Exit interviews..?

So I’ve heard that in this current litigious world it may be best to avoid an exit interview.  I’ve an invite sitting in my work inbox – yay or nay?

Im not one to start slagging people off during the process, but I’d happily lend positive opinion based on my prior experience.  Thing is, my case includes a demotion without consultation which could touch on employment law issues, albeit I don’t intend to claim unfair dismissal, so I feel I should avoid discussing it.

?

Total waste of time IMO. It’s just an employer ticking a box, if they weren’t prepared to look after you as an employee, they’re not gonna pay any attention to you as you leave.

Well you could go in all guns blazing and tell them how it is. OR the other approach is a little bit of constructive feedback, but mostly a keep the doors open/ bridges unburnt exercise…as hard as that may be. Depends how big your work/industry sector is. Does everyone know everyone? In my world,  the first option would be bad.

Do it and mention the issues. Tell them you’re too nice to go the constructive dismissal route for but the next person might not be. They need to learn the lessons from this if they want to a good work culture.

Or decline it and say you know why 

I’ve only ever had one. I was ready to discuss a few gripes and a few bits of constructive feedback.

It turned out to be a tick box exercise by an HR drone, and I didn’t get a chance (or soon lost the motivation) to talk about anything.

It sounds like you’re rightly going to frame any feedback in a positive way, I’m just a bit cynical about them taking anything on board. Obviously your company may be different.

Demand it’s done in a boozer at their expense with a taxi home!

Or decline and say your solicitor will be in touch – keep ’em guessing.

Is Rishi doing one?

Sorry

A guy I’m working with just left yesterday. His ‘exit interview’ consisted of 10 words…

”you can stick your three months notice up your arse”

😂

Sing it

I did one. I asked to go two levels up in management from usual for it and I told her about all the bu8llying and unpleasantness that went on from the two tiers between us and how useless some of them were.  I did this instead of a formal complaint.  I don’t think anything much was done with the info I provided and now I wish I had made a formal complaint

Mine was an on line box ticking exercise. I gave some forthright but constructive views, never heard back.

Pretty pointless in my experience.  But I can’t see why it would be harmful (to you) in a litigious world, especially if you have no intent on filing for unfair dismissal.  If anything, not attending one might argue that it’s evidence of you failing to engage with company processes etc.  if you want to strike fear in HR people – then just start the meeting by saying, that you are happy to be frank with them so long as the discussion is without prejudice to any future proceedings!

i dont know anyone who’s ever been to one as an employee and thought it would improve things for those left behind, although I do know some who found it cathartic and enjoyed throwing managers under the bus.  Having done them as a manager – by the time they leave I already know why and what they think.  If I wanted to keep them we’ve probably had discussions.  Often the ones who make the most noise are the ones I’m glad to see the back of!  Having been in a leadership team where I got to see other bits of the business’ exit interview feedback – there was always an internal excuse or story.  They will use that data to support their cause when they want and spin it when they don’t want to.

if I had a real gripe, like a Post Office scandal type gripe I’d 100% go and make sure it was on record so in the event of future issues I could point out they definitely knew!

My first one ever was an utter binfire. It was also compulsory.

Had to have MoD and DoD representatives in attendance as i’d had security clearance.

My manager had been escorted offsite a few weeks previously due to an ongoing CAA/FAA joint investigation.

Obviously, they didn’t want the two things to become one thing…

So HR were very twitchy (had both my direct HR rep and her Director) and i had both the director of my engineering group in attendance and HIS boss as well.

Just send a polite response stipulating that your solicitor has strongly suggested that this would not be a good course of action for his client at this time, it might be rubbish, but it’ll give them a cold sweat 🤣

It sounds like you’re rightly going to frame any feedback in a positive way, I’m just a bit cynical about them taking anything on board. Obviously your company may be different.

im all for doing the right thing on my side and walking away the better person for it.   If they don’t want to listen, that’s their issue.

Demand it’s done in a boozer at their expense with a taxi home!

