The best exit interview questions to ask outgoing employees
Your employees may be guarded about giving honest feedback, especially during the working day. But when they resign they have nothing to lose. Exit interviews tap into this openness, giving a true picture of your company culture.
When an employee hands in their notice, you could just wish them well and move on—fair enough, you have many pressing matters to attend to when running a business.
However, that person left for a reason.
You have an opportunity to learn why they left and make adjustments that strengthen your workplace culture.
The exit interview is the ideal tool for uncovering those insights. It works best when employees resign voluntarily—not in the heat of a dismissal.
That’s because the goal of an exit interview is a mutually beneficial exchange of information, rather than assigning blame.
Here we explain why you should make time for these interviews, how to plan them, and how best to conduct them.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
What is an exit interview, and why should HR teams conduct them?
An exit interview is a semi-formal meeting with an employee who has decided to leave your company.
It features questions designed to give you feedback on their experience of working at your company.
You can use that information to fine tune the way the organisation treats its employees.
People are often more open once they’ve resigned, so the exit interview can potentially give you workforce management insights you won’t hear from current employees.
For example, outgoing employees may highlight management flaws, workload issues, or poor communication.
You’ll also spot important patterns if several people leave for similar reasons.
If an employee’s departure is part of a broader trend, this information can help you improve morale and reduce turnover. It also means you can deal with problems relatively early as your corporate culture evolves.
Exit interviews show you’re willing to listen and learn—even when someone is on their way out.
This is good for your reputation, marking you as an employer with a well thought out people strategy.
Exit interview best practices
While having a good set of questions is fundamental, preparation for the exit interview process goes beyond that.
It’s considered a good practice for offboarding, and a thoughtful approach helps build trust while ensuring the conversation is productive for both sides.
Here’s how to prepare:
- Pre-interview exit surveys: a short survey sent beforehand allows the employee to reflect and provide initial thoughts. These help you refine the eventual interview questions, informing the in-person discussion.
- Review the employee’s history: look over their role, responsibilities, performance reviews, and any past feedback. This gives you useful context. Look for positives they brought to the company—any opportunity to thank them helps keep the conversation constructive.
- Set clear goals for the conversation: think carefully about what you aim to learn from the exercise. It could be insight into team dynamics, improving leadership, or refining working conditions.
- Choose the right person to lead the interview: ideally, it shouldn’t be their direct manager. Select someone neutral who can listen without bias. This is typically someone from the HR team.
- Create a private, relaxed setting: find a quiet space where the employee feels safe and comfortable speaking freely. Avoid public or open-plan areas, and steer clear of exterior locations where distractions or interruptions are likely.
- Let them know what to expect: explain that the interview is voluntary and confidential, and that their feedback won’t affect future references.
- Stay flexible with your questions: use a structured guide but allow the conversation to flow. Be ready to follow up or explore new points as they arise. Take notes throughout, and offer to share a summary of the discussion with the employee.
12 insightful exit interview questions to ask
OK, let’s get to the most important part. What exactly should you ask at the interview?
Here are our top picks of questions that can help your corporate culture evolve.
This list is not set in stone, and asking all of them could be an abuse of the employee’s time.
Select whichever questions are most relevant to your goal.
1. What originally attracted you to this role?
This question tells you what your recruitment strategy is getting right.
It helps you understand which messages, benefits, or aspects of your job offers are most appealing to candidates.
2. Did the job match your expectations?
This highlights any gaps between what was promised and what was delivered.
You’ll learn whether the role was oversold or misunderstood. Use this feedback to improve job ads, onboarding, or internal communication.
3. What did you enjoy most about your work?
You’ll learn what motivates staff and which aspects of the role bring satisfaction.
This insight helps you keep current employees engaged and inspired.
4. What influenced your decision to leave?
This question goes to the heart of the matter.
It helps you uncover deeper issues that might need attention, such as pay, workload, team conflict, or leadership problems.
5. Was there a specific moment that prompted it?
A single event might have tipped the balance. Spotting these triggers—or the build-up to them—can help you step in sooner and prevent avoidable resignations.
