Top 25 Exit Interview Questions to Ask Every Employee

Exit interviews are the final chat before an employee waves goodbye to your company. But here’s the thing: it’s not just a formality. Asking the right exit interview questions can help you learn why employees decide to leave, or even identify blind spots in your company culture.

Close to three-quarters of companies use employee exit interview questions to understand why employees are leaving and analyze the data to increase retention. Why? When it comes down to it, replacing an employee can hit the wallet hard—costing up to twice their salary for the recruitment and training of a new hire.

As employees move on from your company, exit interview questions offer a great opportunity to get candid feedback and understand why employees leave or where they think there’s room to improve.

Why Asking the Right Exit Interview Questions Matters

HR teams should consider the exit interviews as conversations, not quizzes. A farewell conversation where the departing employee feels comfortable will help them go above and beyond the questions. 

Because they’re an excellent source of insights, exit interview questions are key to understanding and addressing turnover and any other challenges affecting companies. When they’re framed as conversations, exit interview questions help uncover patterns and trends lurking beneath the surface. By zeroing in on recurring themes across employee exit interview questions, HR professionals can spot systemic issues that trigger turnover and take action to fix them.

Top 25 Employee Exit Interview Questions to Ask

We’ve curated a list of 25 exit interview questions designed to cover all the bases. These questions are divided into specific categories to ensure that you gather information on different aspects of the employee experience—from job satisfaction to company culture, leadership, and beyond—so you can then analyze it systematically. These are the best exit interview questions to start a conversation with a former employee:

Reasons for Leaving

1. What prompted your decision to seek new opportunities outside of the company?
2. Were there any specific factors or events that contributed to your decision to leave?
3. Did you feel your skills and abilities were fully utilized in your role here?

Job Satisfaction

4. How would you rate your overall job satisfaction during your time with the company?
5. What did you enjoy most about your role and working here?
6. Were there any areas where you felt your job could have been more fulfilling or challenging?

Management and Leadership

7. Did you feel supported by your supervisor and the management team in your role?
8. Were there clear expectations set for your role and performance?
9. Did you receive constructive feedback and opportunities for growth and development?

Work Environment and Culture

10. Did you feel included and valued as part of the team and company culture?
11. Were there any specific aspects of the work environment that you found particularly positive or negative?
12. Did you feel comfortable expressing your ideas and concerns to your supervisor and colleagues?
13. Were there any instances of workplace conflict or issues that were not adequately addressed?

Training and Development

14. Did you receive the necessary training and resources to perform your job effectively?
15. Were there any areas where additional training or support would have been beneficial?

Company Policies and Procedures

16. Were you satisfied with the company’s policies and procedures regarding time off, benefits, and compensation?
17. Did you feel that the company provided a fair and equitable work environment?
18. Were there any policies or procedures that you found particularly frustrating or ineffective?
19. Did you feel that the company took your feedback and suggestions into consideration?

Suggestions for Improvement

20. Based on your experience, what suggestions do you have for improving the onboarding process for new employees?
21. What changes would you recommend to improve employee engagement and morale?
22. How do you think the company could better support work-life balance for employees?

Future Intentions

23. Would you consider returning to work for the company in the future?
24. What factors would influence your decision to potentially return to the company?

Open-Ended Questions

25. Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience working here?

Best Practices for Conducting Exit Interviews

Now that you’ve read them, consider that every question, not just the one that’s explicitly open-ended, should be an opportunity for the departing employee to share their thoughts. They should be regarded as trigger questions for a candid conversation.

Now, not everyone will want to engage in conversation. Despite their relevance, only 20% of departing employees accept an exit interview. When employee morale is low or workplace culture is burning workers out, current employees could even prefer to leave rather than report honest feedback. Human Resources teams need to get proactive to ensure that leaving employees participate in the exit interviews. Below are key strategies to create a conducive environment, promote active listening, and maximize the value of exit interview questions:

1. Determine What’s the Best Timing

Think of what works best for you—you might want to set the exit interview around the date of the employee’s departure date to ensure their experiences and feedback are fresh in their mind. This would allow for a smoother transition and minimize the risk of any lingering issues going unaddressed. 

Alternatively, you might want to wait a bit to schedule the interview—according to Wiley Online Library, employees are more likely to answer exit interview questions honestly several months after their exit. If the employee is open to it, you might even consider setting two interviews: one around the exit time, and another one a few months later when they're at a new job.

2. Choose the Right Interviewer (and the Right Length)

Approximately 70% of exit interviews are handled by HR departments, while the employees' direct supervisors handle close to 20%. Whichever way you go, select an interviewer who can create a comfortable and confidential environment for the departing employee. 

Since the best exit interview questions are one-liners, exit interviews can be short, at under half an hour. Still, you should book an hour for an exit interview. Why so long? Because you’ll be inviting your interviewee to open up and speak up. The interviewer can be explicit: “I especially booked this period with you because I want to listen up. Use as much time as you’d like.” Departing employees will appreciate this.

3. Ensure Confidentiality

Assure the departing employee that their feedback will be kept confidential and used exclusively to improve organizational processes. This is key to getting honest answers to exit interview questions, as former employees may withhold information if they fear their feedback could lead to negative effects on their careers. Create a safe place for employees to express their honest opinions without worrying that their responses might reach influential individuals or hurt their careers.

4. Follow Up

After the exit interview, follow up with the departing employee to thank them for their participation. This leaves a positive impression, while also laying the foundation for maintaining a good relationship, which could be valuable for the future—whether for seeking additional feedback down the line or considering the employee for rehire.

5. Share Findings and Take Action

Analyze the feedback gathered to identify recurring themes, trends, or areas for improvement. Once the analysis is complete, take action. Develop concrete plans to address the identified issues or areas for improvement, like implementing new policies, procedures, or initiatives to address specific concerns raised during the exit interview questions.

6. Use Technology to Streamline Processes

Consider using HR software or tools like TalentHR to improve the exit interview process, automate scheduling, and track feedback over time. HR software also allows organizations to standardize the process, ensuring consistency in the questions asked and the data collected.

Craft the Right Exit Interview Questions

Do exit interview questions work? Yes, but only if you do something about them. Only 28% of HR professionals act on exit interview data. Considering 9 out of 10 Fortune 500 engage in exit interviews, that’s too much actionable info that’s skipped over. If you take advantage of the candid answers of departing employees, and you do something about what they’re telling you, then exit interview questions can help you drive down turnover or better transmit your company culture. Future employees will be thankful, and current employees could refrain from accepting an offer from a competitor. The best exit interview questions are those that are made use of.

If you want to correspond the exit interview answers with measurable data, consider using a tech platform such as TalentHR. The all-in-one HR solution includes people analytics that can help validate the answers of departing employees. Thanks to the metrics, you can research or uncover what’s driving turnover or even retention, and then confirm or inquire about it with your departing employees. The best exit interview questions are those that are taken advantage of—and are also those that are continually fined-tune thanks to data.

Take the guesswork out of exit interview questions and find useful information to drive organizational success. Register now for free.

To learn more about the best exit interview questions that can be implemented, visit TalentHR.