Ive already booked the Queens hotel Cheltenham and intend to visit the Rum bar at the 131 on the day I need to hand my kit back at the office…….

Some are worth it, some not – depends on what you expect to achieve.

I had one when leaving an accountancy firm ages ago because I wanted my former colleagues to have better prospects.

Exit interview with managing partner.  One of my reasons for leaving was that they expected me to work with a different partner who I didn’t respect and who I had discovered wasn’t respected by the sector in which we worked and so was unlikely to get much business.

That partner was gone in 6 months. Can’t imagine all because of what I said, but it was certainly part of the picture.

I’ve done a couple in my time and I do not think anything has changed because of them. The more destructive one was leaving a place I had an existing grievance registered and I was very honest with them about the reason I was leaving. Zero shits were given by the company, zero changes. The manager remained and managed to destroy the last vestiges of trust that department had in the org.

If/when I leave this place, I almost expect the same thing to happen, i.e. no change. But… It will highlight the problems and it might do something. I’ll be professional and honest because I hate burning bridges and my industry is quite small.

Usual HR justifying their existence type stuff either directly or by creating some kind of policy/process that your line manager has to follow. I’ve had a few, skipped a few and been uninvited for one (two of us quit the same week and my friend/colleague had his exit interview the day before mine – I think he gave our manager both barrels so she didn’t want the mental torment of then doing mine the day after).

Absolutely pointless things. As someone else has mentioned, if they don’t ask for and take on board feedback whilst you’re an employee, why care when you’re gone?

Don’t forget to kick the bin on the way out

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You can participate as much or as little as you like, for my last one I just kept saying innocuous things like, “the projects I’ll be working on are the main area of interest and align better with my skillset” and “the increase in pay is a welcome benefit but not the main driver”, which was all true but I just didn’t bother to mention the broken culture and nose-diving prospects of the organisation I was leaving… 3 months after I left they flogged the division to a competitor.

An exit interview is just a last opportunity to Burn some bridges if you’re really bitter or simply be polite and say thankyou, let them tick HR tick some boxes, pretend you’ll miss your boss and then saunter off to do more interesting things with your life.

Mine was just box ticking. Literally.

Laptop – Tick

Key fob – Tick

Credit card – Tick

Then a “goodbye and good luck”.

Lasted about 90 seconds.

Former company was a box ticking exercise.

Current one is far more on board with it all.  Any criticisms, constructive or otherwise, in the “Why are you leaving?” section are documented, reviewed fully & the outcome of the review is recorded.  Any changes/measures taken as a result are documented and, where relevant, become policy.

It’s clearly varied across businesses – if yours gives a t055 then it might be worth it,

my last one was more of a ‘so long and thanks for all the fish’ affair.

family run business though rather than a big corporate.

Toss a coin, whether you attend or not will change precisely nothing either for you or them.  You’re leaving.  They’ll have forgotten your name by August.

if they weren’t prepared to look after you as an employee

That’s a bit of an assumption – people leave for many reasons.

I left a job after the company was taken over and the new company made a hash of things in general and tried to force me to accept a change to my contract (holiday terms and conditions) without the consultation required by law. This issue was on the verge of going to an industrial tribunal before they backed down.

The job was soured for me so I found something else. My exit interview was done by a HR apprentice who read through a list of questions. She did this perfectly well but it was an obvious box ticking exercise.

In my case it was not something I was worried about but, if I had been, I would have wanted a recording made of the exit interview and given to me.

The last one I did was with the head of HR who had just quit because of the toxic atmosphere so we had a nice coffee and a moan about the toxic boss.

I had an informal one , at my request, with the head of the organisation as I had lost any respect or confidence in the HR employee ( not a department, it was just her).

Was very polite and explained a few issues that would have short and longer term consequences for the department that I was leaving in particular with H&S compliance that no one had seemed to consider. I think he thought that I was being awkward but I genuinely wanted him as ultimately answerable to understand his responsibilities. I don’t know if it made any difference as I have absolutely no contact with anyone since.

