It’s important for an organization to understand why an employee leaves their job and by that gain knowledge of how the organization can avoid future loss of valuable employees. Employees often leave their jobs due to a lack of job satisfaction, lack of appreciation, mismanagement, limited career opportunities or conflicts with colleagues or managers.

Exit polls can be a positive contribution to understanding the changes an organization needs to make to increase employee satisfaction and keep talent in the organization. Employee exit polls should be a natural part of the organization’s efforts to create a work environment characterized by job satisfaction, desire and willingness to further their career in the organization.

Efficient employee exit polls are a useful tool to identify reasons that would make employees leave the organization. Here are a few benefits:

• To elucidate the connection between employee turnover and overall employee satisfaction in the organization.
• Identify which areas should be focused on, in order to reduce employee turnover and by extension highlight the factors that have the most impact on why an employee chooses to resign.
• Putting a monetary value on the level of employee turnover, in terms of lost manpower and thus the economic impact of a reduction in the number of terminations.

How to increase participation?

Only about a third of employees who leave an organization complete an exit poll. Therefore, it is a great idea to be open to how the organization operates with regards to a termination and in this context to emphasize that the exit poll is a natural part of the process.

Furthermore, it may be a good idea to tell respondents that their comments and evaluations are so important that the organization’s HR director will subsequently evaluate the received feedback, in order to implement initiatives that focus on employee satisfaction in the organization.

The extended model

It can also be considered to send out a comparative poll approximately three months after the end of the employee’s exit poll. This poll includes issues related to the current employment situation and a comparison between their job and their former job in your organization.

Are you interested in doing exit polls with Enalyzer? Create a free account.