As organisations strive to boost performance and improve workplace culture simultaneously, employee exit interviews are becoming a popular method of determining why employees choose to leave. In the current job market, offering a desirable workplace culture is one of the key criteria for prospective employees as well as a key factor in employee retention.
Understand the Risks of Employee Exit Interviews
While exit interviews may be viewed as a procedural necessity, they can reveal risks to workplace health and safety which require careful consideration by the employer. Managers might wonder; ‘Why does it matter? The employee has resigned?’ But exit interviews are a crucial part of developing a workplace mental health strategy.
Where a departing employee identifies risks to workplace health and safety in their exit interview, it creates an obligation on the part of the employer to ensure that the identified risk(s) do not pose a risk to the health and safety of the remaining workforce.
A classic, often cited example is complaints of bullying in the workplace. While this complaint by a departing employee might be dismissed as bad blood, employers should be wary of dismissing the observation without considering its veracity. Where a risk to health and safety is identified, the employer is obliged to take reasonable steps to reduce the impact of the risk on the health and safety of its employees.
Avoid Workplace Bullying Lawyers Stepping In
Bullying in the workplace is covered under the Fair Work Act 2009 . So when an exiting employee makes a claim of bullying in an exit interview, the employer is put on notice of a risk and needs to take action. The first step is to assess the existence of that risk, then take the reasonable necessary steps to reduce or remove it from the workplace.
With risks like bullying, micromanaging and discrimination, employers should make clear that the company does not permit the behaviour. It should ensure that it has up to date policies addressing the risk which include reporting mechanisms and management processes. In addition, employers should consider conducting annual appropriate workplace behaviour training.
The management of behavioural risks like bullying, harassment, discrimination or unsafe people management also requires the employer to treat the accused employee(s) with fairness. If issues with another employee are raised in an exit interview, it’s important to obtain as much detail from the departing employee as possible. The next step is to put the allegations to the accused employee(s) and provide them with an opportunity to respond. Unfair dismissal claims can often be avoided if effective performance management processes are in place.
Uncover, Then Solve, Management Issues Through Exit Interview Questions
While the outcome of an exit interview process might not lead to the termination of an accused employee, it may be appropriate to provide that employee with management training, provide a written warning, or place the employee on a performance improvement plan. Each of these actions is the employer meeting its obligations to ensure that the risk (e.g. bullying) is reduced and/or removed in accordance with its obligations under the applicable work health and safety legislation.
While this may seem like a reason not to conduct exit interviews, the reality is that good exit interview questions prompt employees to give employers a heads up on issues within the workplace. It’s up to management to address those issues to protect their employees (and comply with statutory obligations) as well as maintaining a positive (and safe) workplace.
Value Workplace Safety to Boost Performance and Maximise Employee Retention
The value of a safe workplace is not just in the compliance and avoidance of claims but also in attracting high value candidates for advertised roles and keeping good people, both of which results in increased productivity.
Not every piece of feedback being given in an exit interview will result in an identifiable risk to health and safety which requires investigation. However, when conducting the interview, and considering the results, it is important to turn your mind to whether any risks (or improvements) can be identified. This is also a timely reminder that risks to health and safety are not solely the risks of physical injury but also the risk to employees’ mental health.
Other risks to an employees mental health which may be identified in the course of an exit interview include:
- Unrealistic deadlines;
- Unreasonable expectations that employees work after hours;
- Unreasonable additional overtime;
- Heavy workloads;
- Lack of support (administrative/managerial/supervisory);
- Bullying (name calling, even in jest);
- Exclusion or isolation;
- Less favourable treatment of an employee (or a group of employees) compared to other employees.
Doing Exit Interviews? Do Them Properly
These are the keys to doing exit interviews the right way. Where a potential risk is identified, address it, don’t dismiss it. Chances are if one employee (even one on the way out) is expressing a particular view, then other employees within the business may also be thinking the same thing.
With WorkSafe’s increased focus on risks to employees’ mental health, exit interviews offer employers the opportunity to identify and address these (and other) risks and to be proactive in the protection of their staff, boost productivity and performance, and increase employee retention.
If this article has raised questions for you in your business, or if you think that you may have identified a safety risk, BlueRock’s employment lawyers can help .