I had to fill out a survey before the interview, was helpful as it gave me a chance to carefully word my many grievances in a constructive/professional way.

They then declined the actual interview 😂

As above though, under no illusions, they will dismiss the bits they don’t like as just me being a moaner, although I did make reference to the continued staff turnover and risk of losing other, more valuable, staff, so I wonder if that might make them take notice 🙄

May the bridges we burn light our way

Hmm, my first job was with a small company, boss got really upset with me and we had a row. I just remember him saying “You won’t like it there!” – I stayed “there” 14 years.

Then, after 14 years, I had an exit interview with the rather lovely HR lady and we kind of hit it off, talked for ages… And we very nearly got together on a company night out I went on after I’d left. (But that’s a whoooole other story 😁)

Next place I was made redundant, so rather than an exit interview, just had a big payoff.

Never done one but ours are largely a box ticking exercise, inc. as Harry posted to confirm return of equipment and also to ensure you’re aware you’re still bound by the terms of the OSA. Does seem a bit pointless for airing grievances if those lie with management (which seems to be the norm) as it will invariably go nowhere.

I’ve only done one and it was when I was leaving a job I enjoyed, working with people I liked, on good terms. The survey was entirely unsuited to that situation, it was impossible for me and my manager to complete it as most of the questions didn’t account for any sort of ‘positive’ leaving scenarios.

It was quite weird and most of our feedback was highlighting that to the management.

I’ve only ever done one, by phone, after I’d already filled in the leaver’s form. I could’ve been more diplomatic, but I was furious. We had our second on the way, and my other half was working a three day week. Childcare is expensive, and it made sense for me to drop a day. So I asked for a four day week. My boss’s reaction was, verbatim, ‘not a chance unless it pops out retarded’.

I mentioned this on the leaver’s form, and copied in my boss’s boss and his boss as well. I got an apology from HR, the two bosses above him, and three months later he was pushed out. A few months later I got invited back to my old job.

So depending on company culture, burning bridges might actually be heat-treating them.

my case includes a demotion without consultation which could touch on employment law issues, albeit I don’t intend to claim unfair dismissal,

Drop it in and see if a settlement agreement is forthcoming.

+1 to box ticking. Where I am now, 3 people have left a department in the last 4 months (or 6 in the last 12 months if you expand the timeframe).  No change in the dept morale after the initial leavers a year ago- hence the recent leavers adding to the total and I am aware of 2 more there that are looking.

If you like them, give them constructive feedback.

If you don’t, tell them that you loved working there, you can’t think of anything to improve, and the only reason you changed jobs was because you were offered more money and the competitor is headhunting employees because of the reputation for excellence. Also, add that you’re unsure about the change so ask if they’d consider taking you back if it doesn’t work out. Try to do it with a straight face and see if the interviewer can spot that you’re taking the piss.

I was requested to attend one by HR at my last employer after tendering my notice and the day before my leave day.

I dutifully went to the requested meeting room as advised by HR. I waited 5 minutes. I waited 10 minutes. I waited 15 minutes. I left. The HR person did not turn up.

So I can only conclude that it was a check-box exercise with no real purpose.

A pity really as the reason I left was because of a – in work only – bullying boss with a huge chip on his shoulder. This was known and had been raised by others but sweet nothing done about it.

A few months later I got invited back to my old job

Did ya take it?

I asked for one when I left a particularly toxic company. I wanted senior management to know about the consistent bullying and discrimination carried out by one of the low-tier managers. They ignored me, literally. That told me they were not only aware of it but condoned it. As an aside, after all the bullying and harassment, I ended up needing help. After leaving that company, I was able to take some time to recover a bit, and I’m in a much better place.

If I were in your shoes now, I’d just say **** ’em and move on. I mean obviously, wee in their shoes, frozen sausages in the lawn. But you’re out. Let it go and have a better life.