Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/182340
Data Analysis Growth Opportunity Leverage feedback from exiting employees to find problems—and solve them. By Kerrie Main While business leaders understand the importance of collecting employee feedback, many are not getting the return on investment for their efforts. In fact, many organizations make several common mistakes when it comes to properly collecting and executing on employee data. Do you fall into this category? 1. Managers are the ones conducting exit interviews. This is a huge mistake because if the manager is the problem, most employees will not admit to it to their face. Exit interviews that are conducted in an online portal may produce more honest responses. 2. Not asking the right questions. Reconsider your exit interview questions. Never ask two questions in one statement. Put yourself in the departing employee's perspective and consider how you would feel answering the questions. Do not use exit interview questions that ask for feelings or emotions. 3. Not having a methodology for viewing the data. Set up the right demographics for your organization. This would include length of service, department/ [76] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2013 division, gender, and race. Be sure you are able to sort and parse the data as a whole to identify employee turnover drivers in the particular groups, as well as to earn a view of what's happening in the organization as a whole. 4. Jumping to conclusions or making assumptions. This is where "anecdotal" takes over. If you're only looking at employee feedback from the individual perspective—an employee's particular complaints and problems—it's too risky to base business strategies and planning around it. The story may or may not be accurate, and management risks going in the wrong direction or conversely dismissing the problem without solving it. 5. Searching for problems only. Exit interviews and other employee feedback can be used to identify the bright spots in the organization as well. This information can be used to replicate successes in other areas of the organization, as well as identify high performers for management positions or mentorships.