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Exit Survey Questions

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When it comes to an organization, employees and their retention are of utmost importance. Regardless of whether you have everything in place, an employee may opt to leave your company. There could be a variety of reasons for this, including a better job offer, discontent with current policies, or a change in work culture. Now you may think, what else is there to talk about now that your employee has opted to leave? That brings us to exit surveys. Though exit surveys may appear intimidating, when properly conducted, they can be tremendously beneficial to employers. 

Continue reading to learn more about exit surveys, their importance, and some sample exit survey questions.

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What is an Exit Survey?

An exit survey is a series of questions asked by an organization as part of its employees’ offboarding process. Employees who leave your firm can provide a plethora of information about their experience. Exit surveys enable companies to gather honest feedback about their work culture, management, and most importantly why an individual chose to quit in the first place. They are usually conducted by the Human Resources Department of the company. 

Employers must focus on the bigger picture instead of focusing solely on finding a replacement to fill in the gap. According to the experts at Harvard Business Review, a well-crafted exit survey provides the organization with insight into the employee experience, their mindset and uncovers any issues that may be present. 

Why are Exit Surveys important?

Companies spend a considerable amount of time, resources, and money on their employees. At the end of the day, you’d want them to stay with you on a long-term basis. While you should do everything possible to secure employees, some may call it quits. Conducting an exit survey allows the departing employees to provide honest opinions that can further be used to enhance management practices, avoid bad hires and ultimately reduce employee attrition. 

Let’s take a look at how exit surveys can help an organization:

  • Employees have spent 8 hours a day for years. They’ll surely have a lot to say about the workplace, including issues you may not have considered. This information will enable you to delve deeper and boost organizational performance.
  • Turnover of employees can be dreadful. But when you look at the bigger picture, you’d want the existing employees to stay. Get input to figure out what the company does effectively and where it can improve.
  • Employees are given proper closure through exit surveys. It closes the employees’ connection with the organization in a positive manner.

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The best exit survey questions

The ideal exit survey questions revolve around the following:

  • The work culture
  • Policies in place
  • The job
  • Reasons why they chose to leave?
  • The technology being used (both hardware and software)

Let’s take a look at some exit survey questions that you can ask.

  • Questions on why they quit

    1. What factors influenced your decision to take the new job?
    2. What do you like about working at our company?
    3. What changes would you like to bring about in the work culture?
    4. Do you look forward to coming to work?
    5. What aspect of your job makes you anxious?
    6. How do you feel while working here?
    7. Did the company offer you opportunities for career development?
    8. What improvements should be made to the pay scale and benefits?
  • Job role

    1. Was a proper description of the role given to you before joining the company?
    2. How long have you been in this position?
    3. How much did your job role change after being hired?
    4. Would you consider returning to work in this role?
    5. What were the highlights of your job?
    6. How could we have helped you stay in your position?
    7. What was the workload like for this job role?

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  • Work-life balance

    1. How would you rate the work-life balance at the organization?
    2. Did you find it difficult to balance personal and professional lives?
    3. Did you have to miss out on personal experiences due to work?
    4. Which type of work environment provided you with satisfaction?
    5. Did you have to work overtime regularly?
    6. Have you ever felt burned out at work?
    7. How often did you have to prioritize your career above your personal life?
    8. What suggestions do you have for us to achieve a better work-life balance?
  • The team

    1. What was the team culture like?
    2. What problems did you face while working with the team?
    3. What advice would you like to give your colleagues?
    4. How often did you have a team meeting?
    5. How often did you exchange ideas and feedback?
    6. Did you receive feedback for your contribution?
    7. Do you prefer working alone or in a team?
    8. What were the strengths of your team?
    9. What was the most difficult issue your team has faced?
  • Diversity and Inclusion

    1. Do you believe our policies focus on diversity and inclusion?
    2. What improvements would you like us to make in terms of diversity and inclusion?
    3. Which DE&I policies should we implement?
    4. What advice would you provide us on how to make diversity, inclusion, and equity a priority?
    5. Have you ever witnessed a colleague being treated unfairly?
  • Work from home experience

    1. What has your work-from-home experience been like?
    2. Do you feel the company is ensuring that everyone has a basic understanding of digital tools?
    3. Do you believe that remote work has affected teamwork?
    4. What do you like about working from home?
    5. What is the most inconvenient aspect of remote work?
    6. Do you believe we have an effective work-from-home policy?
    7. How can we improve employee experience in the new normal?

Final words

The exit survey questions listed above are quite useful in gathering helpful criticism. It can help you figure out why an employee has decided to leave in the first place and avoid this from happening in the future. 

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