Should the exit interview be conducted by HR or the direct manager?

HR, a skip-level leader, or a neutral third party — not the direct manager. SHRM's guidance is explicit on this point. When the direct manager runs the exit conversation, employees withhold manager-related feedback almost entirely, because they are protecting the reference relationship. A neutral interviewer dramatically increases the candor of manager and culture feedback, which are two of the most common real exit drivers.

Why is an anonymous written exit survey necessary if we already do an exit interview?

Because exit interviews systematically under-report manager and culture reasons. Research by Giacalone & Knouse found that departing employees soften face-to-face answers to preserve relationships and references. Written, anonymous, and delayed surveys surface those reasons more reliably. If you only run the interview, your exit data will overstate compensation as a driver and understate management and culture — pointing you toward the wrong interventions. Run both and compare the themes.

What is the single most important question to ask in an exit interview?

'Is there anything we could have done differently that may have affected your decision to leave?' This question is the highest-yield item in any exit process. The counterfactual framing bypasses blame and gives the departing employee permission to be specific and constructive. Gallup finds that 52% of voluntarily exiting employees say their organization could have done something to prevent their leaving — this question is how you find out what that something was.

How much does turnover actually cost, and why does it matter for exit data?

SHRM estimates that replacing a salaried employee costs six to nine months of salary — for a $60,000 role, that is $30,000–$45,000. Gallup's estimate ranges from 50% to 200% of annual salary depending on role seniority and criticality. At any reasonable volume of departures, that makes exit interviews a very high-ROI investment: a 30-minute conversation that surfaces a fixable pattern — a manager relationship, a career path gap, a compensation anomaly — can prevent the next $30,000+ replacement cost.

How do we use exit data to improve retention for employees who are still here?

Aggregate exit themes quarterly and look for patterns: which teams are producing the most exits, which exit reasons are clustering by manager or tenure band, and which reasons are coded as preventable. Use that as a targeting list for stay interviews (direct manager conversations with at-risk retained employees), pulse surveys in affected departments, and manager coaching or development plans. Exit data is retrospective; the value comes from using it proactively on the live population before more people leave.

Employee Surveys

What Questions Should You Ask in an Exit Interview?

Exit interview questions should cover six core themes: what prompted the departure, compensation and market fit, manager effectiveness, culture and relationships, growth opportunities, and whether anything could have changed the outcome. Keep the structured conversation to 10–15 questions (30–45 minutes); SHRM estimates replacing a salaried employee costs six to nine months of salary, so each completed exit interview is worth the time. Pair the interview with an anonymous written exit survey, because research (Giacalone & Knouse) shows that interviews alone under-report manager and culture reasons — employees soften their answers in person.

35 QuestionsExit Interview + Anonymous SurveyEvery departureMixed (Open-Ended, 1–5 Rating, Yes/No)

The Question Bank

Copy-Ready Questions, Grouped by Theme

Every group uses the scale that fits it. Copy one question, a whole theme, or the full set straight into your survey tool.

Filter by theme30 questions

Reason for Leaving

Open textFree text — record verbatim; code themes after

Establish the sequence of events that led to departure. Start open to get the employee's own framing, then prompt for the single primary driver. Avoid interrupting — the first two minutes of this group often surface the real story.

1.
What prompted you to start looking for another role?
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
The opening question. An open, non-leading phrasing lets departing employees frame the trigger event in their own words before you introduce any categories.
2.
What is the primary reason you decided to leave?
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
After hearing the narrative, ask for the single most important factor. Interviewers often skip this and code the opening answer — that produces noisy data.
3.
Was there a specific moment or event that made you decide to act on your thoughts of leaving?
Captures the 'last straw' event, which is highly actionable for managers and policies. Distinct from the underlying push factor.
4.
Which of the following best describes the main driver of your departure?
Multiple choiceQSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
A prompted category list gives you comparable data across cohorts for trend analysis. Offer: compensation / career growth / management relationship / workload / culture / personal/life circumstances / better offer elsewhere / other.
5.
Had you been considering leaving for a long time, or was the decision more recent?
Distinguishes slow-burn disengagement (systemic, fixable) from reactive departures (often event-driven or competitor-poached). Informs when to intervene earlier.

