21 Best Exit Interview Questions to Ask

An exit interview is a structured conversation between HR and an employee who is leaving an organization. It is an opportunity to ask the departing employee about their work experience and the reasons for their departure. Candid feedback from an employee on their way out the door can help you understand why your workers are leaving — and how to prevent further turnover.

What Is An Exit Interview? 

An exit interview is a conversation between an employee who is leaving an organization and a member of the human resources department, with the goal of learning the employee’s motivations for leaving. The interview is also a way for HR to learn about issues impacting the employee experience, including working conditions, management issues and problems with company culture. 

While this type of feedback can be gained through employee surveys, HR teams have found that departing employees are more likely to be candid or honest in their responses when they no longer have to worry about undergoing performance reviews, being considered for a raise or damaging workplace relationships.

“Now that they’ve put in their notice, they feel slightly more comfortable to open up a little bit more, and that’s really key for us to be able to gather that kind of anecdotal feedback and potentially corroborate it with data points that we have,” Nadia Alaee, senior director of HR business partners at Deel, told Built In. “Then we can make decisions based on all of these different feedback points.”

Related ReadingWhat Is a Stay Interview? 13 Questions to Ask

21 Exit Interview Questions to Ask

Exit interview questions should address multiple angles of the employee experience, including their thoughts on the role, their manager and the organizational culture. Here are some of the most important questions to ask.

General Questions 

1. Why Did You Join the Organization?

Before you ask the employee why they left the company, have them reflect on why they joined the company in the first place. The answer not only gives you context about their initial expectations, but you can keep that information in mind when recruiting new employees to the organization.

2. Why Are You Choosing to Leave?

One of the core goals of an exit interview is learning why an employee leaves. Some of the most common reasons are a higher salary, career advancement or to get away from a bad manager. Whatever the situation, identify the issue and see what can be done to resolve it.

“What we’re really trying to drill down to is: ‘Why did you pick up the phone call right from the recruiter? Why did you decide to answer the email from the recruiter? Or why did you apply,’” Zak said. “Something drove that, so we need to dig in and find what that something was.”

3. What Did You Like Most/Least About Working Here?

Learning about an employee’s favorite and least-favorite parts of the job is another way to get them to open up about the organization’s strengths and areas of improvement. It might also prove useful in the recruiting and interviewing process, as you may want to emphasize the bright spots of the role while also being transparent about its downsides.

Company Culture Questions 

4. How Was It Working With Your Peers?

Healthy workplace relationships play a key role in shaping an employee’s perception of their company, with workers who have a best friend at work being 23 percent more likely to strongly agree that they’d recommend their company as a great place to work. 

When asking this question, listen to how an employee describes their interactions with their coworkers. Do they talk about feeling respected and giving respect in return? Did workplace conflicts arise and were they resolved professionally? Noting these details can help you get a pulse on your workplace culture and how employees are treating each other. 

5. How Would You Describe the Communication and Collaboration Within Your Team and Across the Organization?

This question aims to uncover whether there are any issues dragging down team performance or morale, such as a negative team member or a more systemic problem. This question can also provide insight into how the team interacts with other teams across the business, which could be improved with further communication or changes to workflows and business processes.

6. Do You Feel Like You Received Proper Recognition for Your Contributions?  

Recognition can make a difference in whether an employee stays or leaves, and it can come from various avenues like CEOs, managers, coworkers and customers. When asking this question, take note of where the recognition is coming from and whether employees feel like they’re getting enough praise. Use these insights to strengthen your employee recognition program and train leaders on how to properly recognize employees for their hard work.  

7. Do You Feel the Organization Provides a Supportive and Inclusive Work Environment?

Even if you’re committed to cultivating an inclusive workplace, employees could still be experiencing a different reality in their daily work life. This question invites employees to share any non-inclusive behaviors or practices that you might be able to address.

8. Have You Previously Shared Any of These Issues or Concerns With the Organization?

If an employee is sharing significant issues for the first time in an exit interview, they might not have felt safe sharing their concerns with their manager or with HR. This is common in organizations with low levels of trust. If they had previously shared their concerns, you will want to find out where that feedback went and why no action was taken.

Career Development Questions

9. How Would You Describe Your Relationship With Your Manager?

It’s often said that people don’t quit jobs, they quit managers. If an employee states that they didn’t feel supported by their manager, try to gather additional information about the circumstances and consider whether that manager could benefit from HR counseling or additional training. There are two sides to every story, of course, but it can be a red flag if multiple employees are giving similar feedback about a bad manager. 

10. Did You Feel There Were Sufficient Opportunities for Growth and Career Development at Our Organization?

Lack of career growth opportunities is the top reason employees leave their job, according to one study, and organizations that invest in employee development are twice as likely to retain their employees. If employees don’t feel like they have room for growth, make career paths more clear, identify what is needed for career progression and provide them with the feedback, support and training to help them reach the next level of their career path.

11. How Would You Rate the Level of Feedback You Received During Your Time at the Organization?

Feedback is an important component of an employee’s ongoing growth and development, so an employee could feel like their professional growth is stunted without it. Find out which types of feedback they found helpful. That information could be useful in designing performance reviews, training employees on how to give and accept constructive criticism and other HR initiatives.

