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Permalink Reply by Ron Ingber on April 26, 2011 at 7:05am

You definitely do NOT want to do any kind of exit interview if you are firing an employee. Everything that needed to be said should have been said when you told them that their services were no longer needed. Then you escort them out of the shop. Anything you say can be used against you in a law suit.

 

For good employees who give reasonable notice, you might ask for suggestions as to what the shop could be doing better or different. Of course, they should be sharing this, and you should be open to this, all the time.

 

Seriously, for a regular, hourly employee, I don't think there is much to be gained from a specific exit interview.

 

From my experience, there should always be a third person in the room when discussing a termination. This way, you don't end up with a "he said" - "he said" argument. This can be important if you are "firing for cause" and are going to deny unemployment benefits.

 

BTW - you do have an employee manual, don't you. If you don't, you are just asking for trouble. And, no.... I am not in that business.

 

Ron, the Country Guy

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Permalink Reply by Sarah Thompson on April 26, 2011 at 6:32pm

I agree with Ron on NOT asking an employee that has been fired. I used to conduct exit interviews at my previous employer. I asked them what were some of issues that employees may be afraid to discuss with management, what is the general morale of the employees when the boss isn't around, and if there was anything they thought that might make client services better.  I also asked them what they liked about working there. It can be very surprising what they say. Also, like Ron mentioned, an employee manual is a must. How can your employees meet your expectations when they don't know what they are. I believe in a mission statement that all employees should know by heart.

 

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