We wanted our employees to experience a one-on-one interview with an external person. We wanted an interview rather than an online survey because an interviewer can get a real feel for the leaver and highlight any watch-outs that may have been missed in an online survey. They can delve into any unclear answers where required and ensure all questions are asked and that is not just a tick and flick exercise for the leaver.

In our experience it is more expensive to build and do exit interviews internally and it diverts HR effort into a non-core area. Consistency is also an issue when exit interviews were conducted internally by HR Managers. We found it was difficult to maintain the same level of discipline and rigour consistency throughout the organisation. Data integrity became an issue.

Their approach is also more personal than an online survey. Exiting employees are more likely to be open about the real reasons why they are leaving. This also shows existing employees we are serious about improving retention. An interview also allows you, in real time, to zoom-in on and capture issues which non-human interaction will not be able to identify (e.g. signs of bullying).

Getting honest feedback is essential and often if the departing employee knows the interviewer, or believes there will be an issue with confidentiality, they will not be totally forthcoming with their responses. Using an external provider helps to overcome some of these insecurities and allows the interviewee more control over who sees their feedback.

Phone interviews enable more qualitative feedback. They give the interviewee the option to clarify their responses, rather than having to pick from a limited number of options. The interviewer can also assist if the employee is having trouble understanding the question.

It's also very easy to 'ignore' an email requesting participation in an on-line survey. While participation in the interview is voluntary, most employees agree to take part when the invitation is extended by a real person over the phone!

Last, but definitely not least, at Sydney Water over a third of our workforce are field based and have limited access to the internet. A phone interview helps to overcome this issue.

These interviews need to be probing and often people will ‘open-up’ more with someone outside the business, so we decided to outsource this process. Online surveys have the inherent inability to gather effective qualitative data or probe into questions and answers that may otherwise not be fully explained. Having someone actually speak to the departing employee enables themes to be fully explored rather than just ‘ticking the box’ to yes and no questions.