Exit surveys & interviews:

19 Comments

1. AnonymousDecember 5,2022 at 6:39PM UTC

   Be very careful because these comments are seldom held as confidential.

   I personally have never seen anything positive or impactful come of these. In my opinion it just checks the box for the HR department and offers the exiting employee feel some sort of closure.

   I personally skip them.

2. AnonymousDecember 5,2022 at 7:13PM UTC

   I administer them. If I see a pattern of comments from various people, or something really concerning, I report out on them. I do not share the exit interviews directly with managers and whatnot, but again...if something that appears to be a pattern or something concerning comes up, I definitely investigate.

3. AnonymousDecember 5,2022 at 7:20PM UTC

   Not honest at all. If they weren’t willing to ask you, or listen to you when you were part of their team, what makes you think an exit interview will change anything? It’s a tick in the box.

   Keep quiet and repeat: I’ve been offered a position that brings me closer to my goals. I’ve learned so much here - thank-you. I’ll miss you!

4. AnonymousDecember 5,2022 at 8:31PM UTC

   I would be honest, but that's me. You can leave your comments, if you want to. In my experience, I was the person reviewing the exit comments. What I can tell you, is that it was my job to review each negative comments for key words. Anything that sounded discriminatory or may lead to a potential lawsuit, is what they were looking for. Those comments would be parsed out of the report and turned over to one of the HR associates. They would then call the person and discuss their issues. If they were able to calm the person down, then the case was closed. The goal was to prevent the company from being sued.

5. AnonymousDecember 6,2022 at 2:01PM UTC

   Thank you for this. Although there is discrimination involved I am not going to disclose that more so some of the behaviors I’ve witnessed. I know the coworker who is the most toxic has gaslighted me to boss to make me look like I was the problem and I called her out on some exclusionary behavior which had negative impact on my work. I want to make sure I have my say as the turnover in department is very high due to the toxic environment created by these coworkers but they are quick to blame others to protect themselves. It’s a huge cost to company to keep backfilling role and loss of knowledge and they are losing their top talent.

6. AnonymousDecember 5,2022 at 8:47PM UTC

   This could go either way. I worked for large corporation and I was being severely mistreated by one of the VP's. She bullied and harassed me and my Supervisor, for what seemed like an eternity. She started off nice but she changed for no apparent reason. I kept doing my job but she continued to find anything she could, to write me up. I had to keep detailed notes about everything she instructed me to do, to protect myself. She would flip flop and say, no I told you to do XYZ not X, which was a lie. I would show her my notes, no actually you said to do XYZ on this date. I was an emotional wreck, depressed and had severe insomnia. I went to psychiatric counseling. I finally had enough and found another job. I gave my two weeks notice and left my comments with HR. The VP smiled and said she was so happy for me. HR called me and said that, I should've told them about her and they could've helped me. Really? Okay......mind you..... I had great reviews and did a fantastic job as a performer. Years later, I applied for a different position, in the same company, and the hiring person, brought up her name. I never said anything negative about the VP in the interview. The interview went great. The VP told them "not" to hire me.....and they didn't. So again, it can go either way. I never applied for another job at that company again. She abused me and I am the problem. I was so disgusted. so now, I will never have the opportunity to work for them again. And guess what, she had a pattern of abusing people and the company continued to promote her and she never was held accountable for the havoc that she caused myself and many other employees.

7. AnonymousDecember 5,2022 at 9:55PM UTC

   If it makes you feel better and gain peace go for it but remember the exit interview is for you to help you put things behind you.

8. Maegan, Nike Sales Rep & Career CoachDecember 5,2022 at 10:35PM UTC

   I would say it in a way that you are honest and can make the company better. Maybe think of saying it in a way that you are giving 100% facts instead of your specific thoughts/feelings about it.

9. AnonymousDecember 6,2022 at 1:21PM UTC

   Say it as a "suggestion" to improve the work environment for future employees. use professional words and say it calmly.

10. AnonymousDecember 6,2022 at 1:56PM UTC

    Thank you for this. Totally agree I am writing it out in advance to sound as professional and unemotional as possible.

11. AnonymousDecember 6,2022 at 4:23PM UTC

    Exit interviews are kinda irrelevant once you leave!
    I've done both exit interviews and/surveys and it's truly hard to say what value it brings to YOU when you're already leaving. Granted, the hope is that your truth would help change the org or make it better for someone after you but it's hard to say that if it will or not.

