Do you conduct exit interviews with everyone who resigns? With those whose employment the firm is ending? And if you do, is the process treated as an administrative step, with the answers filed and never read?
Exit interviews are a rare chance to learn something useful about business practices, retention and recruitment. A few ways to get value from them.
Schedule Exit Interview with All Departing Legal Staff
The most common mistake is being selective about who gets one. A selective process will not show the firm which practices and procedures need to change. Schedule an exit interview with everyone who departs, whether by resignation or by layoff.
Create a Process in Administering Exit Interviews
The value depends on consistency. That means:
- A documented procedure to be used by your human resource department or managers.
- A set list of questions. The same questions each time, and open-ended, produce the best results.
- A review process following each exit interview.
Design the procedure around the needs and resources of the firm.
Capture the Right Information
A consistent process adds nothing if it does not capture information the firm can use. The areas that matter most include:
- Compensation
- Training and development
- Workplace culture
A departing member of staff is often more candid, having less to lose by it. That makes the exit interview a useful source of information for planning, organization and staffing.
Review the Information
Afterward, assess what you heard and note both what the firm is doing right and where it needs to change. The point is to improve retention rather than to record its failures.
Eighteen ways a lateral hire goes wrong
Consistency, a plan and a review process are what make the exercise worth the time. Whether you are introducing a policy or repairing one, done properly it adds real value.
At OnBoard Legal we help law firms and corporate legal departments hire the right people in the first place. Contact us.