1. EXIT INTERVIEWS

2. MEANING
•An exit interview is an interview conducted by an employer of a
departing employee.
•They are generally conducted by a relatively neutral party, such as a human
resources staff member, so that the employee will be more inclined to be
candid, as opposed to worrying about "burning bridges".
•Exit interviews are conducted by paper-and-pencil forms, telephone
interviews, in-person meetings, or online through exit interview management
systems.
•Some companies opt to employ a third party to conduct the interviews and
provide feedback.
•In human resource terms, an exit interview is a survey that is conducted with an
employee when he or she leaves the company.
•The information from each survey is used to provide feedback on why employees
are leaving, what they liked about their employment and what areas of the
company need improvement.
•Exit interviews are most effective when the data is compiled and tracked over
time.

3. PURPOSE
The purpose of an exit interview in business is :
•to gather employees' feedback on the work experience in order to improve working
conditions and retain employees.[1] I
•Improving work productivity,
•providing an early warning about sexual harassment,
•workplace violence and discrimination issues and
•measuring the success of diversity initiatives.
Common questions include reasons for leaving, job satisfaction, frustrations, and
feedback concerning company policies or procedures. Questions may relate to the work
environment, supervisors, compensation, the work itself, and the company culture.

4. In schools:
Schools may also conduct exit interviews with students before graduation, or
even as a requirement of it. This is sometimes called a graduation interview.
During elections, pollsters may conduct random exit polls.
Human resources departments conduct exit interviews (also called exit surveys)
to gather data for improving working conditions and retaining employees.
However, a hidden purpose is to help employers avoid costly litigation down the
road, caused by "disgruntled" employees.
In other words, your comments and the notes an HR rep takes during your exit
interview might be used against you in court, should you decide to sue your
former employer.

5. Should one Submit to an Exit Interview?
No. It's your right to decline an exit interview. A reputable employer will respect your
decision.
However, a not-so-reputable employer might resent that you didn't participate and
file a "would not rehire" or similar adverse notation in your personnel records.
The same employer might reveal the notation during a background check.

6. •But other career experts question the usefulness of an exit interview.
•A better time to conduct such a meeting is while an employee is
committed, not while he or she is on the way out the door and concerned
about burning a bridge.
•Consequently, they don't think the risks for departing employees are
worth it, so they advise against participating.
•Alternately, they advise participants to give "generic" responses only or at
least think carefully before responding.
•Besides potential bridge burning, risks for departing employees include
the information falling into the wrong hands and ruining references, the
employer revealing negative information during a background check, and
as previously indicated, the employer submitting either positive or negative
information as evidence in a lawsuit.

7. We have explained the importance of exit interviews with an example
below:
EXAMPLE:
BANGALORE: In 2007, an Indian automotive firm had recruited a US-based
expat as their R&D head. However, he soon found out that he was
expected to work on their idea of rolling out a hybrid car and not on the
overall R&D platform. He tried to convince them that India was not ready
for such a car but to no avail. He left within a few months but made it clear
in his exit interview that the company's plans for a hybrid car would go
kaput. The auto major soon conducted a survey , which according to an
industry expert, was triggered by the exit interview and found out that the
hybrid car would indeed be ahead of its times. The plan for the car was
postponed by three years.

8. Exit interviews are not merely a formality, but can often be an eye-opener for
the organisation.
In the last 4-5 years, an increase in replacement costs and dearth of
employability has also forced firms to pay heed to the changes an employee
leaving the company talks about in his 'last' interview.
Take for example retail giant Titan. Its chief human resource officer (CHRO) S
Ramadoss says, "Some of the exit interviews in our retail sector have shown that
working women find it difficult to stay back after 7 pm, so we will make our
timings more flexible from next year."
This is not the first time that Titan has made policy changes triggered off by exit
interviews.
Last year, they introduced an education policy under which employees could
pursue an MS/MBA degree with BITS-Pillani.

9. Pros and Cons of each method of Exit Interviewing
•In-Person Exit Interviews
With in-person exit interviews an HR representative meets individually with each
terminating employee.
Pros
Can provide information regarding benefits and retrieve company property during
the interview
Gives a personal touch to each employee
Can probe for more information on each question
Cons
Employees may be afraid to share sensitive or negative information during an in-
person interview
For larger companies, it may be too time consuming to interview every employee
It’s difficult to track information received verbally during an interview

10. •Telephone Exit Interviews
Telephone Exit Interviews are conducted over the telephone by an HR Representative
or an outside third party consultant.
Pros
Can probe for more information on each question
Can enter data into a tracking system while conducting the interview
Easier to schedule than in-person interviews
Cons
Time consuming if done in-house by an HR Representative
Expensive if done with an outside consultant
Employees often reluctant to verbally share sensitive or negative information

11. •Paper and Pencil Exit Interviews
Paper and Pencil Exit Interviews are usually conducted by a form that is given to
the employee on their last day or mailed to the employee’s home.
Pros
Takes less time to provide a form compared with conducting an in person or phone
interview
Employees can share information on paper that they may be reluctant to say in
person
Cons
Return rates for exit interview forms average just 30-35%
Difficult and time consuming to compile and track the data from paper and pencil
forms
•Online Exit Interview Management Systems
Pros
Employee self-service so easy for HR to administer
Employees comfortable sharing information by computer so more honest
responses
Information automatically compiles and tracked
Reports available at a click of a button
Participation rates (for WebExit customers) double that for paper and pencil exit
interviews