Exit Interviews Can Be a Recruiting Tool – Friday Distraction
(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is brought to you by our friends at Kronos, the global leader in delivering workforce management solutions in the cloud. Congratulations to The Workforce Institute at Kronos, a think tank that helps organizations drive performance, for reaching the 500 blog post milestone! Enjoy the post.)
It’s time to shed the perception that exit interviews are simply an activity where employees say negative things about the company and their manager. The reality is exit interviews are a feedback discussion. Albeit, it’s usually one-way feedback – the employee giving the company feedback.
But maybe that needs to change. I love this Time Well Spent from our friends at Kronos. It made me wonder if there’s an opportunity to transform the exit interview into something more. Like a recruiting opportunity.
I do believe there are times when organizations need to let employees go find themselves. A good exit interview doesn’t mean you have to talk an employee out of leaving. Employees sometimes need to experience other organizations and different industries. And I mean that in the nicest way. It helps them grow personally and professionally.
I spent the majority of my career in the hospitality industry. And there were times when I envied my friends who worked “banker’s hours” or got all the government holidays off. So I decided to work in for a consulting firm to see what the other side was like. You know what? It made me miss the 24/7/365 world of hospitality!
An increasing number of organizations are making boomerang employees a part of their recruitment strategy. A perfect time to let a great employee know they are still welcome is during the exit interview. Take a moment to examine your offboarding process. Are there opportunities to make a brand ambassador out of an exiting employee?
The exit interview is becoming more than simply a feedback session for employees. Employers need to invest some dedicated thought into the impression they want employees to leave with. It matters for the employee and the company.
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