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Feature
What exit interviews tell
Are exit interviews just a formality? Or can they prove valuable?
Sudipta Dev analyses the issue
 The role
of exit interviews has always been debated. While there are many who vouch for
it as one of the best ways to get feedback on people and processes in an organisation,
detractors insist that it is nothing more than a HR formality. Their argument
goes like this. Is it possible to derive objective assessments from people who
are about to leave a company? Will their disclosures be free from personal bias?
Would it not have been better to ask them the same questions six months earlier
and act on it to make them stay back? Does the organisation really believe that
the information obtained from an exit interview can help in retaining the remaining
employees? Though the list of questions is long, in the IT/BPO industry exit
interviews are regarded as an important tool that may lead to lower employee
turnover.
But can exit interviews actually make a difference? Many experts believe so.
Whether the departure is voluntary or involuntary, the BPO industry considers
exit interviews as a barometer to measure attrition and assess root causes.
“The exit interview is part-survey and part-sales pitch. The biggest challenge
for the BPO industry is the story of attrition—30-40 percent at the agent
level—which is far less damaging compared to loss at the middle and senior
management levels, which directly affect the company’s growth and cultural
continuity,” says Rajesh Thankappan, CEO of Mumbai-based Epicenter Technologies.
Gautam Sinha, CEO of IT recruitment firm TVA Infotech, points out that exit
interviews are significant only if the person has spent more than two years
in the company, or has more than 7-8 years of experience. “If either of
the above two criteria is not met, then the answers given in the interview may
not provide too much learning for the company,” he says.
Significance
The aim of the interviewer is to assess information and then formulate ways
and means to translate it into action. “The goal of the interview should
be to receive honest and constructive feedback regarding work culture, processes
and other aspects, and to convert a candidate (if needed) to be an ambassador
of the company in his future associations,” says Vipul Varma, managing
director of Focus Management Consultants.
But how much weightage should be given to the views of an exiting employee?
Detractors argue that once an individual has decided to leave an organisation,
he is hardly the right person to give feedback. Even those who had problems
will probably mask their feelings and show be diplomatic. After all, they do
not want to jeopardise a good reference source in the future. Similarly, those
want to pour out their vitriolic feelings can hardly be expected to portray
a true picture; their accounts will be coloured by their personal equations
with their colleagues and superiors. “The management should evaluate the
statements of ex-employees with an unbiased mind, and not accept all their statements
at face-value. It may even verify certain statements with existing employees
if need be,” advises Varma.
Interview process
Exit interviews can be both oral and written. The panel could comprise HR personnel,
and also the head of the department (but not the immediate supervisor.) Some
experts also believe that trained psychologists should be conducting the interview.
What is imperative is that none of the interviewers should have worked directly
with the interviewee. It is necessary for the interviewers to be clear about
the objectives of the interview, and they should try to put the employee at
ease as soon as the process starts.
“Exit interviews are more about honest feedback, hence they should be more
on the oral side as the tone, expression and conviction in statements made or
feedback given can be judged better, which is not possible in a written format.
Moreover, most professionals will be wary of giving written statements although
these can be used for objective questions and ratings,” states Varma. He
adds that the manner of the questioning should be more like a discussion with
open-ended questions. The employee should be told about the purpose of the exercise
and made to feel comfortable. The environment should also be conducive for candidates
to voice their opinions.
Dealing with bombshells
An interviewer has to be prepared to face unexpected bombshells
during the interview process. Tarun Singh, director of Kenexa Technologies,
points out that the interviewer should always play the role of a facilitator,
thereby distancing himself from personal opinions and statements. “In the
event of such situations, assurance should be provided to the interviewee that
confidentiality will be maintained. The interviewer should be able to provide
the larger picture of the scenario, and make the employee’s reason [for
leaving] a minuscule part of the conflict,” he says, adding that exit interviews
turn nasty when the interviewee (unsatisfied employee) expresses personal opinions
in an emotional manner and this is not handled properly. It may happen if the
interview is forced upon people who do not want to participate in it. For instance,
when an experienced employee is denied a promotion and overlooked for a new
employee, he may express anger and behave in an unprofessional manner.
What is a successful interview?
A successful exit interview is one in which both the interviewer and the interviewee
are satisfied with the process and it concludes positively. The former gets
all the information that he needs, and is sure that the latter is leaving the
organisation as its ambassador. According to Sinha, a successful interview is
one in which the person speaks objectively. He should be at ease revealing things
about the company which otherwise might have been difficult to fathom.
The process however does not end at this point. The next step is the action
stage. “The reasons for leaving that emerge from exit interviews need to
be analysed in terms of trends, and then correlated with the employee satisfaction
surveys conducted on a periodic basis. The information gathered should translate
into
the organisation’s human resources strategy plan. The
HR department will need to work jointly with the operations head to address
the issues down the line because “for an employee the boss is the one who
brings the company policy alive, and typically in the BPO industry the face
of the organisation is the team leader,” explains Thankappan of Epicenter.
Just a formality?
Most people leaving an organisation do not consider exit interviews as anything
more than an HR formality. The reason is not difficult to guess. “I left
my previous company because I was finding it difficult to continue working with
my project head who was not a people’s person. In fact, many of my colleagues
were unhappy working with him. I thought that the exit interview would be a
good platform to reveal the problem, because even if I were leaving others would
benefit. I realised how wrong I was because the organisation has done nothing
even after four months, although they have lost two more people,” says
one lady who asked not to be named, and who is now working with a Pune-based
organisation.
Sinha says that if a trend emerges not from a bunch of interviews about a certain
practice that the company follows (and which leads to dissatisfaction), then
that practice needs to be examined. “This could also be true for organisational
structures and key personalities,” he points out.
Sceptics argue that if the common questions asked during exit interviews are
actually asked every six months it can go a long way toward making employees
happy. If feedback from these question and answer sessions are used to implement
improvements in the organisation, it might stop many employees from leaving
in the first place.
- Get a mixed panel of interviewers: HR personnel, department heads
and maybe a psychologist, but never the immediate boss of the interviewee.
- Be focussed about the kind of information you would like to gather
from the exit interview.
- Try to put the employee at ease as soon as the interview begins.
- Keep the interview mood conversational; it should not appear a question
and answer session.
- Ask both objective-type and open-ended questions.
- Do not take a confrontational stand even when the employee turns
argumentative.
- Try to ensure that both you and the employee feel positive about
each other when the interview ends.
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sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com
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