Turn employee departures into business growth opportunities

Properly interviewing prospects for job openings is vital to hiring someone with the right skills and is a proper core value fit for your company.

However, some employers neglect to collect valuable feedback from departing employees and conduct thorough exit interviews.

While it may feel like a setback, especially for a small business or smaller organizations, it also can be a valuable opportunity for growth. How you handle an employee’s departure can reveal powerful insights to help you strengthen your workplace and enhance the employee experience for your current and future team.

Exit interviews offer you a final chance to have an open, honest conversation with your departing employee. For your part, it is important to go in with an open mind and prepare yourself not to be defensive if they say something you might not want to hear. With a mix of standard and more reflective exit interview questions, you can learn more about their overall experience, understand why they decided to leave, and gather constructive feedback to help you improve.

Consider starting the exit interview with broad, general questions to help. This can help the employee get comfortable and set the tone for the conversation. For instance, you might ask: When did you feel the most engaged in your role? The least? What prompted you to look for and accept a new job? If you could change one thing about our organization, what would it be?

Understanding an employee’s experience in their role can help you make necessary adjustments for the next person you hire. Some other possible ideas for questions might be, How did you feel your work contributed to the company’s mission?

See if they felt their job responsibilities were clear and accurate from the start? Determine if they found their responsibilities manageable, and if not, consider how to improve the situation for the next person. By asking if there was anything that made the job difficult, it may uncover other shortcomings you can address.

A good manager can make a job feel rewarding, while poor leadership can be a key reason someone leaves. Asking about an employee’s experience with your business’ management and leadership can help identify positives and negatives to current leadership styles. You might ask: Did you feel supported by your supervisor and leadership team? If so, what suggestions would you offer for improving their leadership styles?

One last and important critical area to cover is the team and culture. Workplace culture plays a significant role in employee satisfaction. Ask about any shortcomings or ideas to improve the work environment and culture to learn how to create a more positive and engaging workplace.

These questions can help you understand the impact of your workplace culture on employee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.

At the end of the interview, ask a few wrap-up questions to end on a positive note. This is also a great time to thank the employee for their time working for your business, if they have been an excellent employee, and offer to be a reference or provide a recommendation for any of their future positions.

• Steve Bernas is president and CEO of BBB and can be reached at sbernas@chicago.bbb.org.