When you think of retaining your best employees in the long run, what do you think is holding your company back the most? Is it a toxic work culture, poor leadership or stunted growth opportunities? Well, that’s exactly the kind of conversation you can save for an exit interview.
An exit interview is a formal way to get feedback from employees who are leaving a company. Think of it as a chance for employees to get closure as well as a tool for HR managers to gain an employee perspective on what an organization can improve.
If done right, an exit interview – whether a written questionnaire or a brief conversation, can help unravel key challenges faced by employees in terms of cultural issues or management styles. Prompting HR teams to develop more effective strategies to reduce employee turnover, and create a more motivated and committed workforce in the long run.
To make the exit interview process more detailed and result-driven, we have designed a comprehensive exit interview form template. Our customizable template starts with an introductory section to fill out individual employee details, followed by a detailed feedback form divided into five thematic areas, each focusing on a specific aspect of the employee experience, i.e., Roles & Responsibilities, Management, Workplace Environment, Career Development & Opportunities, and Technology & Resources.
We also include two special checklists to help HR keep track of company assets & equipment, as well as ensure all formal requirements are met during the offboarding process.
Now, let’s go over our Exit Interview Form template in more detail:
Employee Details
Our form starts by collecting basic information about the employee such as:
- Name: Full name of the departing employee.
- Job Title: Position held within the organization.
- Department: Department or team where the employee worked.
- Date of Exit: The official last working day of the employee.
- Service Duration
- Forwarding Contact Details
Employee Feedback
Now onto the real stuff. Constructive and realistic feedback from departing employees can be a great way for organizations to learn about specific challenges faced by employees.
For a focused understanding of these challenges, we divide our feedback into five components: Roles & Responsibilities, Management, Workplace Environment, Career Development & Opportunities, and Technology & Resources. This systematic format is helpful for organizations as it can help channelize relevant information to specific departments or officeholders.
Reason for leaving
This is probably the most revealing part of our questionnaire as it seeks to identify the exact reason an employee is leaving. Naturally, there is a wide range of voluntary and involuntary reasons you can expect to be at play.
Depending on these answers, the company may be able to introspect and ask itself, if the employee’s individual decision to leave is tied to a broader organizational concern, say, do other employees feel overworked and underpaid too – if so, what can be done to change that?
For a more fruitful discussion, we then ask the departing employee if there is anything the management could have done differently to encourage them to stay with the company. This insight can help an organization develop more informed strategies to reduce turnover rates and retain talent in the future.
Roles & responsibilities
With this section, we want to learn more about the personalized experience of employees working in a specific job role, both positive and negative. These could be achievements they felt particularly proud of, or aspects of their job they found least satisfying or rewarding.
From a futuristic point of view, this can help HR learn what was lacking in terms of the resources, training, and support available to employees. This can ultimately help an organization adjust or allocate its organizational resources and priorities in a way that helps it keep its best staff long-term.
Management
The right management style can have a key impact on an organization’s success and performance. Considering this, we developed a particular section to gain feedback from employees about how well they think the organization was managed.
We start this part of the template by simply getting a sense of the nature and quality of the leaving employee’s relationship with their managers, following this up with more concrete questions about what their manager could have done differently to foster a more positive working relationship with them, say, in terms of leadership style and available support.
For better problem identification, we ask departing employees to identify any specific areas or aspects of the job where they felt their managers or supervisors could have more effectively guided or supported them.
We conclude by asking for practical suggestions as to how the organization can improve its leadership approach, decision-making process, and communication style, for a specific department or role. Identifying and working on these suggestions can help an organization increase job satisfaction and boost employee productivity.
Workplace environment
A positive work environment is one where all employees feel valued, supported, included, and motivated to give their best. We devise this section to gain a more nuanced insight into an employee’s experience of the overall work culture and environment.
We start this part of the template with an open-ended question about how the employee would like to describe the company’s culture, then go on to ask them about the most positive or most challenging aspects of working in it. We also add a touch of personality by encouraging employees to share their most and least favorite parts about working in this environment.
