Exit Interviews

Last month we looked at the most commonly cited reasons for an employee to leave a business, including the management’s lack of vision or shared purpose, lack of communication, an unwillingness to change and innovate and a lack of coaching or mentoring. What can you do, however, when you feel that you are addressing all of these issues but employees are still leaving the business? You can ask those employees directly for their feedback on their decision to leave by conducting an exit interview.

What is an Exit Interview?

An exit interview is typically a meeting between at least one or more representatives of a business and a departing employee, who has usually voluntarily resigned over being asked to leave the business. An exit interview allows the representatives of the business to ask questions of the departing employee, gaining a better understanding of their decision to leave the business and what issues can be addressed to increase retention rates in the business.

What are the Benefits of Conducting Exit Interviews?

1. Exit interviews provide an opportunity to resolve any issues and airing grievances with leaving employees, or may provide the chance to retain the employee, giving the chance for them to discuss their issues with management.

2. Exit interviews are seen by existing employees, future employees, professional institutes and accrediting bodies as a sign of a business with quality effective people-management, and one that is willing to seek out feedback on themselves in order to continue to grow and develop.

3. Exit interviews accelerate managers’ understanding and experience of people and business management, with hearing and handling feedback as a powerful development tool.

4. The results and analysis of exit interviews provide relevant and useful data in the areas of recruitment, induction, training, retention and growth opportunities for employees.

5. Exit interviews can be used to obtain and transfer useful knowledge, contacts, tips and experience from the departing employee to their successor.

How to Conduct an Exit Interview:

1. Adopt a structured approach- don’t treat an exit interview in a casual manner or as a formality: ensure that it has a structure and purpose to it. Remember that the more you can find out about why an employee is leaving, the more opportunity this gives you to make improvements to the business to prevent further resignations.

2. Ensure appropriate staff conduct the interview- you should always try and use a neutral third party where possible, who is disconnected or has little day-to-day contact with the employee.

3. Environment- The room that the interview is conducted in should feel as warm and inviting as possible, in a neutral office away from the employee’s day-to-day workspace and with the seating arranged in a circle, rather than having the employee facing a panel.

4. Arrange the exit interview for their final week at the business- You should not rush to organise the interview as soon as the employee has put in their letter of resignation. It is unlikely that the employee will feel comfortable being completely honest and open in the interview if they are aware that they still have time left at the business, fearing that the information they share in the interview could be passed on to other employees or that they could be treated harshly for the remainder of their time at the business.

5. Don’t get defensive- the employee may make comments about the business during the interview that you do not agree with or like. It is important to not become defensive or question them about the truth of their statements in a manner that comes across as disbelieving, as this can lead to a confrontational situation.

If you need help conducting exit interviews within your business, please contact performHR at 1300 40 60 05 or info@performhr.com.au.

Companies Need To Get On With Gender Diversity

A great article from today’s Sydney Morning Herald by Harold Mitchell:

“Everyone will be waiting for the cry “and they’re racing” at the Cox Plate tomorrow. But there is a greater cry being heard around the country today. It’s the cry to drop the barriers to women, bringing the full force of their capacities to the boardrooms of Australia. The corporate world needs to catch up with the rest of the world, including the track.

Years ago it was that great gelding Phar Lap who carried the hopes of a nation to 14 wins in a row – a feat only matched a couple of weeks ago by the mare Black Caviar. She’s odds-on to break the great record tomorrow when she runs in the Schweppes Stakes with jockey Luke Nolen guiding her home.

Total female domination might have been achievable if one of the famous Payne sisters was in the saddle: Michelle, for instance – the reigning queen from a family of many female jockeys. And it’s worth remembering that the female jockey trend was started by the remarkable Linda Jones from New Zealand more than 30 years ago.

More female winners are at present being planned for by Finance Minister Penny Wong, who recently released new guidelines for government business enterprises which require that by 2015, “no one gender can hold more than 60 per cent of board positions”. Charlie wonders how many genders there are but assumes it means neither men nor women can be more than 60 per cent of the total.

Big business is starting to make some advances on this issue with women comprising 26 per cent of all new appointments to ASX boards in 2011, compared with only 5 per cent in 2009 and 8 per cent in the two prior years. Non-profits have been at the fore with 30 per cent of board positions being women and the group of eight universities have 37 per cent. State governments are also setting a pace. New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria have committed to 50 per cent of all new board appointments going to women by the end of next year.