6. How would you describe the company culture?
Cultural fit is one of the main reasons people stay or leave.
This question reveals how your workplace feels from the inside and whether it lives up to your stated values.
7. Did you feel supported by your manager?
Employees often rely on their manager for support, guidance, and feedback.
If weak support is a recurring theme, it may be time to review management training or workload.
8. Were your contributions recognised and valued?
A job done well is a morale booster in itself, but formal recognition greatly magnifies the effect.
If staff don’t feel seen, they disengage.
This question tells you whether your recognition efforts are resonating or missing the mark.
9. Did you have opportunities to learn and grow?
Career development is a top factor in employee satisfaction.
This question helps you assess whether your training and progression efforts meet expectations.
10. Were your career goals discussed with your manager?
Managers are best placed to understand each employee’s strengths and ambitions.
This question tells you whether career conversations are happening beyond the managers’ attention to day-to-day tasks.
11. Would you recommend this company to others?
This gives you a quick read on employee satisfaction.
It’s a simple way to measure your employer brand, much like a Net Promoter Score for recruitment.
12. Is there anything we could have done differently?
Leave space for the employee to raise issues not already covered.
This open-ended question often leads to honest and unexpected feedback you can’t get elsewhere.
How to conduct an exit interview
Start with a warm, calm introduction explaining the purpose of the meeting.
This is the time to thank the person for their time and contributions.
Use a friendly tone. This is not a formal occasion, it’s voluntary.
However, be clear that the interview will be treated as confidential and won’t be released beyond HR and management.
Make it clear you’re there to listen, not judge. The focus will be on learning, not blaming—an approach that promotes honest feedback.
Some tips:
Use body language to show you’re engaged
- Nod to show you’re listening
- Maintain natural eye contact
- Sit in a relaxed, open position
- Open-hand gestures emphasise a non-threatening approach
Conversational flow
Let the employee speak freely and avoid interrupting.
Don’t push for answers or guilt them into revealing more than they’re comfortable sharing.
Give them time to think, even if it means silent pauses.
Handling criticism
Don’t get defensive if the feedback is overly critical or tough to hear.
Instead, ask follow-up questions to explore the root of their concerns.
Stay curious, not combative.
The employee exit interview as an opportunity for growth
Every person who leaves your business can teach you something.
Beyond being a basic courtesy, exit interviews can shape your company’s ongoing development.
The small issues you uncover can have a big impact when addressed because the effect is multiplied across the whole workforce and over time.
In other words, the employee exit process strengthens your organisation’s long-term resilience.
Trends become visible, blind spots get exposed, and you’ll have data to support positive change.
However, isolating those trends manually and analysing the data isn’t always easy.
HR software can be a powerful ally, helping you standardise interviews, store feedback securely, and spot patterns across teams and departments.
Exit interview FAQs
1. Are exit interviews mandatory?
There’s no legal obligation to conduct exit interviews, and you can’t force employees to attend them.
If someone declines, respect their decision. However, people are more likely to take part if they see that it’s a fair process, handled with professionalism and care.
From your perspective, exit interviews are a good business practice that’s relatively low-cost and quick to run.
The benefits often outweigh the work involved.
From the employee’s perspective, it’s a chance to speak openly, reflect on their experience, and make the organisation better for their former colleagues.
2. What can you say in an exit interview?
The goal is to foster an open, non-judgmental environment that focuses on understanding the employee’s perspective.
You can promote positive dialogue with affirming phrases like:
- “I appreciate you sharing your perspective on that.”
- “That’s important feedback. We’ll look into it.”
- “What barriers did you experience that made you feel uncertain about sharing this feedback previously?”
- “That’s a significant point. Let’s make sure I understand your perspective correctly.”
3. What should you not say in HR exit interview?
Avoid antagonistic responses that could make the interviewee feel uncomfortable or trigger negative emotions.
Even if you disagree with their point of view, avoid saying things like:
- “That’s just your opinion.”
- “No one else has had that issue.”
- “You should have spoken up sooner.”
- “That’s not how it really happened.”
Comments like these shut down dialogue and damage trust.
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