When a reliable and committed employee decides to leave a company they have worked in for a while, often their boss will wonder what drove them away. Such reflection is required to enable effective improvements in ensuring staff retention. Often when someone is leaving a company, they will be more honest about what could be done differently and why they no longer felt as though they fit in their workplace. An exit interview is a sound idea to gauge exactly what changes are needing to be implemented to improve the running of your business.
A direct question to query is their reason for leaving. This could provide insight into why they see their new job as more appealing and the certain benefits or work culture that may have swayed them in to making their decision. It will also provide insight into the initial reasons which caused your employee to look for another job in the first place. This will hopefully provide a concise and constructive overview into their personal reasons for leaving, and the way you can work on these.
Another question to ask employees who have chosen to leave is if they would consider returning to the company in the future. If they are brief and do not give much scope as to why they gave their answer, you could ask what would need to be implemented for them to change their mind. This way you gain deeper insight and know the shortcomings or positives of your company’s running.
Some telling questions to ask are whether they felt comfortable talking to their manager and the things their manager could have done better to ensure they felt more comfortable in approaching. These will be very telling of how the employee who is leaving viewed their manager, and how the manager works directly with their employees. Such information can be used to develop the managers strategy and how they interact with employees, all round improving engagement.
These are just some examples of exit questions which can help you decipher why they chose to leave your company. This information is useful as it can help you realise what it is that needs to change. For example, if it is something as small as flex time that a former employee felt needed addressed, then this is something that can easily be rectified and is not worth losing an appreciated employee over.