Losing an employee is already a difficult and costly event – but does the whole ordeal also have to be so uncomfortable for everyone involved?

Even the most tactful HR managers dread employee exit interviews. How do you balance a conversation that needs to be both diplomatic and productive? Small companies might get so little meaningful information from interviews and surveys that they begin skipping the process altogether. Or, they might conduct interviews in good faith, only to get shrugs or hollow responses once the key questions roll around.

Expertly administered employee exit surveys can cut through the nonsense and give you the critical details you need (in writing!) to make worthwhile improvements in your workplace. Collect meaningful data, act on what you’ve learned, and start turning the negatives of employee turnover into positives.

Make sharing information hassle-free.
One of the best ways to take advantage of employee exit survey results is to learn more about why that employee decided that it was time to leave. Getting to the heart of the issue doesn’t have to be a struggle. With a well-worded survey, your employee will freely share the information in a way that’s specially designed to be easy and comfortable. You can finally ask the questions that your HR department rather wouldn’t.

Identify the most common complaints.
While the in-person interview has its place in any exit process, it simply can’t compare to a brilliant survey in terms of aggregating data and revealing trends. With each departing employee’s exit survey you can begin to identify trends within every answer, and nailing down common complaints could help your company improve processes, training, and morale. If the same topic appears in multiple exit surveys, the common complaint will need to be addressed – and no one will have a doubt about it.

Use newfound insights to make the right choices.
Executives at small and medium-sized companies often struggle to take a step back and evaluate organizational strengths and weaknesses. The data from an excellent employee exit survey will not only make strengths and weaknesses evident, it will also compare data against benchmarks for relevant contextualization. A partner like HSD Metrics can offer the expertise you need to take action and turn around your turnover concerns.

If your company wants to learn more about its efficiency through employee exit surveys, HSD Metrics’ ExitRight® employee exit interview outsourcing can help to get you answers and save you time. To learn more about ExitRight and its many benefits for your company, contact HSD Metrics today.