Actual Comments on Why Employees Leave:
“I honestly believe that this company is a great place to work and HR is constantly adding programs to make it more appealing. I think everyone is doing an excellent job in this area.”

The Solution
Regular readers of HSD’s blog series are accustomed to us covering negative or critical exit interview statements. But of course, plenty of exit interviews are quite positive.

Just because an employee is leaving doesn’t mean the company has done anything wrong to cause or hasten the exit.

Employees are human, after all. They leave positions because a spouse accepted a job in a different state, so the family could move closer to an ailing family member, or even because, gosh darn it, they just always wanted to move to New York City.

Think of yourself. Look back at your own job history. Have you ever left a job at a good company? A job with good people and good management that you enjoyed and found fulfilling and challenging? Many have.

The exit interview comment above is from one such positive employee. A right-fit hire who was probably good for morale and good at their job and will be missed both personally and as an asset to the company.

Positive employees are a good model for other employees and are living, breathing examples of how thriving and enjoying day-to-day life at the company is done. Positive employees are also a reassuring sign that management and the HR department are getting it right, at least more than half the time. (Not that there isn’t always room for improvement.)

Positive employees might also be good re-hire candidates, most often referred to as boomerang hires. For more information on this topic, read this boomerang hiring article.

There’s a good deal of constructiveness that can be drawn from negative criticism. It probably offers the fastest road to improvement. For example, the web is full of quotes from performers and sports stars extolling the virtue of criticism as a powerful motivator and improver of their work. The culture at your company can be quickly improved by listening open-mindedly to honest critique from those who have lived and worked in that culture.

But positive comments genuinely made have value as well. As with painters, musicians or pro athletes, it’s good to know where your strengths lie. And positive comments from exiting employees should serve as a boost to your own morale. Allow yourself to feel good about making a positive difference in the work lives of people.

(This blog post brought to you by HSD Metrics, an exit interview company that helps companies reduce employee turnover by providing automated reference checking, exit interviews, and by measuring employee retention. The comments from exiting employees that are featured in this blog are collected from actual exit interviews conducted using ExitRight, HSD’s exit interviewing service. Because we place the privacy of our clients at the top of our priority list; the names of all involved parties are kept completely confidential. Check our blog often for posts like this, to reduce employee turnover within your organization. If you are interested in learning more, contact us today.)