To Improve Employee Engagement, Learn Why They Left

One of the richest potential sources of information on the health of your company’s employee engagement is the employee exit interview. The problem is that employees on their way out are usually reluctant to be completely frank about why they are leaving.

They may have had a negative experience with a boss or coworker that they don’t want to discuss. Or they may have been disappointed with the content of the job and see no reason to elaborate because they “said it all before.” Or they may be at odds with the direction the company is taking and don’t want to burn bridges. Whatever the reason, you can’t count on complete or accurate reporting from the employee who is on their way out.

What you would like to find out beyond the reason for their leaving is whether other employees are apt to follow, what the impact will be of their leaving, and what you might have done to better retain your top talent. As we know from decades delivering employee engagement training, these are all critical clues as to what your top risks are for increased turnover and what adjustments you should make to re-engage your workforce.

So where do you obtain this valuable information? We recommend you talk to the ex-employee’s coworkers. First of all, they are far more likely to respond than the departing employee… about 80 % more likely. Then there are three more sound reasons why coworkers should be surveyed in the wake of a departure. 

1. You get more data.

Because you are questioning more than the one employee, you will learn more and from different perspectives. If there is an important employee engagement or retention trend to identify, you have some real data to work with. And the sooner you are aware of potential problems with retention, the sooner you can deal with them.

2. You get closer to the truth.

Coworkers are much more liable to tell you the “real” reason the employee left…not the reason cited in the official employee exit interview. 

3. You are given an agenda for action.

Once you evaluate the reason for leaving, you have an opportunity to do something about it. And if coworkers have concerns similar to their exiting peer, they will expect you to act upon what they have shared with you. Do so, and you have an opportunity to stem the outflowing tide and re-engage your workers for their benefit and for the good of the company as a whole.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/leading-for-employee-engagement/