But the number of women is still far too low. At the end of August, in fact, women were only 13 per cent of all the members of the ASX 200 boards. But the race is on and the Institute of Company Directors points out the success of chairmen’s mentoring programs, in which people such as Don Argus and Ziggy Switkowski have supported women into the ranks

The push is on because it makes business sense. How can a country realise its potential if it denies itself the capacities of 50 per cent of its people?

We have known for many years that women make the key purchasing decisions; 75.1 per cent of women identified themselves as the primary shoppers for their households, according to Mediamark Research & Intelligence’s Survey of the American Consumer in 2009 and, according to a study from the Boston Consulting Group, women ”control $12 trillion of the overall $18.4 trillion in global consumer spending”.

In Australia more than half (53 per cent) of our professional classes are women and in our industry, media and marketing departments have always pushed hard to get women to higher levels.

With all that economic power and key decision-making capability, why wouldn’t any board in the country, profit or non-profit, want as many women as possible to guide its business to the market and to its customers?

Back women. That’s the message.”

Sourced from  http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/companies-need-to-get-on-with-gender-diversity-20111020-1ma6w.html#ixzz1bNXeZerJ

Should You Get Naked With Your Boss?

A couple of months ago, Suzanne Lucas, or “Evil HR Lady”, wrote this blog that had our team in hysterics. We hope you like it too!

“Dear Evil HR Lady,

I’m an American and male and am currently filling a 2 year expat assignment in Europe.  It turns out that the high level male employees frequent the sauna in the company gym.  Naked.  I’ve been told that if I really want my ideas to be heard, the best way to do this is to join the executive team in the sauna.  I’ve also been told that it would be very offensive if I was not naked.

My American sensibilities make me cringe, but should I join them?

Aiyee, just when I thought I’d heard it all, I get this new question.  It’s perfect timing, really, as it turns out that your company isn’t the only one that has, uhh, naked activities.  Der Spiegel just reported on, well, here’s a quote:

A German insurance company has admitted hosting a decadent sex party at a Budapest bathhouse to reward its best agents for their work. Details of the secretive event include color-coded prostitutes and a ban on photos.

In another Der Spiegel article they refer to prostitution as another form of compensation:

At a certain level workers and customers can “no longer be rewarded with money,” another industry insider says. But incentives outside the ordinary pay raise or bonus are not simply a question of hierarchy, event specialist Eisner says. The likelihood of such perks is higher for certain roles.

Now, this makes me want to send a note to the compensation specialists over at Compensation Cafe and ask how they would work this into a “total compensation” plan, but I shall refrain.

Now, I realize that prostitution is nowhere near in the same category as a naked sauna conversation.  But, in my mind (and yours) naked and business should not be in the same paragraph, let alone the same sentence.  I couldn’t carry on a business conversation with my boss if she was sitting across from me, naked.  I just couldn’t.

Clearly, the sauna thing is a cultural issue.  It’s not a big deal to them, but it’s a big deal to you.  Which makes me wonder how you’d act in such a situation.  If you’re nervous and prone to giggling at the assets in question, even if you’re in the room, you probably won’t be making the best of impressions.

I have noted in the past, that if business is discussed in the cafeteria, you should probably not eat at your desk.  However, if you’re incapable of getting food from the plate to your mouth without spilling it in your lap, it’s better to eat at your desk.

It’s about trade offs.

It’s also about not looking like a fool.  If the company execs are having their bonding in the sauna and everyone knows it and you waltz in and drop your towel, it’s going to be a clear move to suck up to the bosses.  Keep in mind, that unless this European company is in England, the language they will be having these naked chats in will be their non-English native language.  If you’re not truly fluent in that language you’ll look like an interloper.

Is this truly the only way to gain their attention?  I suspect it is not.  In fact, unless you’re explicitly (probably bad word choice there) invited, I’d say it would do more harm to your career than good.  I wouldn’t stalk the sauna in the hopes of running into the Sr. VP.  If you happen to be there when he’s there, great.  Talk.

But, otherwise, I’d put your efforts into building relationships and understanding the culture of your host company in ways that don’t involve naked sweating.”

Sourced from http://www.bnet.com/blog/evil-hr-lady/should-you-get-naked-with-your-boss/2386?tag=fd-featuredStory2