When high-achieving employees start to unexpectedly leave their companies, managers start having “exit interviews” to ask open-ended questions about defectors’ reasons for moving on.
Such interviews are a waste of time, says Dick Costello, CEO of Twitter, according to Quartz.
Why Costello thinks exit interviews are useless
- People hide their real feelings: Costello believes it’s like the lack of honesty people have when personal relationships end. They just want out the door; they want to say as little as possible with as little confrontation as possible.
- People all quit for the same reason, their manager: Costello says people quit jobs because their manager fails to communicate well, fails to give people ownership of projects, and fails to meet one-on-one frequently with employees to discuss career progress, individual concerns, and barriers they might face.
- The don’t want to burn bridges: While Costello claims it’s especially bad in Silicon Valley, you can see managers and employees shuffling back and forth between relatively few companies in any industry or town. “Your manager might end up in a leadership position somewhere you want to work in the future,” so no one is going to throw their manager under the bus.
If not with exit interviews, how can you address attrition challenges?
Start by examining managers, says Costello. Then, create a transparent environment in which people feel they can air frustrations about their managers before reaching their breaking point.
(Photo & Cartoon; ThinkStock.com)
(via: Quartz)