife01.shtml

y http://www.mydigitalfc.com/careers/it-sector-exit-interviews-are-thing-past-419

y http://livemint.com/2008/07/16225210/More-firms-opting-for-exit-int.html

y http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=882391

y http://www.efytimes.com/efytimes/fullnewspbpo.asp?edid=22838

y [email protected]

y http://www.hinduonnet.com/jobs/0312/2003123100170200.htm

y http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx?docid=49201

y http://www.exitinterviews.com.au/Use-Exit-Interviews-To-Dramatically-Reduce-Staff-

Turnover.htm

y http://www.exitinterviews.com.au/disappearing-knowledge-are-exit-interviews-the-wits-

end.htm

y http://www.exitinterviews.com.au/disappearing-knowledge-are-exit-interviews-the-wits-

end.htm

y http://www.exitinterviews.com.au/The-Exit-Interview.htm

y http://www.exitinterviews.com.au/exitsurvey-exit-survey-benefits.htm

y

http://humanresources.about.com/od/employeesurveys/a/exitinterview.htmy http://media.web.britannica.com/ebsco/pdf/27/27448971.pdf

y http://www.itpeopleindia.com/20020624/management1.shtml

y http://www.businessballs.com/exitinterviews.htm


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REFERENCES OF ARTICLES

David J. Skyrme , Knowledge Management Expert, (1992) CONFESSION

TIMES Advances in Developing Human Resources, May; vol. 11: pp. 189 - 203.

Marsden, Cook, Kalleberg (1993), Importance of exit interviews, Apr ; vol. 27:

pp. 163 - 189.

Ronald W. Perry (2004), Use of exit interviews to Dramatically Reduce Staff

Turnover with Supervisory Trust,Review of Public Personnel Administration, Jun; vol.

24: pp. 133 - 149.

Kumar Rohtas, Ajay Kumar Garg ,Sarang Jagdale ,Jai Y. Advani (2004)Understanding Employee Cycle Through Exit Interviews: Conceptual Framework And

Case IllustrationSouth Asian Journal of Management, Vol. 11, No. 4, October -

December 2004

Steven M. Sommer (1996), Reasons why employees leave Dec; vol. 26: pp.

1113 - 1132

Sheryl R. Sever.,(2000), The Exit Interview - A Valuable Tool for Reducing

Turnover Jul; vol. 49: pp. 977 - 993.

Peter J. Robertson, Carlos Wing-Hung Lo, and Shui-Yan Tang(2004),

Conducting an Exit Survey - Why bother if they're already leaving? Mar ; vol. 39: pp. 3

24.

Gordon R. Brooks (2006), Increasing Employee Retention through Employee

Exit Interviews ,Aug; vol. 19: pp. 211 236.

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