These three considerations make a big impact on completion rates.

Employers today are more and more attracted to data to make informed decisions. Still, data can be misleading, especially when it is incomplete. If, for example, an employer only captures data from disgruntled employees, they may have a false sense of the culture. Employers must aim to achieve the highest completion rates possible when sending online exit surveys or they risk making management decisions based on incomplete data. In our experience, keeping these three factors in mind when developing and dispersing an exit survey will yield more complete data and better retention insights. Timeliness Strike while the iron is hot. Over time, former employees will forget the cumulative reasons that caused them to leave their (now-previous) position or company. Or they may simply move on to a new company and forget about their old employer. To reach the root of the issue, it is important to notify the exiting employee within the first two weeks of an employee’s exit. When possible, providing employees with the option of completing the exit interview before or after the exit data, leads to higher completions. The longer employers wait to notify exiting employees of the exit interview, the higher chance that the employee will have decreased interest in completing this important step in the exit process. Accessibility To increase your chances of getting a response, do your best to obtain accurate personal contact information with multiple notification approaches. If possible, collect both a personal email address and phone numbers. This not only increases your chances of reaching the person, but also allows exiting employees to use their preferred method. Texting may be a violation of privacy laws that require permission first by the employee, which is difficult to obtain since the employee is no longer working with the former employer. All notifications to complete the interview should include assurances of privacy compliance. Exit interview participants especially like the option of permitting or not permitting their name to be released with the interview. Secure, confidential information is of high importance to respondents. Multiple channels for response are also important. The workforce remains multi-generational, so surveys that can be completed via several methods—e.g. phone, computer or mobile device, and even paper—show higher completion rates. If you can meet the employee where they are and remove possible barriers to entry, you will see better results. Exit interview recipients should be contacted frequently over a span of six to eight weeks using email reminders, numerous phone attempts, voice messaging, and allowing the phone interviewer to be contacted directly. Focused Questions The person filling out your survey is voluntarily giving you their time and information, so be direct and stick to exit-focused questions. Ask questions related to employer influenced turnover causes with prompts for explaining the reason behind the selection. Letting the employee “tell their story” about why they left and what could have occurred to prevent it should be the interview’s focus. Too many exit interviews mirror an engagement survey which doesn’t pinpoint why the person left. Irrelevant questions and too many questions bother respondents, who then stop the survey before it is completed. With open-ended but direct, well-researched interview questions, results may be viewed alongside our ExitRight norms. Best Practices From ExitRight’s experience contacting 1,100,000 exit names, completion rates of 55-65% are the norm when both web and phone interview options, with personal email availability, high phone accuracy, and continuous contact attempts occur over a span of several months. Online exit surveys help eliminate the discomfort that can occur in a face-to-face interview with a former employer. To achieve the highest completion rates possible, it is essential that employers use effective methods that make the best use of both parties’ time. Let us show you how you can make new strides in retention through the ExitRight process. Would you like to learn more? Contact us today to connect with our survey and exit interview experts!

Once you’ve learned why your employees leave, how do you start fixing the problem?

One of the common turnover causes we see from exiting employees is the balance of workload. Work redesign is a workplace flexibility initiative that can help reduce employee turnover. Our ExitRight® exit interview software has the capability to take note of both unbalanced workloads and the fact that new techniques in the workplace don’t always relieve the strain. Check out this real-life example of feedback from a client where an unbalanced workload made the work more difficult: “The workload was average to high capacity. The load gradually got larger and larger, not necessarily doing the same thing either. I believe that new techniques brought into the department should make things easier and clearer; not more difficult.” Once you’ve identified via a former employee that your workload management and work design need to be updated, you have a task and direction. But how do you get started? Here are a few very high-level steps that take place during the work redesign process: Assess Begin by reviewing the current workflow and outline the current state. You’ll want to be as upfront as possible with any even remotely involved staff about the changes you’ll be making and the due diligence being taken to ensure everyone is treated fairly and stands to benefit significantly. Discussing the end goal of the work redesign program will help employees feel involved and work toward the end goal of the program, which is truly their satisfaction and productivity. To better understand pain points from every perspective, begin conducting employee interviews to identify major priorities – evaluating how long tasks/projects take, determining barriers to efficiency and learning what doesn’t get done as timely as employees would like. This is the point where our consultants typically spend some additional time to relay feedback with senior stakeholders in the organization, validating the investment moving forward. Redefine Employee interviews require plenty of heavy lifting but the immediate next steps are where the body of work most comes to life. Create your new and improved workflow, identifying all the tasks the workflow comprises. Popular visual diagramming tools can help to iterate and collaborate on a workflow solution that meets every requirement. Review the new workflow with stakeholders to ensure that methods and procedures are carefully defined – some key gaps may begin to bubble up to the surface within the decision-making team. This is also an ideal time to solidify measures of success and measurable outcomes since it will become very clear how this process will begin to play out in terms of milestones and participants. With tasks ironed out, the team can begin to outline the required qualifications, experience, skills and competencies for individual positions. Complete an assessment o the current talent pool based upon levels of role complexity, skills and knowledge within the organization, along with an impact analysis related to diversity. Based on the gaps identified from that assessment, a gameplan for solutions to buy, build and borrow talent will emerge. Always keep in mind that findings from talent gap analyses are typically very sensitive for internal personnel. As you begin to share performance metrics with the wider organizational audience, also introduce reward and recognition programs to sustain and encourage the changes. Implement Continually communicate the value of the new workflow with those impacted by the change – depending on the organization, the first few months can be tumultuous as teams adjust. Always provide opportunities for ongoing feedback from employees, keeping communication lines open and support abundant. Monitor Monitor the progress of the work redesign strategies at defined intervals and modify the workflow as necessary, establishing a regular cadence to apply and communicate changes. Review Review and evaluate performance metrics frequently throughout the first year of the change. Work redesign can tremendously benefit your team’s productivity and engagement – but it’s no light undertaking. HSD Metrics can support your initiative with data-driven, expertly designed surveys that can demonstrate the progress you’re making and where there’s still ground to cover. Contact us today for more information on how we can help your achieve your retention goals or to schedule a free demo!