Compensation & Benefits

5-pt Likert1 = Well below market → 5 = Well above market

Assess whether pay and benefits met market expectations. This group surfaces whether you are losing people to better-compensating competitors or whether the compensation issue is a proxy for something else (recognition, growth, fairness).

1.
How would you rate your pay and total compensation relative to the market for your role?
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
Market-comparison framing (not internal satisfaction) reveals whether you have a structural pay problem. Employees who leave for compensation reasons but rate pay as fair are usually signaling something else.
2.
How satisfied were you with the benefits package (health, retirement, PTO, flexible work)?
Separates benefits dissatisfaction from base pay dissatisfaction; the two often require different remedies.
3.
Did our compensation and benefits influence your decision to accept or stay for as long as you did?
Yes / No
Direct test of whether pay was a retention lever. Follow up with an open probe regardless of the yes/no answer.
4.
What, if anything, could we have done differently on compensation or benefits that might have kept you?
Open text
Generates specific, actionable feedback that aggregate ratings alone cannot provide.

Manager & Support

5-pt Likert1 = Strongly disagree → 5 = Strongly agree

Manager relationship is the most under-reported reason in face-to-face exit interviews (Giacalone & Knouse). This group uses a 1–5 rating to create comparable data, then opens space for narrative. Run this section carefully if the interviewer is HR — employees are more candid here when the direct manager is not present.

1.
My manager supported my success in this role.
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
The core manager-effectiveness question for exit coding. Cross-tabbing this by team over time reveals which managers produce exits.
2.
My manager gave me useful, regular feedback on my performance.
Feedback quality is consistently among the top drivers of flight risk. Low scores here predict engagement problems in the remaining team.
3.
I had the tools, technology, and resources needed to do my job well.
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
Resource adequacy is a proxy for operational respect. Persistent deficits signal process or budget problems beyond any one manager.
4.
I had access to the development opportunities (training, stretch projects, mentoring) I needed to grow.
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
Pairs with the Growth group — flags cases where development resources existed but were not accessible through the manager.
5.
What could your manager have done differently to make your experience better?
Open text
The open follow-up to the rating block. Most actionable when shared with the manager's own manager — not the direct manager — as development feedback.

Culture & Relationships

5-pt Likert1 = Strongly disagree → 5 = Strongly agree

Culture reasons are the second most systematically under-reported category in in-person exit interviews. Rate culture and coworker experience here; open-ended probes reveal whether the issue is team dynamics, leadership behavior, or organization-level values drift.

1.
I felt the culture here aligned with my personal values.
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
Values misalignment is the leading culture-exit driver; it often goes unstated in the face-to-face interview because it can feel like a personal criticism.
2.
My relationships with coworkers were positive and productive.
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
Separates interpersonal friction (team-level, often manageable) from broader culture issues (organization-level, structural).
3.
I felt respected and included by my team and leadership.
Inclusion and respect questions surface DEI and psychological safety issues that standard engagement surveys can undercount.
4.
How would you describe the overall culture to someone considering joining?
Open text
Third-party framing ('what would you tell someone') reduces social desirability bias — departing employees are more candid describing it for a hypothetical candidate than criticizing it directly.
5.
Was there anything about the culture or team dynamics that contributed to your decision to leave?
Open text
Direct culture probe. Pair this with the anonymous written exit survey result — the gap between what people say here versus in the anonymous survey shows you how much in-person under-reporting is occurring.

Growth & Advancement

5-pt Likert1 = Strongly disagree → 5 = Strongly agree

Career development has been the top stated reason for voluntary departure for more than ten consecutive years (Work Institute Retention Report). This group assesses whether the problem was structural (no path existed) or experiential (a path existed but was not visible or accessible).

