Candid Exit Interviews - Insights Into What’s Really Going On
I can never figure out whether it’s ego or naivety that stops people from having candid conversation with people who are leaving their organisation - its one of the best opportunities to figure out what’s really happening in your organisation and yet so few people capitalise on it or pay lip services to it.
Over the years I’ve taken the time to talk to lots of people leaving organisations to figure out whether they are any common reasons people choose to leave and what we can learn from their experiences.
Each situation is different however I’ve compiled a list of common threads covered in ’so, you’re leaving - why is that?’ conversations. In no particular order:
- They didn’t feel challenged - smart people don’t want to be doing the same thing day in and day out.
- They didn’t feel like they were growing - there’s always room to grow and smart people are acutely aware of continuous development/improvement
- Their contribution wasn’t recognised - great people do great work but we’re all only human - they want recognition for what they have done.
- They didn’t feel like they had a voice - clever people have clever thoughts, hunches and intuitions; they need to be given the space to act on them.
- They didn’t see any real leadership - businesses don’t fail, products don’t fail, projects don’t fail, and teams don’t fail—leaders fail.
- They didn’t get new responsibilities - clever people need space to spread their wings, keeping them confined frustrates them as much as anything else.
- They felt shortchanged - often the employer didn’t live up to their commitments/promises. More often then not its about growth/development opportunities or training; it is almost never about remuneration.
So many of these things can easily be addressed through a candid conversation with people. Forget the political correctness - sit them down over a coffee (or even a beer) and ask the ’so, how’s it going?’ question.
And then listen; really listen and do something about what they tell you before they vote with their feet.