How to Prep for Your First-Time Manager Role
Whether you’re managing a team of 1 or 100, follow these simple steps to make sure you hit the ground running.
Encourage collaboration and teamwork with a recognition program that is effective and enjoyable!
Book a demo now to take advantage of some incredible offers!
Let’s face it - whether employees leave voluntarily or not, exit surveys and interviews can be somewhat awkward
Let’s face it - whether employees leave voluntarily or not, exit surveys and interviews can be a somewhat awkward experience for both parties. On the one hand, what is there really to say? Something obviously didn’t work out. Many companies, even those that often have exit surveys and interviews implemented, decide to go through the notions of the employee’s last days and check the answers on a 2 min survey.
On the other hand, one could say that the employees that are leaving (especially voluntarily) are your most prized possession. After all, they drank the cool-aid, they bought into the mission, values, and goals...and then, something (and likely not just a single thing) didn’t work. Doing an honest deep-dive to understand the experience employees have truly is invaluable information for management and HR. No one will likely be more honest about what works and what doesn’t than the employee leaving. So, don’t shy away from the uncomfortable conversation. Lean into it and get the gold pieces of information you otherwise would never know. Also, keep in mind that high employee turnover affects the company’s bottom line: it costs about 33% of an employee’s annual salary to hire a replacement.
Encourage complete honesty
This might seem like a given, but establishing the ground for an honest discussion is critical. It should go beyond the checklist of questions or time allocated - create an environment and ask questions that lead to candid answers. People usually don’t leave because of one thing, so try to dig into different factors and their role in the overall experience. Don’t leave any stone unturned.
Go back to the beginning
As mentioned before, your exiting employees are wonderful opportunities to learn more about the good and the bad since they started excited, interested, and invested in the company. Take the conversation back to the beginning and find out the deciding factors for them to join, at what point things started to shift, and how it affected them. Seeing the progression in the employee experience can help point out what works and what doesn’t.
Categorize the results
Get into the habit of quarterly or yearly putting all the exit survey and interview data together and categorize it. Start with significant areas like role, pay and package, reasons for leaving, manager, team, workplace and culture, and the organization. Seeing combined feedback will give a general objective picture of how employees feel about those specific areas.
Aggregate the feedback
Last but not least - get the feedback in one place. It might seem silly considering each person has their own biases about the company and the experience, but once you put it all together and look back historically, the trends will be clear. Focus on long and short-term goals once you have that information in one place.
Need help creating a survey that works best for your team? Check out this template.
Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.
Explore Guide