1.
I had clear opportunities for career growth and advancement at this organization.
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
The structural question: did paths exist? A 'no' here points to job architecture and succession planning problems.
2.
I understood what I needed to do to advance my career here.
The visibility question: were the paths communicated? 'No' here is a communication and manager-coaching failure, not necessarily a structural one.
3.
My work aligned with my long-term career goals.
Alignment mismatch often comes from hiring or role-fit problems rather than organizational career management — important to distinguish in exit coding.
4.
Does the new role offer something that we could not provide?
Open text
Understanding what the competitor offered tells you what departing employees valued most — a direct input to retention program design.

The Diagnostic Question

Open textFree text — record verbatim; do not paraphrase

This single open-ended question is the highest-yield item in any exit interview. It gives the departing employee permission to be candid without blame, and consistently surfaces systemic issues that the structured question groups miss. Give it dedicated time — at least five minutes. Record the response verbatim.

1.
Is there anything we could have done differently that may have affected your decision to leave?
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
This is the single most important exit question. The counterfactual framing ('could have done differently') bypasses defensiveness and invites constructive specificity. Gallup finds 52% of voluntarily exiting employees say their manager or organization could have done something to prevent their leaving — this question is how you find out what that something was.
2.
Is there anything you wished you had said to leadership while you were still here?
Surfaces feedback that employees held back during employment — often the most candid signal in the entire exit process. Pair with the anonymous exit survey to calibrate under-reporting.

Rehire & Advocacy

Yes / NoYes / No / Maybe — with open-ended follow-up

Forward-looking questions that turn exit data into employer brand intelligence. Rehire intent and likelihood to recommend are leading indicators of how the departing employee will represent you in the talent market. Track these as trend metrics alongside your eNPS.

1.
Would you consider returning to this organization in the future?
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
'Boomerang' employees are proven hires — they ramp faster and have higher retention. Tracking rehire intent also signals whether your offboarding leaves relationships intact.
2.
Would you recommend this organization as a place to work to a friend or colleague?
QSET-009, SHRM exit guidance
The employer-brand question. Low scores from departing employees signal Glassdoor and LinkedIn risk; high scores from departing employees are a strong signal that culture and experience were genuinely good.
3.
On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this organization as a place to work?
0–10 scale
A departing-employee NPS gives you a comparable metric across cohorts and time. Average it against your active-employee eNPS to understand how your employer brand holds up through the offboarding experience.
4.
What is the single best thing about working here that you will carry with you?
Open text
Ends the conversation on a constructive note while generating authentic employer-brand content — the departing employee's answer often reflects your true retention strengths.
5.
Is there anything else you would like to share that we have not covered?
Open text
A necessary closing catch-all. Many of the most actionable exit findings surface here when the employee feels the structured interview missed their real concern.

Decision Guide

When Should You Use This Survey?

Match the survey type and cadence to your situation.

🚪

An employee has just resigned and you want to understand their true reasons for leaving

Use

Schedule a structured exit interview with HR (not the direct manager) within the first weekSend an anonymous written exit survey simultaneouslyRecord and code the interview; add to your rolling exit-theme tracker

Avoid

Asking the direct manager to conduct the exit conversation

The direct manager relationship is the most common under-reported exit reason. A neutral interviewer and a separate anonymous survey give you both relationship preservation and honest data.

📊

You want to understand patterns across multiple exits over the past six months

Use

Pull coded exit reasons from the past 6–12 monthsSegment by team, manager, tenure band, and job levelIdentify the top-2 exit drivers and whether they are concentrated in specific managers or departments

Avoid

Reading individual exit interviews without aggregating themes

Individual interviews are anecdote; pattern analysis is evidence. A cluster of manager-coded exits from one team is actionable; a single exit citing management is noise.

🔒

You suspect your exit data is under-reporting manager or culture issues

Use

Compare in-person interview themes against anonymous exit survey themes for the same cohortCheck whether manager-related codes are significantly lower in the interview vs the surveyConsider switching to a third-party exit survey provider to increase perceived anonymity

Avoid

Treating interview data as complete — it almost never is

Giacalone & Knouse demonstrated that written, delayed, anonymous exit surveys consistently surface manager and culture reasons that in-person interviews miss. The gap between the two formats is itself a diagnostic metric.