    If you really want your feedback/experience to be heard so it does help someone's future career with that company, then I recommend you leave an anonymous company review on job boards like Glassdoor, Indeed, etc. So many people are looking for a new job with the right employer these days and people need honest and current reviews to help them make a more informed decision. This is how you can be the change you want to see!

12. AnonymousDecember 7,2022 at 3:01PM UTC

    My very first corporate job I had, I moved from an amazing manager my first year to work for a department I really wanted to get into. The manager I ended up working for was the worst of the worst. She made my life so terrible on the job that I went to HR to lodge my complaint. It ended up the HR person I confided in was a friend of my manager’s and ended up telling her everything I said. From that point on, I learned never ever trust HR -That includes during any exit interviews. Don’t be so detailed during that process because nothing will change. The best thing to do as someone mentioned in another comment is to go on an app like Glassdoor and anonymously write a review. It’s a great opportunity to shed insight publicly to those interested in working for an organization.

13. Vanda LeeDecember 7,2022 at 3:31PM UTC

    You have to use the keywords in order for your interview to be impactful. It just depends on the organization and its HR department. Usually, unless it's behavior that could stand up as illegal, discrimination, etc.. it doesn't hold much water. I left a company after reporting a bully manager who had run off 8 employees before me with several giving scathing written exit interviews and they had done nothing. He got called in and "coached" but he's still there and additional team members have left the toxic party. I guess the karma is that he can't hold on to a good team for any length of time which affects his performance numbers but I'm amazed at how no one above sees this obvious trend even as he throws his team members under the bus. Oh well, not my problem any longer.

    If it were me, I tell them why you are leaving for your personal "let it go" and move on.

14. Christine MDecember 8,2022 at 1:29PM UTC

    For my last role there was mo exit interview a small firm. I left because I could not see a future there. And if I was asked in person by my boss I would’ve shared, but he did t ask. And I didn’t want to put it in writing as I feel the message might be misconstrued. One of the reasons I left was he was not an effective manager.

15. Kimberly G. SmothersDecember 8,2022 at 1:35PM UTC

    Even thought venting your perspective on what's wrong with the organization is more about your feelings than trying to help the company. It is a bit vindictive to try and gouge anyone you feel wronged by, for whatever reason. At this point, keep it in the rear view mirror. Little to none of what you bring up will effect change going forward so keep any exit interview short and sweet. Concentrate on your new role/future.

16. Meghan BDecember 8,2022 at 2:06PM UTC

    I’ve only bothered once because I really believed in what the company was doing and wanted to offer honest feedback that I thought would help the company address issues that were causing high staff turnover.

    it isn’t a company I’ll ever want to work for again, and the principles are not known or influential in my industry. So the potential ramifications were negligible. Because I believe those ramifications can be very real.

    it did nothing. People I know who are still there tell me nothing has changed, no conversations were had. All it achieved was a bit of venting for me and i I pay a therapist for that.

    i think there are likely situations where they can help, especially if many people leaving give brutal exit interviews. But in that case HR should have a trail other than just exit interviews.

    i will likely not bother again unless it’s an unusual situation

17. ReachingGoalsDecember 8,2022 at 2:21PM UTC

    The problem with a work bully and/or toxic environment is that the company knows. They are very aware of the problem. They aren’t going to do anything about it. Well, they might if the problem child ends up costing the company a boat load of money or threat of a great customer going somewhere else. Even HR doesn’t want to deal with the toxic stuff because it usually ends up bitting them in the ass.

18. AnonymousDecember 8,2022 at 2:54PM UTC

    Never burn any bridges. A boomerang employee is more common than you think! While it's admirable to help change the problem before you go, unless you're upper management or speaking to a third party/consultant you shouldn't be TOO honest.

    I often find that toxic environments are symptomatic of a larger problem within the company, like how it was set up in terms of making profits and/or too much internal competition (should be team oriented). They are not going to change especially if budget is a major concern.

19. AnonymousDecember 8,2022 at 3:02PM UTC

    Being that I’m the person in HR, and was tasked with finding out about what was making people leave, I appreciate the honesty in the exit interview. The culture can’t change if people don’t speak up. Maybe I’m in the minority of how I run HR, but I have been on both sides. Nothing can change if things aren’t brought up.