Exit Interviews - Knowledge Management

Exit Interviews
What are exit interviews?
Traditionally, exit interviews are conducted with employees leaving an organisation. The purpose of the interview is to provide feedback on why employees are leaving, what they liked or didn’t like about their employment and what areas of the organisation they feel need improvement. Exit interviews are one of the most widely used methods of gathering employee feedback, along with employee satisfaction surveys.
More recently, the concept of exit interviewing has been revisited and expanded as a knowledge management tool, as a way of capturing knowledge from leavers. Rather than simply capturing human resources information, the interview also aims to capture knowledge about what it takes to do the job.
What are the benefits?
Vital knowledge is not lost to the organisation when people leave. The learning curve of new people joining the organisation is shortened. Exit interviews can be done relatively quickly and inexpensively. Exit interviews can result in the leaver having a more positive view of the organisation.
Done correctly, exit interviews can be a win-win situation for both the organisation and the leaver. The organisation gets to retain a portion of the leaver’s knowledge and make it available to others, while the leaver gets to articulate their unique contributions to the organisation and to ‘leave their mark‘.
How do I go about it?
Traditional exit interviews can be conducted in a variety of ways: face-to-face, over the telephone, using a written questionnaire, or via the internet using an exit interview management system. In a knowledge-focused exit interview, a face-to-face interview is needed.
You will need to think carefully about the information you would like to gather before the interview and start your preparations early. While the traditional exit interview will tend to collect mainly human resources information, the primary focus of the knowledge-focused interview is on knowledge that would be helpful to the next person who will do the job or to others in the organisation doing similar jobs.
Start planning the handover and exit interview as soon as you know a person is leaving. Identify who in the organisation might benefit from that person’s knowledge and what they will need to know. Then work out a plan to capture the leaver’s knowledge during the time remaining before they leave. This should include both explicit knowledge (knowledge that is already documented such as in files and e-mails, and knowledge that can be easily documented), and tacit knowledge (knowledge that is less easy to capture and that needs to be explained or demonstrated).
In the case of explicit knowledge, make sure the leaver moves relevant files – both hard copy and electronic – into shared folders or a document library. Ask them to prune and organise these files and to create role and task folders or notes for their successor.
For tacit knowledge, you will need to interview the leaver face-to-face. Prepare for the interview by reviewing the key tasks the person does based on a job description or annual performance plan. You can then use that information as the basis for discussing how they go about those tasks, what knowledge and skills they need, any problems or pitfalls to be aware of etc. Find out about their network of contacts and sources of knowledge. If possible, create an overlap period between the leaver and their successor so that a ‘live’ handover can be done.
When conducting exit interviews, think carefully about who will be the interviewer. Traditional exit interviews are conducted by someone from human resources. However this need not be the case in the knowledge-focused interview. Often a peer or a relevant subject expert will be most appropriate. Over and above the obvious interpersonal and interviewing skills needed, you will need to consider issues of trust and honesty. For example, if an employee has had a difficult relationship with a manager or colleague, that person might not be best placed to conduct the interview. Whoever you select, make sure they are appropriately skilled and trained.
Are there any other points I should be aware of?
Traditional exit interviews are usually only appropriate for employees who voluntarily resign or retire rather that those who are fired or made redundant. In the case of the knowledge-focused interview, much will depend on the extent to which the organisation has a culture that encourages knowledge sharing.
Be clear about who will use the knowledge gathered and how it will be used, before you begin to gather it; the purpose of the interview is not to gather knowledge per se, but to gather useful knowledge that will actually be used.
The less you capture knowledge on a regular basis, the more you need to capture it at exit. However you may decide that you could gain more value from capturing knowledge at more regular intervals. For example, The Post Office uses exit interviews as one part of a series of ‘cradle-to-grave’ interviews to collect knowledge, using a method called 3E. The three Es are Entry, Expert and Exit. Entry interviews allow you to gather knowledge when employees first join the organisation when they have ‘new eyes’ and a fresh perspective, and also to ask them what they would like to know to help them ‘get up to speed’. Expert interviews are conducted as they develop skills and become experts in a particular role or field. For more information about this wider approach, seeknowledge harvesting.
Resources and references
Books
Clemmons Rumizen Melissie. (2002) The complete idiot’s guide to knowledge management. Madison, WI: CWL Publishing Enterprises.
Chapter 10: More connection choices.
Provides a fairly brief overview of exit interviews, but does include an interesting case study featuring an American utility company. (This book as a whole is well worth a look – extremely easy to read, very comprehensive and full of sound, practical advice) .
Articles
Holloway Pamela.Leverage exit interviews to collect key knowledge Workforce Management. (Registration required but this is free)
Holloway Pamela.Tips and Techniques for Effective Exit Interviews by Pamela Holloway
Skyrme David.Disappearing knowledge: are exit interviews the wit’s end? I3 Update, 2001, November, No 55
Websites
Exit Interviews
This page, prepared by Alan Chapman, explains how to carry out exit interviews effectively. It contains examples of questions, hints and tips, and techniques.