🤝

You want to turn exit insight into a retention intervention for the remaining team

Use

Run stay interviews with tenured employees in the same team within 30 daysShare aggregated (not individual) exit themes with the relevant managerLaunch a targeted pulse survey in the affected department to quantify remaining flight risk

Avoid

Sharing identifiable exit-interview content with the direct manager

Exit data is most useful as a leading indicator for the live population. Link it to stay interviews and pulse surveys to move from retrospective to proactive retention.

📅

Turnover is rising and leadership wants to understand the business cost

Use

Calculate fully-loaded replacement cost using SHRM's 6–9 months of salary estimateMultiply by the number of exits in the past 12 months to build the business caseCombine with exit theme data to show which preventable reasons drove the most cost

Avoid

Using only the direct recruiting cost per hire ($5,475 average) — it excludes onboarding, lost productivity, and team disruption

The SHRM and Gallup replacement-cost figures (6–9 months salary; 50–200% of annual salary) include indirect costs that make the business case for exit data programs compelling to senior leadership.

Benchmarks

What "Good" Looks Like

Scores only mean something against a benchmark. Here are the numbers worth measuring against.

6–9 months of salary ($30,000–$45,000 for a $60,000 role)

Estimated cost to replace a salaried employee

SHRM (Human Capital Benchmarking Report)

50%–200% of annual salary depending on role

Full replacement cost range (entry-level to senior roles)

Gallup, 'This Fixable Problem Costs U.S. Businesses $1 Trillion'

52%

Voluntarily exiting employees who say their manager or organization could have done something to prevent their leaving

Gallup, 'This Fixable Problem Costs U.S. Businesses $1 Trillion'

51%

Exiting employees who say no one — manager or leader — spoke with them about job satisfaction in the three months before they left

Gallup, 'This Fixable Problem Costs U.S. Businesses $1 Trillion'

30%–50%

Typical exit survey response rate (lower than onboarding surveys, which often exceed 80%)

Workforce Science Associates, 'Employee Survey Response Rates' (2022, updated 2026)(vendor-reported)

$5,475 non-executive / $35,879 executive

Average cost per hire (hard recruiting costs only)

SHRM 2025 Talent Acquisition Benchmarking Report

Do It Right

Survey Design Best Practices

The methodology that separates a survey people answer honestly from one they ignore.

Keep the exit interview to 10–15 questions in 30–45 minutes

An exit interview is a structured conversation, not a census survey. More than 15 questions and you risk rushing the open-ended sections — which are where the most actionable data lives. Pace the conversation so each group gets proportional time; the Diagnostic Question group should never be rushed.

METH-001 (ContactMonkey / Simpplr / Vantage Circle)

Pair the in-person interview with an anonymous written exit survey

Exit interviews systematically under-report manager and culture reasons — departing employees soften their answers face-to-face to protect relationships and references. Research by Giacalone & Knouse shows that written, anonymous, and delayed surveys surface these reasons more reliably. Run both: the interview for relationship and nuance, the anonymous survey for honest pattern detection. Compare what people say in each format to calibrate your under-reporting rate.

METH-011 (Formbricks citing Giacalone & Knouse; SHRM)

Have HR or a neutral party conduct the interview — not the direct manager

SHRM advises that exit interviews be conducted by someone other than the departing employee's direct manager. When the direct manager runs the exit, employees withhold manager-related feedback almost entirely — which eliminates most of the signal you need. A neutral HR professional, a skip-level manager, or an external provider are all better choices. Announce this policy before the interview so the employee knows they can speak freely.

QSET-009 notes, SHRM exit guidance

Code exit themes and track them over time — the value is in the pattern

A single exit interview is anecdote. Coded at scale over rolling 90-day windows, exit data becomes a leading indicator of systemic problems. Assign each exit a primary and secondary reason code (compensation / manager / growth / culture / life circumstance / competitor offer / other) and track frequency by team, tenure band, and manager. A cluster of manager-coded exits from one team is an early warning that engagement and stay-interview programs need to focus there.

