How to conduct effective exit surveys to reduce turnover

People don’t just quit their jobs for no reason. While some departures are expected, others catch you totally off guard. But regardless of your employees’ rationale, every exit is an opportunity for insights.

Exit surveys reveal the real reasons behind an employee’s exit, from company culture cracks to better-paid opportunities elsewhere. With the right survey questions, you’ll receive plenty of useful information that you can use to reduce employee turnover.

In this guide, we break down how to conduct an effective exit survey. Read on to find out what to ask and why. 

What’s an exit survey?

An exit survey is a structured questionnaire that employees fill out when they leave a company. It helps HR understand the reasons behind the exit and captures honest feedback about their experience.

These surveys often complement exit interviews, but employees complete them separately, on their own time. They typically include standardized questions about what influenced their decision to leave, from workload to team dynamics to the desire for a fresh start. It’s also a key moment to gather candid feedback that can help improve the employee experience for others.

What’s the purpose of an employee exit survey?

Not every employee departure points to a problem. But sometimes one exit is the first domino to fall, paving the way for an increase in turnover. Figuring out the reason behind a departure helps you spot whether there's any wider cause for concern. When several employees point to the same reasoning in their exit surveys, you can start connecting the dots. 

Feedback delivered through exit surveys provides HR teams and managers with vital information, so they can act before the next person decides to leave. Exit surveys also boost trust: When people see the organization making changes based on former employees’ feedback, they’ll know their leaders aren’t asleep at the wheel. 

Exit survey best practices: Which questions to ask 

If you ask the right questions, every employee survey tells a valuable story. To gather real insights that help reduce turnover and strengthen your workplace, focus on these core areas. 

Why they’re leaving 

The first question should be the most obvious: why the employee is leaving. This could be for a wide variety of different reasons, so be prepared for answers you might not expect. Maybe they’re chasing better pay, more flexibility, or better development opportunities. Or perhaps they’re running from poor management and burnout. Finding out the “why” helps you make smarter retention moves. 

How they felt about the job

Use surveys to learn whether the employee’s role met their expectations. For example, did they have room to grow, or did they feel stuck? Ask questions about job satisfaction and employee engagement levels. If too many team members mention the same frustrations on exit, you know exactly where to focus your retention strategies. 

Their feelings about company culture and leadership 

Your company culture and leadership style can make or break the employee experience. Exit surveys are an invaluable opportunity to ask about trust, recognition, communication, and inclusion within your organization. Departing employees have less reason to pull punches than current ones, so you’ll likely get more honest responses.

What they’d change if they could 

Include some open-ended questions about the employee’s overall experience and whether they’d recommend your company. Ask what they would do differently if they were in charge. Encourage honest feedback and ask the tough stuff, even if you’re worried about the answers. And be sure to end every exit survey with space for suggestions. 

When and how to conduct an exit survey 

If you hope to encourage departing employees to provide effective feedback, the process needs to feel open and respectful. Tell them exactly why you’re asking for their input and how you’ll use it. It’s also important to emphasize that their responses won’t impact any future job opportunities. When people know their comments won’t come back to haunt them, they’re more likely to give you honest answers. 

Most companies pair exit surveys with ‌exit interviews to give HR the best possible context about departures. The survey catches patterns; the follow-up conversation explains them. The result? A full picture of why someone decided to leave. 

Here’s how to conduct an exit survey that works:

• Pick the right timing: Send an exit survey once the employee’s resignation is official, but before their last week. That sweet spot gives them time to think while giving you an opportunity to follow up if something stands out. 
• Use a digital platform: HR software or survey templates make it easy to collect and compare employee feedback. Workleap Officevibe’s templates allow you to create your own survey quickly and efficiently. 
• Protect your employees: When departing employees trust the process, they’ll skip the sugar-coating and tell you what really needs to change. To facilitate this, reassure them you won’t share their feedback directly with their manager without express permission. 
• Be upfront about the goal: Let people know that their feedback is valuable. Tell the leaver how their answers will help improve the employee experience and reduce future turnover. 

10 best exit survey questions to ask 

Here are 10 starter exit survey example questions that you can use as-is or tweak to make your own. 

1. What’s the main reason behind your decision to leave?

This question cuts through the noise and gets to the root of the employee’s reasons for leaving. 

2. When did you first start thinking about finding a new job? 

If employees are looking for a new role six months after starting, you could have a retention issue on your hands.

3. Did your work align with your skills, goals, and expectations? 

A mismatch between expectations and reality is trouble. This question uncovers whether job descriptions, training, or role clarity need work.

4. Did you feel supported by your manager or team lead?

Managers play a powerful role in shaping the employee experience. By asking about support levels, you’ll see whether your company’s performance management strategy is empowering or exhausting your people. 

5. Were you satisfied with your growth and development opportunities?

Growth opportunities drive employee loyalty. If exiting employees consistently reply that they didn’t have the chance for development, it highlights that changes need to be made.

6. How would you describe communication within your team? 

Weak communication can indicate broken processes and leadership gaps. Ask departing employees to be candid about their experience with team comms.

7. Did you feel recognized for the work you did? 

Recognition boosts employee retention. According to Gallup, well-recognized employees are 45% less likely to have turned over two years later.

8. How fair and competitive did your pay and benefits feel? 

This question reveals how your team member really felt about their compensation. It’ll highlight whether you need to have a serious discussion about your offering.

9. How well does our company culture reflect our values?

Your company culture could sound great on paper but feel different in practice. This question exposes whether your workplace actually delivers on its promises. 

10. Which parts of your work environment motivated you the most and the least?

Every role has highs and lows, and finding out what they are can offer insight into the employee experience. Ask this question to discover what fuels and what drains engagement. 

How to turn exit survey insights into action 

Collecting exit survey data is important, but acting on it is even more so. Once you’ve gathered all that valuable employee feedback, it’s time to turn those insights into real change. 

Here’s how to make the takeaways stick: 

• Identify patterns: Look for recurring reasons for leaving, like low pay or subpar leadership. If the same issues keep popping up, that’s your starting line.
• Loop in decision-makers: After identifying what’s causing employee departures, share relevant insights with leadership and those with the power to enact organizational change.
• Make a plan: Accountability keeps great ideas from dying in spreadsheets. Build an action plan with clear owners, timelines, and measurable goals. 
• Measure, tweak, and repeat: Track any adjustments made over time to see if your employee retention improves. But don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy as new feedback rolls in. 

Use Workleap Officevibe to act on employee insights 

Exit surveys explain why people leave and highlight any business areas that are causing friction. Using the feedback you gather, you can improve the employee experience and address the causes of turnover before it spirals. 

The smartest HR teams start listening early. With Workleap Officevibe, you can collect ongoing employee feedback through pulse and custom surveys. This helps you spot issues, monitor concerns, boost engagement, and keep your people growing instead of going through the motions.

Demo Workleap today to see how you can level up your exit surveys.