Key questions to ask at an exit interview

When an employee is leaving your company, they can offer a wealth of insight into their experience with your business. 

They can help uncover any potential weaknesses in your organisation, as well as to help provide their opinion of the management team, and share suggestions to improve employee retention. 

Here are a few exit interview questions to ask that will help you get the most value from an employee who is leaving your company: 

What was the main reason you started looking for a new role?

This is a good interview question to start with and could give you a good idea as to why an employee decides to start searching for a job elsewhere. Searching could be down to a simple reason such as location of the new role is more convenient, however find out the reason why could give you a good idea of whether or not it is something you can control. 

Why did you decide to accept a new role? 

A great exit interview question to ask as it is a chance for you to find out why your employee ultimately decided to leave the company and take up the offer of employment elsewhere. 

Finding out the answer to this question can give you valuable feedback which could mean you may want to make changes to what you offer e.g. have they accepted a higher salary for a similar position which could potentially mean your salary range is not competitive enough.

What could have been done in order for you to remain at this company?

Another opportunity for you to find out what would have made your employee want to stay at the company, although this is their exit interview the information they provide is vital for the company moving forward and ensuring it is doing everything it needs to support its employees needs and that they are happy remaining at the company.  

How would you describe the company culture? 

Company culture is often a big part of an employee’s work experience, finding out what the company’s culture is like and how the employee found it will help you identify any key trends which may be resulting in a high-turnover of employees which would be a cause for concern.