QSET-009 notes, SHRM exit guidance

Send the anonymous survey before the final day, not after

Exit survey response rates drop sharply after the last day of employment (30–50% overall; significantly lower when sent post-departure). Send the anonymous written survey during the notice period — ideally in the first week after resignation — so the employee is still reachable and motivated to provide feedback. Give them at least five business days to complete it, and assure them that responses are aggregated before reaching the management team.

BENCH-003 (Workforce Science Associates, VENDOR-REPORTED)

Close the loop — share aggregated exit themes with leadership quarterly

Exit data that goes into a spreadsheet and never informs action teaches employees that feedback is performative. Aggregate exit reasons into a quarterly theme report shared with leadership: top-3 exit drivers, which teams and tenure bands are producing the most exits, and what has changed since the prior quarter. Pair each theme with a concrete action (a stay-interview sprint on the at-risk team, a compensation review, a manager coaching plan).

METH-008 (Perceptyx / Gallup / Culture Amp)

Avoid These

Survey Mistakes That Wreck Your Data

Having the direct manager run the exit interview

This is the single highest-impact error in exit program design. SHRM's guidance explicitly states that exit interviews should be conducted by someone other than the direct manager. When the manager is present, employees withhold manager-related feedback almost entirely — and since manager relationship is one of the most common real exit drivers, the interview produces systematically biased data.

Instead: Have HR, a skip-level leader, or an external provider conduct the interview. Announce this policy in the exit meeting invitation so employees understand they can speak freely.

Relying on the interview alone and skipping the anonymous written survey

Research by Giacalone & Knouse shows that in-person exit interviews under-report manager and culture reasons because departing employees soften their answers to protect relationships and references. If you only conduct the interview, your exit data will systematically overstate compensation and understate culture and management as drivers — which leads to the wrong interventions.

Instead: Pair every exit interview with an anonymous written exit survey sent during the notice period. Compare themes across both formats; the gap is itself a signal.

Waiting until the last day (or after) to send the exit survey

Exit survey response rates are already challenging (30–50% typical). Sending the survey on the last day or after departure pushes rates to the low end. The employee has mentally and practically disengaged, their work email may already be disabled, and they have no incentive to complete it.

Instead: Send the anonymous exit survey during the notice period — ideally within the first five business days of receiving the resignation — with a clear completion deadline before the last day.

Collecting exit data and never using it

Gallup found that 51% of exiting employees say no one spoke with them about their job satisfaction in the three months before they left. Collecting exit data and burying it in a spreadsheet is the organizational equivalent of that silence — it protects no one and fixes nothing. Employees talk; if your exit process is known to produce no change, remaining employees treat it as theater.

Instead: Aggregate exit themes quarterly. Share the top-3 drivers with leadership alongside specific actions. Assign an owner for each preventable driver. Report back to the business within 30 days.

Asking double-barreled or leading questions

Questions like 'Did you feel supported and recognized?' conflate two distinct constructs — support and recognition can diverge significantly. Leading questions like 'We hope your experience was mostly positive — were there any issues?' prime the employee toward a softened answer. Both errors contaminate the data you most need.

Instead: Ask one idea per question. Use neutral phrasing: 'How would you rate…' rather than 'Would you agree that…'. Test your question set on a colleague before rollout.

Treating every exit as an individual event rather than looking for patterns

A single exit citing management is anecdote. Five exits from the same manager's team in 90 days is a signal that demands action. Organizations that analyze exit interviews only in isolation miss the pattern-level evidence that makes exit data worth collecting.

Instead: Code every exit by primary and secondary reason, team, manager, tenure, and job level. Review on a rolling 90-day basis. When two or more exits share the same manager or reason code, escalate immediately to a stay-interview or management-review process.

Sources & Licensing

Where These Questions Come From

Validated instruments have owners. Here's what's adapted from what — and how to use each one without stepping on a license.

