No one ever likes saying goodbye.

Many HR professionals and employers gloss over the exit interview, but they’re actually a golden opportunity.

While an employee leaving your company may be a hard thing to process, it’s one that should be leveraged properly. When someone leaves, it creates an opportunity for you to gain insightful feedback into the overall employee experience, allowing you to improve in areas that might require a little TLC. Read on to discover how to simplify your offboarding process with our employee exit interview template.

What is an exit interview?

Simply put, an exit interview is a meeting conducted when an employee is leaving the company and the purpose is to gather feedback from the departing employee about their experience. This process has benefits for both the departing employee and the employer and it allows you to gain insight into your company culture that you might not get from existing employees.

Why are exit interviews important?

During an exit interview, you’re likely to get the most honest, and the most helpful, feedback. They are also a final signal that you value the person and their thoughts. It’s a nice boost for the individual during offboarding that could farewell them with an open mind to returning in the future.

From this feedback, you can work to implement new strategies and focus on key parts of the employee experience to help reduce turnover and keep happiness and engagement high.

But what exactly should you ask in an exit interview, so that everyone can get the most out of it?

We’ve rounded up the best questions, plus some helpful tips and tricks, in this free Exit Interview template.

Best practises for conducting exit interviews

What exactly makes a successful exit interview?

In order to make exit interviews effective, we have the following tips:

• Create a comfortable environment: This will ensure that an employee feels at ease sharing their thoughts and feelings about your company. Be sure to pick a private setting for the interview as this will reassure the employee of confidentiality.
• Prepare your questions in advance: Ask open ended questions that encourage a detailed response.
• Take notes: Document all of the feedback you receive so you can review it regularly.
• Share insights: Share the insights with those in a leadership position and implement changes in the workplace where necessary.

Rather than viewing exit interviews as just another HR task, recognise the full potential of an exit interview and use it to drive meaningful change.

What’s in the employee exit interview template?

This exit interview template can be used to help you manage an employee’s departure from your business. Here, you’ll find a range of different questions to ask that can help you gain a greater understanding of their reason for leaving.

This template will also help you gain insight into how you can improve the employee experience going forward.

How Employment Hero can help

Employment Hero is the world’s first employment OS that can streamline your HR processes including offboarding and exit interviews. With Employment Hero you can automate offboarding tasks and customise our employee exit interview template to yield valuable insights into employee satisfaction and retention.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is relevant as at 26 January 2025, and has been prepared by Employment Hero Pty Ltd ABN (11 160 047 709) (Employment Hero). The views expressed herein are general information only and are provided in good faith to assist employers and their employees. The Information is based on data supplied by third parties. While such data is believed to be accurate, it has not been independently verified and no warranties are given that it is complete, accurate, up-to-date or fit for the purpose for which it is required. Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data and is not liable for any loss or damages arising either directly or indirectly as a result of reliance on, use of or inability to use any information provided in this article.

Download the template now.