Ted had his exit interview last Friday. The company asked him why he was leaving. He told them it was for “more opportunity.” That’s true but it’s not the whole story.
Why Ted Started Looking for a New Job
Just like most people, Ted thought about leaving from time to time. But, by and large, he was happy where he was. He liked the work and the people and he knew there was opportunity because he had been selected for “leadership development.”
Then his old boss got promoted. The new boss was more controlling. Ted was used to a lot of freedom. Even so, things were all right until the day he differed with his boss in a meeting and the boss told him “never to bring half-baked ideas like that again.”
Ted remembers glaring back at his boss and thinking, “It’s time to go.” He started looking for a new job that day.
It took him six months to get an offer that he liked. He’ll have more responsibility and a better salary. The commute is easy. And his new company put him on their leadership development fast track.
An Exit Interview like Many Others
When he told the exit interviewer he was leaving for “more opportunity” he was telling the truth. But because of the way the interview was done, the company never heard about the boss and the meeting incident that started it all.
Most of the exit interviews I’ve witnessed are fairly short. The questions they ask yield a snapshot of the situation on the day of the interview. But we often don’t get the whole story because we don’t ask for it and we don’t take the time to get it all.
Getting the Story of the Exit
Next time you do an exit interview, try this. Allow an hour and a half. It usually takes an hour of talking before you get past the simple truths and down to the emotion. When you notice emotion, ask questions to get more detail.
Instead of asking, “Why are you leaving?” start with a different request. Ask: “Tell me why you’re leaving, from the first time you thought about it until now.”
If you really want to discover why good people are leaving your company, don’t just get the snapshot of how they feel on the day they leave. Get the story of how they left so you can find and fix the real problems.
Wally, our experience with clients supports what you say. Let me add that a potentially more complete understanding of why someone departs can be learned by having a skilled third party contact the person by phone some 30 to 90 days following their departure. As consultants, we are often trying to resolve high-turnover, recruiting, or other organizational challenges, and frequently find that prior employees are often an invaluable resource for understanding what’s actually going on.