Employee exits offer one of the clearest windows into what holds talent—and what drives it away. Yet most organizations fail to capture that insight at the very moment it still matters. A structured exit interview questions template turns a polite farewell into a rich feedback loop, helping HR identify retention levers, manager blind spots, and early-warning patterns before losing the next high performer.

Survey questions

Below is a set of statements and open-ended items designed for a 30–45 minute exit conversation. They cover the primary drivers of turnover and the interventions that could have changed the outcome.

Primary Reason for Leaving

Manager Relationship

Role & Development

Compensation & Recognition

Company Culture & Values

Overall Recommendation

Open-ended questions

Decision table

Use the table below to translate survey scores and open responses into actionable next steps. Each row defines when and how to respond.

Key takeaways

Definition & scope

This template measures why employees leave, the quality of their manager relationship, role alignment, compensation fairness, and cultural fit. It is designed for voluntary departures and supports decisions on manager coaching, comp adjustments, onboarding improvements, and targeted retention initiatives. The survey takes 30–45 minutes and is typically conducted during the final two weeks of employment.

Scoring & thresholds

Each Likert item uses a five-point scale: 1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly agree. Scores are averaged by dimension. A result below 3.0 indicates a critical gap requiring immediate intervention. Scores between 3.0 and 3.9 suggest improvement opportunities that merit follow-up within 30 days. Scores at or above 4.0 reflect strengths to sustain. The eNPS question runs from 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely); responses of 0–6 classify as detractors, 7–8 as passives, and 9–10 as promoters.

Aggregate exit data by manager, department, and role every quarter. Compare current-quarter averages against trailing six-month benchmarks. A decline of 0.5 points or more on any dimension triggers a formal review. When multiple departures in one team score below 3.0 on manager items, escalate to senior leadership within seven days. Document all score-driven actions in a shared tracker so patterns remain visible across cycles.

Follow-up & responsibilities

Exit feedback reaches three audiences: the departing employee's manager, the HR business partner, and the talent leadership team. The HRBP owns immediate triage. Within 24 hours of receiving a completed interview, flag any score below 2.5 or any open comment naming a specific individual or policy failure. The manager receives aggregated themes—never raw transcripts that could identify the respondent. Share feedback in a 1:1 calibration meeting within 14 days, focusing on one or two actionable improvements.

HR schedules a quarterly exit-data review with department heads. Prepare a summary deck showing average scores by dimension, eNPS distribution, and top three themes from open text. Highlight teams with repeat exits or consistent low scores. Assign an owner and 30-day action plan for each flagged issue. Track completion in the same system you use for performance management to maintain accountability. Rapid follow-up—typically within 7 to 14 days—signals that the organization treats exit feedback as seriously as employee engagement data.

Fairness & bias checks

Segment exit scores by location, department, tenure band, and role level to detect systemic disparities. For example, if remote employees consistently rate manager support 0.8 points lower than on-site peers, investigate whether remote 1:1 cadence or communication norms differ. If exits from underrepresented groups cite culture fit more often, audit onboarding content and team norms for hidden biases.

Run a simple chi-square or t-test on key items when sample size permits. A statistically significant difference (p <0.05) between groups justifies targeted intervention. Even with small samples, look for repeated patterns: three exits in six months all mentioning the same manager behavior warrants a confidential review, regardless of numeric significance. Share anonymized findings with leadership to build trust and demonstrate that exit insights drive real change, not blame.

Examples / use cases

Low manager-relationship scores in engineering

A software company noticed that four engineers who left over two quarters averaged 2.6 on manager items. Open comments revealed infrequent 1:1s and vague performance feedback. HR convened a 90-minute calibration workshop for all engineering leads, introduced a 1:1 meeting template, and added a monthly skip-level check-in. Six months later, exit scores for manager support rose to 4.1, and voluntary turnover in the function dropped by 30 percent.

Compensation gap flagged by multiple exits

Three customer-success managers left within 60 days, each scoring compensation below 3.0 and citing a 15–20 percent pay increase at their new employer. The talent team pulled external market data, confirmed a lagging position, and secured budget to adjust the band by 12 percent. They also introduced quarterly comp reviews tied to market movement, preventing future surprises. Retention improved, and referrals from the CS team increased as trust in fair pay rebuilt.

Culture-fit mismatch in a fast-growing startup

A logistics startup hired aggressively and saw five mid-level hires exit within their first 90 days, all rating culture alignment below 3.0. Exit interviews revealed that job descriptions emphasized autonomy, but reality required constant check-ins and top-down decisions. HR rewrote role previews, added a realistic-job-preview video, and involved hiring managers in setting clearer onboarding expectations. New-hire turnover fell by half over the next quarter.

