Template

Exit interview template

With somebody who is leaving: why, what would have changed their mind, and what the company should fix.

30 minutesFor People teams and managersAgenda room
Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

  1. Why you decided to leave8 min
    • When did you first think about leaving?
    • What tipped it?
  2. What you liked about working here5 min
    • What should we be careful not to lose?
  3. What we should change7 min
    • What would you tell the person who takes your job?
  4. What would have made you stay5 min
    • Was there a moment when a different answer from us would have changed things?
  5. Handing over5 min
    • What does only you know?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

Why. No path to a senior role in two years; first thought about it after the last review.

Would have stayed. A clear answer about promotion in the spring.

Handover. The billing scripts: written up by Friday, walked through with Noah.

Running it well

Ways to change it

Written firstSend the five questions ahead and talk about the answers.
Three months laterAsk again once they have settled somewhere new. The answers are more honest.

When to skip it. When they would rather not. It is their choice, and a forced one tells you nothing.

Questions

What is an exit interview?

A conversation with somebody who is leaving a job, about why they are going and what the company could do better.

Who should run an exit interview?

Somebody from the people team, or a manager from another team. Not the person they reported to.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

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