The $75 Lunch That Beats Any Exit Interview |
The $75 Lunch That Beats Any Exit Interview
Want to know why people really quit? Skip the HR script and reconnect six months later—when they’re finally willing to talk.
EXPERT OPINION BY SUZANNE LUCAS, HUMAN RESOURCES CONSULTANT, EVIL HR LADY @REALEVILHRLADY
Headhunter Nick Corcodilos calls exit interviews the “cockroaches of the employment world” because “no one knows why they exist, no one can justify or eliminate them, and they will likely survive into the third millennium.”
I love the idea of exit interviews in theory, as they could gather valuable data that companies could use to improve the employee experience, reduce turnover, and ultimately lower costs. But, employees on the way out the door don’t have a good reason to be honest about why they are leaving, as they need to leave on good terms to protect future references.
Why traditional exit interviews don’t work
Employees tend to give generic responses, like, “I didn’t intend to leave, but this opportunity just landed in my lap, and it will allow me to grow and develop!” when, in reality, the person has been interviewing like crazy for the past six months or more.
If they didn’t feel comfortable telling their bosses about their job search, they probably won’t feel comfortable telling a Human Resources employee they may have never met before about the struggles at this company.
How Anthropic's Claude AI Became a Co-Founder
If departing employees are honest about their reasons for leaving (“my manager was a micro-managing nightmare”), it’s almost impossible to act on this information without disclosing the source, so it often sits in a database, doing nothing. The very structure and promise of the confidential exit interview creates useless data. Either the departing employee does not believe the information is confidential and says nothing negative, or they do believe it, give valuable information, and the HR person cannot relay the information to the manager without breaking confidentiality promises.
A better idea: wait six months for the best results.
Wait 6 months for the best results
Corcdilos advises the manager to wait until the six-month mark, then call the former employee and ask them out to lunch–without the intervening HR person. For the cost of a lunch, the former employee is more likely to talk to you and be honest about what happened and what is going on.