When good employees leave it is not only a loss in terms of time, effort and all the cost associated with finding a suitable replacement but it is also the loss of losing unique knowledge and experience specifically associated 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, for example those that are the result of a clash of personalities, do not always come to light until it is too late.
Two of the most common reasons personnel decide to leave an organization is due to a lack of career development and/or poor management. 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).
Some employees while still employed may be reluctant to criticize their line managers for fear of reprisal; however they can be more candid when completing an employee exit survey.
Exit surveys are unlikely to prevent an individual from changing their mind and staying but what they will do is help an organization identify problem areas that if left unchecked could result in the remaining employees suffering form poor moral and further resignations.
Limited 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. For organizations to succeed and excel they need the high flyers as well as the steady Eddies of the world.
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.
Poor 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 proper and natural for senior management to support their line managers by giving them the benefit of any doubt, after all a good managers can always be slighted by poor employees. But by conducting exit surveys, if a man-management problem were to be identified early there is a good chance that it can be addressed and resolved with the 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.
When to conduct an exit survey
Exit surveys can with the employee’s agreement be delayed for a few months or be conducted as part of the termination procedures.
The advantage with delaying an exit survey for a few months is that after a period of reflection a former employee can be less emotional and more objective and if they have taken up another position they 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 the exit survey is delayed then any comparison between the ex-employee’s past and present role may be the result of them putting on a brave face or just biased because of them having a new and fresh role, and if the reasons they left be ones that require action, then the delay may hamper the problem from being resolved.
Summary
Organization that include exit surveys as part of their employee termination procedures will generally benefit in a number of ways. 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.