I HAVE always been puzzled by exit interviews. I was of the opinion that a resignation letter should be enough to indicate the reasons an employee leaves an organization. It was only when the global head of human resources (HR) from a former organization met with my team that I understood its significance. She was proposing that instead of an exit interview to understand why people leave, why not ask the same in the initial interview so that the organization can have a list of reasons why people leave and do something about it before employees leave. That helped me realize that exit interviews are the organization's way of not only improving their ways of working, but also getting a sense of how well they are taking care of their employees.

Exit interviews give every organization an insider's look into how things really go in the different groups and departments. It provides a venue where a departing employee can indicate areas of development and pinpoint root causes of why people leave the organization. It can also help an organization recognize potential issues, improve problematic areas, and help management focus on data-driven solutions.

As someone leaving an organization, you are doing them a favor by doing the exit interview. Whatever your reason is for leaving the organization, you need to be professional with how you handle the exit interview. Chances are, you will still be working with them in the future, especially if your new work is in the same field. And even if it is not, you still want to be perceived as a professional.

When you do an exit interview, start with why the organization was a good place to work in and its contribution to your own career development. Highlight areas where you improved and the opportunities that were given to you. Focusing on the positive sets the mood for the entire interview and helps you frame your mind into leaving a good impression. This will also help the organization know what they need to keep doing.

Give an honest and objective, yet professional, feedback on your reason for leaving. You need to think how to be as helpful as possible to the organization and even to the people you are leaving behind. Not all resignations are ideal but if you care for the welfare of the people you have worked with, you need to make HR understand how they can help retain other talents. If possible, leave room for the HR to give you a counteroffer. But weigh that against what you have experienced and your own assessment of their ability to deliver on their proposal.

Focus your answers on people, process and tools. Were you given ample opportunities to develop your skills and prepare you for your next role? Can things be done better so your team's output can be made faster or better? Were you given the right tools to do your work and the demands it entails? Your answers can give an organization not only valuable information in retaining their current employees, but also an opportunity to improve their processes and tools. You might not be able to enjoy those but at least you give them the opportunity to do better.

Take this opportunity to commend good leaders and point out toxic ones. As the organization's culture builder, HR has the responsibility of encouraging and promoting activities and behavior aligned with the organization's core values.

By identifying the good managers from the toxic ones, you are actually helping HR assess where they are in their culture-building efforts. If they agree with your assessment of the good managers, it means they are on track. If they do not agree with your assessment of the toxic ones, then it is in your best interest that you leave because you are not what they want for the organization. Either way, the organization will have a better way of knowing where they stand in culture building and fine-tune their programs to achieve their goal.

In talking about an issue that led to your resignation, be as specific as possible and cite as many instances as possible to corroborate what you raise. However, avoid throwing people under the bus. Explain how things are done and their effects on you as a member. Focus on what could have been improved on certain instances and how the management can support those improvements. An exit interview is not where you gripe and criticize your leader or your teammates. It is where you can tell the organization how they can improve their ways of working. But it does not mean you have to bad mouth people to achieve it. You can offer suggestions or recommendations instead. It would sound professional and helpful more than spiteful.

Being overly critical is unprofessional and creates an impression that you do not work well with others because if you did, you would have done something about it when you were still employed. There are cases when HR could have intervened had they known. But if no one is telling them, then there is nothing they can do about it. You would only come out as vindictive if you become overly critical only during the exit interview.

Carefully plan the exit interview by writing down your answers to common exit interview questions and practice them with a trusted friend. This will help you monitor your tone and choice of words so you can change whatever is necessary to sound more professional. It will also help you identify areas where you can become emotional so you can have time to process those feelings.

Leaving an organization is not always easy. Especially if you have been working in it for a number of years, and good friendships and professional relationships have been established.

But your departure does not mean you are severing all ties to the organization. You are actually expanding your network. And what better way to preserve those connections by helping the organization one last time. 

Image courtesy of Christin Hume on Unsplash

Read full article on BusinessMirror