The exit interview: effective tool or meaningless gesture?

Abstract

As a management tool, the exit interviews has generated both acclaim and criticism. Some managers have maintained that it can play a major role in reducing an organization's turnover rate while others contend that it is a worthless gesture. Research conducted by Pamela Garretson, systems and procedures analyst at Hughes Aircraft Company's Ground Systems Group, and Kenneth S. Teel, professor of human resources management at California State University at Long Beach, suggests that (1) such interviews are, for the most part, conducted by personnel department staff members during the employee's last week on the job, (2) too often, organizations fail to make any use of the information obtained during the interview, and (3) little effort is made to compute turnover costs even though turnover is generally recognized as being expensive. The authors recommend that companies conducting exit interviews either use the information obtained as a basis for identifying and alleviating problems or stop conducting them, and that they should begin to compile quantitative data on turnover costs before deciding to set up a turnover-reduction program.