BusinessBartleby: Talking it overIs there a point to exit interviews?“Do you feel your job description has changed since you were hired?”“What prompted you to start looking for another position?”Such questions are typical of the exit interview, to which an email from HR may invite you after you’ve handed in your notice.Do you accept?And if so, how honest should you be with your soon-to-be-ex-employer during the discussion?Just like humans, corporate entities do not want to admit their faults.As such, many companies deal with resignations badly.Exit interviews may help them do better.More important, understanding why workers leave is critical if you want to stop more of them heading for the exit.Recruiting and training top talent is a big cost for firms, particularly those in the service sector, so anything that can be done to reduce staff turnover is valuable.Poaching is part of any competitive industry, so knowing what drew an employee to a different firm can be useful, too.Former employees who leave happy can in future fill a role as corporate ambassadors.For firms the best exit interview is the one that doesn’t happen.A study conducted by the Harvard Business Review concluded that they should be “the culmination of a series of regular retention conversations”.Such attempts will not work every time, or even often―staff churn is a fact of corporate life.
