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.
Employees leave their employers for many valid and unavoidable reasons but it is important that an employer knows the reasons their employees leave in case they are found to be reasons that if addressed and resolved could have been avoided.
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, especially those that involve personalities, are not always brought to the surface until it is too late.
When personnel decide to change jobs it is very often 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 system, employees evaluate their managers).
While still employed employees can be very reluctant to criticize their managers for fear of reprisal; they can however be more candid when completing an employee exit survey.
Although adopting exit surveys many not prevent individuals from leaving it will help bring to the surface problems that could, if left unchecked, result in poor staff moral for the remaining staff and worse case scenario, a flood of resignations.
Lack of Career Development
Not all employees desire, nor can employers always provide their employees with a clear and long term career path. Some people find comfort and job security in doing one job but there are just as many who prefer to be continually challenged, always acquiring new skills and steadily moving up the corporate ladder. Organizations that succeed and excel need the balance of having high flyers and steady Eddies.
Where losses due to a lack of career development are occasional they may also be inevitable, but where they are frequent, then changes to the organizational structure might need to be considered to allow for greater career development of the employees.
Poor Management
Many managers achieved their position through promotion, but it does not always follow that a good worker will automatically make a good manager and often people are assigned management position without any formal management training.
Poor managers can be quick to discredit the views of disgruntled staff, ‘I was thinking of getting rid of them anyway’ and ‘they were a waste of space’ are typical responses to being asked if there is a problem causing people to leave an 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. If through an Exit survey a man-management problem were to be identified early it presents a realistic chance that the problem could be properly addressed and resolved with 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. At best Exit surveys will provide an organization with a valuable record of the employee’s reasons for leaving, and at worse, provide advanced warning that a possible claim for unfair dismissal 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.
Timing the 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.
Conducting an exit survey as part of the termination procedure has the advantage that although the leaving employee may be emotional their views may be more reflective of their true state of mind and therefore closer to the real reasons they have decided to leave. 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
By including exit surveys as part of the employee termination procedures organizations will generally benefit in a number of different ways. Having good records could prove to be very valuable later and they will also provide management with information that can help them improve an organization’s moral as well as the bottom line.
See the following survey for sample exit interview questions.