Questions
- Why should I outsource Exit interviews to Acengage?
- We are doing a lot already, I know the reasons?
- I know why people leave, because of higher salaries.
- Why will employees be more honest with you?
- Why is your method better than ours?
- Why not do a sample size?
- Why don't you conduct the interviews post notice period?
- Attrition is high as a function of demand supply.
- What value will you add to abandoned cases?
- I have teams across locations, cities, centers.
- Why can't we do a survey once in 6 months instead of an on going activity?
- Why should companies conduct SAT surveys?
Why should I outsource Exit interviews to Acengage?
An outsourced entity provides several advantages as compared to conducting exit interviews in-house. Some of the challenges of conducting exit interviews in-house are highlighted below.
- Exit interviewing is a specialized skill and it requires dedicated effort and time.
- Typically HR managers conduct exit interviews in-house in addition to their other responsibilities and therefore focus on quality of exit interviews is not sharp.
- HR managers need to be trained specially to conduct exit interviews.
- While most HR managers appreciate the importance of exit interviews, it is also common for them to feel that exit interviewing is time spent for a lost cause.
- Most in-house exit interviews have a very strong element of both the employee and interviewer bias.
- Inconsistencies due to different managers doing interviews differently across locations and team sizes are not helpful.
- Building and maintaining technology tools to capture, analyze and report are not cost effective.
Advantages of outsourcing Exit Interviews to AceNgage:
- Conducting exit interviews is our core competency and we ensure that exit interviews are conducted by trained personnel and that quality time is spent with the employee.
- Conduct exit interviews with a high degree of objectivity and eliminating employee and interviewer bias.
- The yXit technology platform allows for the best in class data capture, analysis and reporting specifically designed to handle exit interviews. The wealth of usable information using yXit is no comparison to any of the existing exit interview methods.
- Control action plans designed and implemented using yXit are very specific and translate to improved levels of employee engagement and retention.
- Consistency in the process irrespective of interviewers, size & location.
We are doing a lot already, I know the reasons?
Most organizations have exit interviews as part of the employee exit process. Many of these also have several initiatives in place considering the size of the attrition challenge.
It is very important that organizations focus on the availability of usable and actionable data. The current methods must support very clear and granular understanding of reasons for leaving and use the information to design and implement superior attrition control measures.
The proof of an effective method is in seeing improvements in employee engagement and satisfaction scores combined with lower employee churn.
It is advisable to seek help of specialists such as AceNgage whose only business is to focus on attrition diagnostics and improving attrition control effectiveness.
I know why people leave, because of higher salaries.
If everyone who has left their employment quotes their reason for leaving as "leaving for higher salary" it would have been relatively easy to bring down the employee attrition levels, just by increasing the salary packages.
Unfortunately, if unsupported by a clear understanding of what caused the employee to look out of the organization for a better opportunity in the first place, the only weapon that any employer can use is to continue increasing the salaries. And as the saying goes "any bleeding will…eventually stop".
The fact is there are typically three reasons for any employee to finally take the decision to resign. Until all of them are uncovered and suitable measure put in place, it is not practical to retain the employee.
Compensation bench marking is another useful activity to understand if the current salaries are responsible for high levels of attrition.
The only practical way to tackle this problem is to take a wholesome approach to attrition control and best way to start is to deploy best in class exit interview methodology.
Why will employees be more honest with you?
It is common to think that the employees are not necessarily more honest with a third party as compared to someone conducting exit interview in-house.
There are many reasons why an employee is more likely to share his or her views without hesitation to a third party such as AceNgage:
- Interview information is kept confidential. Any comment which employees may make is will not be held against them because we don't share that information. While the comments are shared, as per policy we do not share who said what to maintain complete confidentiality.
- It is a well known fact that employees feel hesitant to share any negative feelings openly because "they don't like to burn the bridges".
- Exit interviews are conducted by specialists who are trained in counseling. The techniques used are focused to effectively probe and listen in a completely non-judgmental way.
- The fact that the objective of exit interview is to understand the reasons for leaving and to look at opportunities for improvement is communicated clearly at the outset and there are no hidden questions or agenda on part of the interviewer.
Why is your method better than ours?
Please check answer to "Why should I outsource Exit interviews to Acengage?"
Why not do a sample size?
Reasons for leaving are different for each and every individual as people behave differently under different circumstances.
It is unfair to treat people as statistical clusters. While statistically speaking 20% of reasons for leaving would lead to 80% of the company’s attrition, clustering generally provide less precision. This is evident by the varying responses to changes in people, process and policy in an attempt to control attrition.
The disadvantage of cluster sampling is that it may not be representative of whole population.
It is extremely important to have a hundred percent sampling when it comes to understanding reasons for leaving. Anything less compromises the effectiveness of attrition control measures.
Why don't you conduct the interviews post notice period?
Our experience has been that the response and participation rates are the best when exit interviews are conducted in the last one week of the notice period.
Exit interviews attempted after exit, have found to be difficult to schedule and the interest levels are slightly lower when compared to interviews done during notice period especially in cases where employees have started their new jobs.
If done earlier than the last one week of notice, the chances of a identifying and opportunity to retain is higher. With permission from the employee, Acengage will be able to flag cases of possible retention.
Attrition is high as a function of demand supply.
It is correct to believe that the rapid growth of industry does put an unfair demand on the current employers. That in isolation does not however make it the single biggest reason for attrition.
The truth is that all attrition have a distinct push factor and may or may not have not a pull factor. The reason for someone to leave is never just one simple big reason. There are usually three reasons and they are not uncontrollable.
Uncontrollable reasons must be factored in only after the controllable factors are fully in control.
Uncontrollable reasons of attrition are generally the easiest to discuss, since the ownership of such factors cannot be held against a single individual.
What value will you add to abandoned cases?
As a third party we have the necessary bandwidth, time and the passion to make multiple attempts to contact the employees who need to be interviewed. Our efforts in that direction are greater as well.
The exit interview process is identical once we make contact with the employee.
Study of abandon in a way indicates the engagement effectiveness.
I have teams across locations, cities, centers.
The yXit methodology for attrition diagnostics are designed to deliver consistently high quality interviews and data management across locations, team sizes, and interviewers.Why can't we do a survey once in 6 months instead of an on going activity?
The factors that influence employees to leave can be categorized into individual, team, company and industry factors. These are dynamic in nature and impact different employees to varying degrees. The reasons for leaving as captured in the exit interviews will mirror these changes.
At a diagnostic level it would be incorrect to use a statistical basis to arrive at a design basis for changes in engagement and retention measures. Intervals greater than a month is too long a reaction time to improve control measures.
It is extremely critical to interview all the exiting employees even though their reasons may tend to converge or cluster. Any changes in people process or polices done on the basis of sampling or infrequently conducted studies tend to fail over a period of time.
Why should companies conduct SAT surveys?
Conducting an SAT survey does not mean that there is something wrong with the company. Organisations that care about the opinions of their employees conduct regular ESAT surveys In addition, are concerned about having satisfied employees. Surveying employees should become an integral part of how companies conduct their business and not as one time activity.