SHRM Exit Interview Guidance

The exit question framework is anchored to SHRM-published exit-interview guidance and templates. SHRM templates are SHRM intellectual property — questions here are paraphrased and cited, not reproduced verbatim. Original-worded items are free to publish.

Source: SHRM Exit Interview Questions

Giacalone & Knouse — exit interview bias finding

The finding that exit interviews under-report manager and culture reasons, and that anonymous written surveys surface those reasons more reliably, is attributed to Robert A. Giacalone and Stephen B. Knouse's research on exit interview validity. Cited as the methodological basis for pairing an anonymous written survey with the in-person exit interview.

Source: Giacalone, R.A. & Knouse, S.B. (1989). Farewell to fruitless exit interviews. Personnel, 66(9), 60–62; cited via Formbricks exit survey research.

Ready to Send

Launch & Follow-Up Templates

The invite, the reminder, and the results share-back — the messages that drive response rates.

Exit Survey Invite — Anonymous Written Survey (Email)

Subject: A quick (and confidential) survey about your experience at [Company] Hi [Name], Thank you for the time and work you've contributed at [Company]. Before your last day on [Date], we'd value your honest feedback — it directly informs how we improve for the people who stay. This survey is anonymous. Your individual responses are collected by [Platform/HR team] and reported only in aggregate — your name is never attached to your answers. It takes about 10 minutes to complete. [Link to anonymous exit survey] Please complete it by [Date — 2 business days before last day]. If you have any questions about confidentiality, reply to this email or contact [HR Contact, email]. Thank you, [HR Lead Name] [Company] People Team

Send within the first 5 business days of receiving a resignation. Emphasize anonymity and aggregate reporting upfront — this is the #1 factor in honest completion. If your platform is not truly anonymous (identifiers are stored), be transparent: say 'confidential' instead of 'anonymous' and explain the safeguards.

Exit Interview Scheduling Email

Subject: Your exit interview — [Date/Time] Hi [Name], I'd like to schedule a 30–45 minute conversation before your last day to hear about your experience at [Company]. This interview is conducted by HR — not your direct manager — so you can speak freely. Everything you share is treated confidentially. I'll take notes and include your feedback (anonymized) in our quarterly review of exit themes, which goes to leadership as aggregated data only. I've held [Date, Time, Location/Video Link] — does that work for you? If not, reply with a time that does. Thank you for everything you've contributed, and I look forward to talking. [HR Lead Name] [Title] | [Company]

State explicitly that HR (not the direct manager) is conducting the interview, and that data is anonymized before reaching leadership. These two assurances are the primary drivers of candid responses. Schedule early in the notice period to allow time for a follow-up if needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Plan for 30–45 minutes and prepare 10–15 questions. That length gives you enough time to cover the core themes — reasons for leaving, manager and culture experience, the diagnostic question — without rushing the open-ended sections where the most actionable data lives. An interview under 20 minutes rarely surfaces anything beyond the headline reason; over 60 minutes and you risk losing the employee's willingness to stay engaged.

Keep Exploring

Related Survey Guides

Employee Surveys

Are Employee Surveys Really Anonymous?

Most 'anonymous' employee surveys are actually confidential, not truly anonymous. Learn the difference, the Rule of 5, and how to build real trust in your survey program.

Read guide

Employee Surveys

What Questions Should Be on an Employee Engagement Survey?

34 employee engagement survey questions grouped by validated driver — Q12-based, UWES-anchored, with the right scale and benchmarks. Copy-ready for your annual census.

Read guide

Employee Surveys

What Questions Should Be on an Employee Morale Survey?

Get 26 validated morale and intent-to-stay questions, flight-risk benchmarks, and copy-ready templates — catch turnover risk before it becomes an exit interview.

Read guide

Browse All Survey Guides

A Survey Only Helps If You Act On It

The fastest way to tank your next response rate is to collect feedback and do nothing. Actify turns survey findings into action — recognition, engagement activities, and wellbeing benefits employees actually choose.

Book a 20-min Demo See How It Works

No credit card required. 15-minute setup.