We now try to shift attention to more practical questions such as what initiatives or changes they recommend in order to create a more positive and inclusive work environment. Identifying these can help an organization undertake any necessary administrative steps or make any necessary changes in internal policies and procedures that can improve the overall quality of the workplace environment.
We also probe into the nature of teamwork as well as any suggestions to enhance coordination and cooperation among employees. This may include specific feedback about the communication channels used, and the level of transparency existing within the organization.
Lastly, we ask departing employees if they would consider rejoining this organization if given a more suitable opportunity or if they would vouch for the company to a friend or colleague. The answer to these will naturally speak to the employee’s overall level of satisfaction with the organizational culture.
We conclude by asking the leaving employee if they felt safe in their workplace – this may be a particularly valuable insight in the case of minority communities such as women, disabled persons, or people of color – who may be more likely to experience harassment or bullying at the workplace.
Career development & opportunities
The right career development path for an employee depends on a partnership between them and their workplace. In this section, we try to get a sense of how well the employee feels their job role contributed to their overall career growth.
We start with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ question: were the career growth and development expectations they had at the time of joining met during their employment? We follow this up by asking them if there were ample opportunities available for their professional advancement and skill enhancement.
We then take on a more consultative approach and ask them of ways your company can improve employee training, career development, or learning programs for future hires. We also ask them what the management could have done differently to make them feel more valued and recognized.
Technology & resources
The right kind of technology can create a more agile work environment, increasing employee productivity and efficiency – especially for remote employees.
In this section of the form, we collect feedback on the suitability of technological tools, such as communication or team management software; how effective they were, and how easily they learned their way around them. This can assist HR in developing better training and orientation programs for new hires in the future.
For more flexible responses, we also include open-ended questions such as what kind of additional support would have been helpful, or which tools or software they felt were not conducive to work. You can also ask them if they can think of any alternate tools that may be better suited to the organisation’s needs.
Wrap-up and Suggestions
This section is primarily devised to gain any feedback or suggestions not directly referred to in the preceding sections. We use this section to create a bridge between a departing employee and the high-ups by asking for any advice they would like to share directly with the company leadership or management.
We also use this section to gain feedback on how the company can improve its offboarding process, say, by including different questions in the exit interview that they feel might be more relevant or constructive.
When filling out this part, HR managers should encourage employees to focus on actionable feedback, and avoid suggesting drastic changes that are too impractical or unattainable.
Equipment and Assets Return
This section provides a checklist of any company-owned equipment or assets in the possession of the departing employee during their job tenure.
For most companies, these include laptops, Employee ID cards, access keys, or any external storage such as hard drives where company data is stored.
Additionally, it may include company credit cards (in the case of finance professionals), motor vehicle keys, or even books and manuals.
To help you customize this section for your own organizational context, we add an ‘Other’ option to cover any assets or equipment not listed in our checklist.
Employee Acknowledgement
Adding a dated signature of the leaving employee to this declaratory statement serves two purposes.
Firstly, by signing this section, the employee confirms that the information or feedback they have provided is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and experience. Secondly, they formally declare that they have returned all company property (assets, equipment, etc.,) – a statement that may be used in a court of law.
For HR Use Only
While the preceding sections are meant to be filled by leaving employees, this section is only intended to be used by a member of the HR team.
Depending on the termination or resignation procedure in your company, this HR checklist may include ensuring a review of the confidentiality agreement, disbursement of any outstanding payment, or the verified return of company assets & equipment.
It may also include a reference to handing over any ongoing documentation, as well as removing employee access from company systems & networks. We also add a section for the HR manager to sign and date the form, thus verifying that the exit process is complete and approved by the organization.
All in all, this checklist serves as an important guide for HR managers to ensure that any outstanding business between the company and the departing employee is cleared and all required documentation is in place.
Winding Up
Our Exit Form Template is a comprehensive guide for HR managers who can use it to explore insightful questions that can help them improve employee retention and identify specific areas of improvement in terms of workplace culture, management style, and employee benefits.
Elevate your HR game today with our practical, print-ready template!
You can even easily customize the questions & checklists in our free template to suit specific organizational needs & contexts.
Our fillable Exit Interview form is available in PDF and WORD formats.
