What is an exit interview?
The concept of the ‘exit interview’ is well-known to large organisations throughout the world. It is usually performed as a final interview with a departing employee, often hosted by a line manager or HR representative. A good quality exit interview is designed and conducted for the benefit of the organisation. It seeks to improve company performance, enhance employee retention, keep existing talent, and make an advocate out of the departing employee. Strategically, they allow continual monitoring of the culture and temperature of an organisation, and provide large swathes of information from someone who likely has many deep reflections on their time of employment. They provide insights into inequity by creating an open dialogue with the departing individual. Finally, they are a last chance for leaving a good impression. If an organisation can show a willingness to reflect, accept criticism, and enthusiasm to improve by listening to those who do not thrive in it, it maintains a good reputation. Table 1.0 shows some examples of questions that might be asked at during one of these conversations.
Exit Interviews are not routinely performed or mandated by any formal medical specialty training pathways within the United Kingdom. The individuals we lose from formal training represent highly skilled, incredibly talented doctors who strived for a competitive position. The decision to leave training (whether to move to another specialty, work as a SAS doctor, or leave medicine altogether) is a significant one. The individual will therefore be a reservoir of reflections and analysis of the training programme they are departing, and why it perhaps did not work for them.