55% of UK employees were not invited to a formal exit interview when resigning from their last job role, new research has revealed*.
The survey, conducted among 1,500 ex-employees who have resigned from a job within the last five years, also discovered that an additional third of employees are not being asked to feedback at all, revealing a missed opportunity for valuable employee engagement.
Instead, organisations risk employee feedback being shared online, with the rise of public review platforms such as Glassdoor and Comparably, which 69% of survey respondents have used to review a previous employer. With over half of these reviews holding negative sentiment, by skipping the process of an exit interview, employers are missing the chance to resolve the issues and concerns of their workforce internally.
The majority of participants state they would have felt comfortable enough to share these views and opinions with their employer, if they were asked. Specifically, being open to providing feedback on the following:
- Company culture – 72%
- Mental health implications of the role – 72%
- Their line manager – 70%
- Colleagues and peers – 69%
Áine Fanning, Managing Director at Cpl’s Talent Evolution Group, comments, “There’s a clear disconnect between why employers think their employees are leaving and the actual reason behind employee exits.
Our survey revealed that over a quarter of ex-employees felt their feedback would not make a difference to their workplace. If companies make a concerted effort to better understand why employees are leaving and take meaningful action to retain them, employers could gain an edge in the race to attract, develop, and retain the talent they need to create a thriving post pandemic organization.’’
With over 50% of respondents revealing they would have considered a counteroffer during the process of exiting their last role, organisations should consider the exit process not only as a valuable chance to gain employee feedback, but also an opportunity to retain talent.
*Talent Evolution Group
