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When you run a small business, you often employ staff to assist you in your business activities. Employing good staff members is crucial for the success of your company. However, sometimes good staff will leave your business and move on. When this occurs, a helpful tool is to hold an exit interview with the departing employee to get honest feedback and constructive feedback to understand their reasons for leaving. This can give you valuable insights to improve your business and affect future employee retention. This article will explain the importance of employee engagement in the exit interview process for small businesses and how to conduct an effective exit interview.
What Are Exit Interviews?
Exit interviews are interviews you, as an employer, hold with employees leaving your business. You should hold these shortly before their job terminates. However, whilst you may hold exit interviews in your company, there is no legal requirement to do so.
What is the Purpose of Exit Interviews?
As an employee, you may request that your employees attend an exit interview when their role terminates. This can help you understand how to improve your business in the future. Therefore, exit interviews can also make your business attractive when looking for new employees and help you retain employees.
Understanding why staff leave your business can also help you understand your company’s strengths and weaknesses. If an employee who is an asset leaves your business, their feedback may be of value to you. This can, for example, allow you to understand the training that may be needed in your company. Also, an exit interview may help you maintain good relations with an employee who leaves, which is helpful as your business may cross paths with them in the future.
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How Can I Ensure Employees Attend Exit Interviews?
Having understood that exit interviews are not legal requirements, you may wonder how to get employees to attend them. One way to do so is to place a requirement to participate in your employment contracts. Therefore, not attending would constitute a breach of your employee’s contract. You could also ensure your employee attends when they resign, making it a requirement for you to accept their resignation.
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How Do I Carry Out an Exit Interview?
If you wish to conduct exit interviews in your company, it is helpful to understand best practices for these. One key point is to ask someone in your business who does not directly manage them to hold the exit meeting, such as a neutral third party. This should allow your employees to speak more openly about their reasons for leaving and their time in your organisation. When carrying out the meeting, the member of staff should let the employee know:
- that their feedback will be anonymous and confidential;
- that they should feel free to be constructive; and
- why your business holds exit interviews.
It is also crucial to note that an exit interview allows you to remind your employee of their legal obligations. Reviewing these agreements helps to protect your classified trade secrets and confidential information. You can do this by reviewing the provisions in their employment agreement, such as:
- non-compete agreements;
- confidentiality agreements; and
- separation and release of claims agreements.
You may also have legal obligations towards your resigning employee, which could also be contained in their employment contract.
Key Takeaways
You may decide to hold an exit interview with staff when they choose to leave your business. This is not a legal requirement, but you may wish to have them for beneficial reasons for your business. For example, to help you judge how to improve your business and what training may be needed. Exit interviews can also reveal legal issues or remind staff of these. If you want your staff to attend an exit interview, you should include this as a requirement in your employment contracts. When conducting an exit interview, you should ensure it is done by a neutral third party to make your employee more comfortable. You can also use exit interviews to review legal agreements, such as non-compete agreements. Overall, exit interviews can help prove your business in the future.
If you need help understanding exit interviews, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
An exit interview is when you, as an employer, interview your employees just before their position terminates.
Exit interviews are important for many reasons, such as helping you understand your business’s strengths and weaknesses and reminding employees about any existing legal agreements they have with you.
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