Implementation & updates

Begin with a pilot in one department or region. Select a team that has experienced recent turnover and whose manager is open to feedback. Conduct three to five exit interviews using the template, score responses, and hold a debrief with the manager and HRBP within two weeks. Use pilot learnings to refine question wording, adjust score thresholds, and clarify ownership for each action type.

Roll out organization-wide once the process is stable. Train interviewers—typically HRBPs or a dedicated People Ops specialist—on how to build psychological safety, probe gently on sensitive topics, and document responses without editorializing. Publish a one-page guide for managers explaining what feedback they will receive, when, and in what format. Set a standing quarterly review meeting for exit data so insights become routine input to talent development and retention planning.

Track five metrics: response rate (target ≥80 percent of voluntary exits), average score by dimension, eNPS, time from exit to feedback delivery (target ≤7 days), and percentage of flagged issues with documented action plans (target 100 percent). Review the question set annually. Add or retire items based on emerging themes—for example, remote-work experience or diversity and inclusion—and benchmark against external exit-survey norms when available. A modern platform can automate interview scheduling, reminders, scoring, and dashboard reporting, reducing manual effort by 60 percent or more.

Conclusion

Exit conversations happen at the one moment when departing employees have little to lose and much to share. A well-structured template captures that honesty and converts it into patterns you can act on: manager skill gaps, comp misalignments, onboarding failures, and team-climate issues. Three takeaways matter most. First, low scores below 3.0 demand swift intervention within 7 to 14 days to prevent the next departure. Second, segmenting data by team, role, or demographic group exposes hidden inequities that aggregate numbers miss. Third, closing the loop—showing that exit feedback drives visible change—builds trust with current employees and strengthens your employer branding over time.

Start your next step by piloting the template with three to five recent exits, scoring responses, and scheduling a calibration session with the affected managers. Assign clear owners for each flagged issue and set 30-day deadlines. Use a shared tracker or performance management system to monitor progress. Once the pilot proves the workflow, expand to all voluntary departures, train additional interviewers, and establish a quarterly leadership review of exit trends. Over time, consistent execution transforms exit interviews from a courtesy into a strategic early-warning system that protects your talent pipeline and sharpens every people decision.

FAQ

How often should we conduct exit interviews?

Aim to interview every voluntary departure. If that volume is unmanageable, prioritize regrettable losses—high performers, critical roles, or employees with fewer than two years of tenure—because those exits carry the highest business risk. Conduct the conversation during the final two weeks of employment, when the relationship is still active but the decision is final. Quarterly aggregation and analysis provide enough data to spot patterns without overwhelming HR capacity.

What should we do when exit scores are very low?

Scores below 2.5 or open comments naming specific misconduct require immediate triage. The HRBP should review the feedback within 24 hours, involve employee relations if necessary, and brief the manager's skip-level leader. Do not delay: a pattern of very low scores often predicts the next departure. Schedule a confidential calibration meeting within seven days, agree on one or two concrete changes, and document the plan. Follow up at 30 and 60 days to confirm progress.

How do we handle critical or hostile comments?

Acknowledge the emotion without becoming defensive. Departing employees may vent frustration; beneath that, valuable signal often exists. Extract the core issue—insufficient feedback, unclear expectations, interpersonal conflict—and translate it into an actionable observation for the manager. Never share raw transcripts that could identify the speaker. Instead, summarize themes in neutral language and focus the follow-up conversation on what the manager can change going forward, not on assigning blame.

How do we involve managers without creating defensiveness?

Frame exit feedback as a development opportunity, not a performance review. Share aggregated data—averages, recurring themes—rather than individual responses. Emphasize that every manager receives the same transparency and that the goal is continuous improvement. Pair feedback delivery with a coaching conversation: ask the manager what surprised them, what they would like to try differently, and what support they need from HR. A collaborative stance increases the likelihood that insights translate into behavior change.

How do we update the question set as the business evolves?

Review the template annually. Analyze open-text responses for recurring topics not covered by existing items—remote-work experience, diversity and inclusion, or new benefits. Pilot any new questions with a small group, validate that they yield actionable data, and retire items that consistently score near the midpoint with little variance. Keep the total interview under 45 minutes to maintain quality and response rates. A talent platform like Sprad Growth can version question sets, A/B test new items, and track participation trends to inform ongoing refinement.