What is an exit interview form?
An exit interview form is a document that employers give employees who are voluntarily departing the company. The sections of the form can include the following:
- Reasons for leaving
- Job descriptions and how employees feel about them now versus when they started
- Perspectives of the company culture
- Views of the work environment
- Feedback about the available technology tools and resources offered
What is the purpose of an exit interview questionnaire?
The purpose of the exit interview process is two-fold. First, it’s a cost-effective way to get a candid assessment of the environment. Exit interviews allow employees to freely share their experiences within the organization and their views about the overall culture, processes, and management structure during their tenure.
Second, these questionnaires help employers identify and address areas for improvement. By gathering valuable insights, exit interview questionnaires provide opportunities for enhancing development, recruitment, and retention.
Why do I need an exit interview form?
An exit interview form achieves three primary objectives:
1. Ensures you cover the most important topics
An exiting employee may have many thoughts and feelings to share during the interview, and, without a guide to follow, it can be easy for tangents to derail the conversation. Providing an exit interview form can ensure that important topics are covered when asking soon-to-be former employees for feedback. Creating an exit interview template can help to keep the discussion constructive for the organization and beneficial for the exiting employee.
2. Documents employer strengths, weaknesses, and areas of opportunity
Even if you’re listening intently, you may miss or forget important remarks if you’re not keeping a careful record. An exit interview form will allow employees to provide their feedback directly and with the listed areas you’re looking to gather information about. You can use an exit interview form on its own or alongside an in-person interview to follow up with any additional comments or to capture additional remarks.
3. Creates a plan for future improvements
The answers provided in the exit interview form can act as a roadmap for decreasing turnover and increasing workplace satisfaction. The information can be used to track trends in employee satisfaction so that you know what policies and structures are working well, and what can be improved to prompt employee workplace happiness and productivity.
4. Create an easy way for employees to provide tough feedback
Employees may feel more comfortable giving honest feedback, criticism, and suggestions when they are exiting because there’s no chance of the information affecting their job standing. Having an exit interview form in place can make the feedback less daunting for the employee and help them prepare their thoughts if they are having an in-person exit interview with HR.
Who should fill out the exit interview form?
Employers usually handle exit interviews in two ways. In some cases, the HR manager asks questions and records the employee’s answers during the meeting. In other cases, employees will complete the exit interview form before the interview and then discuss their responses with the HR manager during the meeting.
No matter which method you choose, it’s crucial this exercise stays within the HR department. If employees are interviewed by their direct supervisor or a member of the leadership team, they may feel less comfortable sharing criticism of their department, their role, or the organization as a whole.
What should I include in an exit interview form?
Here are a few areas you’ll want to cover:
- Feedback about the relationship with the direct manager
During the exit interview, you’ll want to include questions that address the employee-manager relationship. Responses to these questions will help you determine whether the manager provided employees with the feedback, guidance, and training they needed to excel in their role.
- Triggers that made the employee want to leave
One of the most critical pieces of information you can glean from an exit interview is why the employee decided to leave the organization. This will help you uncover whether the company is providing its workforce enough opportunity to grow, if there are weak points in the culture or if there are personnel concerns you need to address.
- Missing perks, benefits, and opportunities
Sometimes employees accept an offer with another company because of perks or opportunities that align better with their lifestyle. For example, employees who want to spend more time with their families may decide to leave your organization to work for a company that offers more flexible hours and work-from-home opportunities. Answers to these questions could expose opportunities for improvements to benefits packages and workplace policies.
- Guidance for creating a more accurate job description
If employees are leaving because they’re no longer satisfied with their role or they feel the position is no longer a good fit, this is an excellent opportunity to make adjustments to the job description. The exiting employee’s feedback can help make sure future job postings accurately reflect the role and appeal to professionals who will be a better fit.
- Overall satisfaction with the company
How do employees feel about the organization as they leave? Would they refer a friend? Would they consider coming back to the company in the future? The answers to these questions included on your company’s exit interview form can help you identify whether the company is providing an enjoyable workplace and will highlight opportunities to improve further.
When conducted properly, exit interviews help employers uncover a great deal of honest feedback from an experienced inside source. By using an exit interview form, you can compile the most important questions, organize answers, make sure you’re effectively addressing everything the employee wants to share, and prepare a useful roadmap to improve your workplace.
Where do forms fit in the exit interview process?
When conducting an exit interview, it’s important to view it as a data collection opportunity, but you must also ensure that employees know the information they share is private. You can use the exit interview form as an anonymous way to capture initial data and follow up with an in-person interview to clarify their responses or ask follow-up questions to learn more.In that context, ask a lot of questions and pay attention to what is and isn’t said, especially when you ask them the critical question of why they are leaving. Exit interview forms can help your company understand how the positive aspects of their tenure can help you improve your organization’s effort to be a desirable workplace, and drill down on the unpleasant ones. They can be used alone or alongside an in-person exit interview to capture feedback in a concise and consistent way.
Exit interview template
We appreciate your taking a few minutes to answer the following questions. Please be as honest as possible. While we may share some of this information with management, individual responses will remain confidential to HR and will not be held against you.
[Employee Name]// [Date]
[Date of hire] // [Last date of employment]
[Job title] //[Department]
01 Please rate your direct supervisor on the following
| Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor | |
| Clearly communicated expectations | ||||
| Held weekly or biweekly 1:1 meetings to discuss my projects and work | ||||
| Provided consistent and regular feedback about my work | ||||
| Provided leadership, guidance and motivation to the entire team |
02 Please rate the company’s benefits, perks and workplace experience
| Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor | |
| Healthcare, dental and vision insurance coverage | ||||
| Life insurance | ||||
| 401(k) plan | ||||
| Flexibility and work-life balance | ||||
| PTO policy (including vacation, sick days and paid holidays) | ||||
| Workspace and equipment | ||||
| Company-sponsored events |
For any items not marked “Excellent,” please explain why:
_________________________________________________________
03 Please rate the company’s benefits, perks and workplace experience
| Agree | Agree Somewhat | Disagree | |
| The job description provided an accurate representation of the duties your role entailed | |||
| I feel I was well-trained and set up for success | |||
| I feel my compensation was fair for my role and responsibilities | |||
| I was provided opportunities for advancement throughout my employment | |||
| My role and responsibilities changed dramatically throughout my employment | |||
| My role allowed me to apply my best skills and use of my greatest strengths |
For any items not marked “Agree,” please explain why:
___________________________________________
04 Please rate the company on the following
| Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor | |
| Communication with employees regarding updates and changes | ||||
| Communication with employees regarding internal opportunities | ||||
| Communication of company mission, vision and objectives | ||||
| Cross-department communication, collaboration and cooperation | ||||
| PTO policy (including vacation, sick days and paid holidays) | ||||
| Communicating and upholding company culture |
For any items not marked “Agree,” please explain why:
___________________________________________
05 Please rate the following statements as true or false
| True | False | |
| I would consider returning to the organization in the future | ||
| I would feel comfortable referring someone else to work here |
06 Why are you choosing to leave the company?
_____________________________________________
07 Is there anything we could have done that would have changed your decision to leave?
08 Other feedback (optional)
Thank you for your time! We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
Exit Interview Template for PDF & Word
Check out our downloadable exit interview template to receive insightful feedback.
*Indeed provides these examples as a courtesy to users of this site. Please note that we are not your HR or legal adviser, and none of these documents reflect current labor or employment regulations.