12. Do You Feel Like You Received Enough Training?

Professional development has become a must for any organization looking to build a strong company culture. A 2023 edX survey found that 80 percent of employees believe companies should fill the role of post-secondary colleges, and nearly 80 percent would stay with their employers long-term if they were given better training and development.  

This question can help you determine what flaws exist in your current upskilling programs and methods. Do employees wish they had access to more online courses? What skills do they wish they received more support in learning? Responses to this question can help you refine your skills training programs and tailor them to meet the unique needs of your workforce.  

Role-Specific Questions 

13. What Aspects of the Job Did You Find Most Challenging?

If an employee enjoyed or disliked an element of the job, that information will be useful when interviewing candidates for the role, as well as retaining existing employees in that position. Even if the job responsibilities can’t be changed, consider changes in team dynamics, workflow issues or other information that could improve the employee experience for others in that role.

14. Did the Role Match Your Expectations When You Were Hired?

If a new hire’s expectations are out of sync with the reality of the job, it could lead to increased turnover among new hires. If there’s a discrepancy between the job description and the day-to-day work of the job, rewrite the job description before the position is advertised.

15. Have the Duties of Your Role Changed Since You Joined the Organization?

If the employee’s job responsibilities have changed since they were hired, that could motivate an employee to leave for a job that more closely aligns with their skills and interests. It also means that the job description might need to be updated. Frontline managers might not notice how small changes have transformed the nature of the position, but a departing employee might share additional skills or experience that could help a new employee be successful in the role.

16. Did You Have the Support, Tools and Resources Needed to Be Successful in Your Job?

An employee could have encountered a number of issues that impacted their effectiveness in their role. The employee’s job performance might have been held back by inadequate training, lack of technology resources or inefficient business processes. Learning more about these obstacles can help create better working conditions for the next person who fills the role.

Reflective Questions 

17. Is There Anything We Could Have Done to Keep You?

This question could help HR teams understand what they could do to prevent future employees from leaving. A high-performing employee might be willing to stay for a salary raise or a promotion, but not if they’re unhappy with the workplace culture or seeking a new environment. 

“In my experience, people may leave for better pay, but it’s usually not the reason they started looking for a job,” Wende Smith, head of people operations at BambooHR, told Built In. “Typically the reason they’re looking for a job has to do with lack of opportunity to grow and develop, poor leadership experience, lack of trust in an organization and then, to help bolster that decision, they may look at pay and benefits.”

18. Would You Recommend This Organization to a Friend?

This question is similar to the employee net promoter score question, which asks employees whether they would recommend their organization as a good place to work. It’s a good barometer of whether the employee had a positive experience at the company. An honest “yes” answer to this question would be a great sign, as an endorsement from a former employee can go a long way in boosting your employer brand.

19. Would You Consider Rejoining the Organization?

This question is a good gauge of an employee’s overall impression of your organization, but it also provides practical information about the employee’s likelihood of returning. Returning employees, also known as boomerang employees, are typically a good hire because they have a shorter learning curve and are familiar with the culture of the organization.  

20. What Benefits or Programs Do You Think We’re Missing?

Monster’s 2024 Work Watch report found that 95 percent of workers are looking or planning to look for a new job, with job seekers pursuing benefits like flexible work hours, remote work options and salary increases. Listen to what departing employees say, and compare their responses to feedback given by current employees. If you notice popular benefits that aren’t being offered, rework your employee benefits package to address in-demand perks. 

21. Do You Have Any Other Suggestions for How We Can Improve?

All of the previous questions touched on common issues impacting an employee’s decision to leave. An employee might have valuable feedback that wasn’t addressed by the previous questions, so you’ll want to pose an open-ended question that covers any remaining concerns.

How to Conduct Exit Interviews

To ensure a smooth process, be sure your team follows these steps when organizing and completing exit interviews. 

Choose an Appropriate Interviewer 

Assign the exit interview to the correct personnel. While direct managers know their employees best, it can be problematic if an employee doesn’t have a great relationship with their manager. Make sure either a member of HR or a higher-up manager leads the exit interview, so an employee can share their thoughts and feelings with a more neutral party.  

Set an Ideal Interview Date   

Avoid scheduling an exit interview right after an employee has submitted their two-week notice and around their last day. A departing employee may have final tasks to complete or may not be in the right frame of mind then. Schedule the exit interview either a week after their announcement or at least a few days after the employee has left to give them time to work through the change and emotions of moving on from their role.  

Determine the Format 

Conduct an exit interview via an in-person meeting, a telephone or video call, or an online survey. In-person is typically the most effective format, according to Nadian Zak, founder of Zak Consulting Group. “There’s an opportunity for a dialogue, and you can ask clarifying questions about anything you find particularly concerning,” Zak told Built In.

Confirm Confidentiality 

Assure the departing employee that their feedback is confidential and that any identifying information will be removed before it’s shared with managers and leaders. If you don’t, employees might be hesitant to provide feedback that could hurt their relationship with their manager, who they might be relying on for a reference check.

Ask Open-Ended Questions 

Pose open-ended questions that allow the employee to steer the conversation toward topics that feel most important to them. “​​You want to avoid questions that are guiding in an exit interview because you really want to hear from the employee,” Fernanda Anzek, managing director of HR operations at Insperity, told Built In. “You don’t want to put any thoughts in their mind.”

Frequently Asked Questions