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Mine the Exit Interviews

Exit interviews provide an excellent opportunity for identifying and dealing with difficult employees. In general, many companies consider information from exit interviews important. Seventy-six percent of the executives surveyed in a recent poll by the staffing company OfficeTeam said they acted on information gathered during exist interviews.

Departing employees, particularly those who have lined up a job elsewhere, will most likely be honest about their difficult coworkers and how you handled them. Try to find out what you could have done to make their working life more pleasant. The person may be hostile if she feels she was driven away by a tyrant or a bully, but pick through the discussion for useful information. And use the information as a starting point for discussions with the problem manager or coworker.

After a particularly revealing exit interview, conduct what experts call the “stay interview,” with employees you want to hang onto. Try to determine if they share any of a departing colleague’s concerns about troubling coworkers and supervisors. If so, find out what they need from you and assure them you intend to handle their concerns as quickly as possible.