Asian bosses make the most of exit interviews

A majority of companies in Asia are using feedback from exit interviews to boost their business.

Canvassing 1,200 professionals and hiring managers across Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong and more countries, a new white-paper by Robert Walters found 70% of hiring managers use employee feedback from exit interviews to make improvements to their businesses. Only 15% said they simply file feedback away with the candidate’s resignation notice.

Most also said they conduct both informal (95%) and/or formal (90%) exit interviews in their company.

“While the focus of the recruitment process is often on attracting the best professionals, giving the exit process enough consideration is equally as important,” Toby Fowlston, managing director of Robert Walters Singapore, said.

“Many employers overlook the opportunities which exit interviews can present. If managed carefully, the exit process can be a way for employees to leave on a positive note or provide employers with the opportunity to make a counter offer. After all, every employee is an ambassador of the organisation even after leaving their jobs.”

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The survey also highlighted the reasons why employees leave their jobs - as explained to managers during their exit interviews - with the biggest reason being limited growth opportunities and being underpaid.

However, bosses believed employees being poached by other organisations was one of the biggest reasons staff left.

The majority of professionals (39%) spent an average of three to four years in a company, the survey found. When it came to how employees resign after this time, roughly half had previously told their employer they were unhappy, while the other half had not.

Of those who did speak up, the main reasons were “not wanting to burn any bridges” (44%), followed by “out of respect for the company” (35%), “thinking there was a reasonable chance of a promotion” (11%) and, lastly, being “reluctant to go through the recruitment process at the new company” (10%).

However, the majority (42%) only disclosed the fact that they were looking for a new job after they had signed the new employment contract.

Such honest communication was admittedly a grey area in exit interviews.

While 67% of bosses believed the exiting employees were honest in their feedback, most employees thought the process was not worthwhile and felt it was purely standard operating procedure.

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