Exit interview - should I bother being honest

[Wafalaman]

I have an exit interview coming up. Is it worth being honest? I'm not sure that they care about the feedback. It was supposed to be with the strategic business partner. But it seems they are too busy/can't be bothered so it is with the HR administrator. Is this normal? It feels like they are just going through the motions so I should not bother really engaging and tell them what they want to hear. What is your experience? Particularly if you work in HR and know what the norm is.

HR Professional here.

While I could give you my 'work' answer about it being beneficial to the company etc etc, it is unlikely to change anything.

I have known people provide absolutely truthful answers and experiences and this effected their future reference.

In all honesty it's a box ticking exercise for HR departments.

In my company, we invite you to attend an exit interview (and it's optional by the way) but if this doesn't happen for whatever reason we ask for written feedback. Not a good idea if you aren't singing the praises of the company.

Thanks. That is what I thought. Good to have it confirmed.

I wouldn't say too much...I'd rather leave on good terms in case I need a reference at some stage in the future. Keep it diplomatic if you want to say anything.

No, just give generic shite to them.

I agreed to an exit interview (massive company) and they couldn’t even be bothered to arrange it. So I just left without.

Not worth burning your bridges. Honesty isn’t valued these days, it’s often punished.

I never think it’s worth saying much and as PP said, it’s optional.
Its too small a world and you never want to burn bridges.

Having said that a few years ago I left a job and there was a question which asked If they had done anything differently would I have stayed. I answered that truthfully as there was an issue they were aware of and were struggling to address as an organisation. Someone else in my dept had left a couple months before and was open this was part of the reason so I also said I’d have stayed if they’d addressed this. I felt it would be helpful for the manager to be able to point out she’d lost 2 people within a few months due to this

My advice is to not bother. I gave feedback for a very toxic job and it fell on deaf ears but certainly impacted my relationships with them.

I usually have been honest, particularly the jobs where I didn't stay long. Mostly, their ability to change things like money are pretty limited, but one job I left did do something about career paths and promotion opportunities. My last job, I suggested my manager needed more support in his role - he was quite good technically, but I cried twice in a week because of how he dealt with things. The job I found was substantially more money and no on-call, so thry wouldn't have persuaded me to stay, but I made it very clear that I wouldn't even have started looking yet if he hadn't been such a prick. (I phrased it slightly differently.) I don't know if they've changed anything there, though.

I know someone who has just left a job where most of the people who left complained about sexist and racist behaviour from one manager in particular, who hasn’t even had a stern word. One person who left even sent a scathing company wide email about why he was leaving and why this manager was the cause, and still nothing.
I wouldn’t bother personally. I don’t think they care because you’re leaving. If someone else has the same problem then they’ll raise it and they can choose to do something about it or not then.

It's not worth your time or effort to bother.
Even if something seems important to you to say, they will deem it of little value to them.

I honestly wouldn’t bother, they’ll make all the right noises and then promptly forget about what you’ve said.

When I left my last place I declined it, then received an email from HR saying “this meeting is mandatory, you can be put on a disciplinary for failure to attend.” I just replied telling them to dismiss me, I only had an hour and a half left before I walked out the door for good.

"One person who left even sent a scathing company wide email about why he was leaving and why this manager was the cause, and still nothing."

I mean, that is never going to achieve anything except to make the person sending the email look unprofessional and unhinged. It is not the way to get your concerns taken seriously!

Dont bother.

either don't bother (if you can get away with it) or attend one, a smile and wave and keep it vanilla.

I would say don’t sit there and slag the company off. Keep to some generic bullshit about seeking an opportunity for further development and a pay rise.

If applicable, allow yourself to be honest if it keeps to accepted facts and you have nothing to lose.

My friend is about to leave and is able to be honest that the company annouced her job wouldn’t be there in the next 2 years due to restructure, so she left to increase job security.

I’ve only had 1 exit interview at a retail store after being there a while. I was able to give some truth in that I needed to prioritise a higher salary so i could start paying my student loan and maintain living costs (most other the staff lived with their parents or depended on partners’ salaries), and also there wasn’t enough opportunity for development.

I bit my tongue about the AWFUL staff there.

The business world can be very small. You never know when you might bump into ex colleagues again. No exit interview

No just say you’re grateful to have had the opportunity but looking forward to a shiny new challenge and wish everyone the best.

I’d decline if that’s an option.

Never burn your bridges! I left a job after 9 months because my manager was a functioning alcoholic who was utterly unreasonable. I was honest with HR about his "management style" not being one I could comfortably work with, but as I left the building the MD collared me in the hallway and asked if there were any other reasons, that I may not have shared with HR, that I was leaving?

I could have told him many things that my manager had said about him (the MD), the business, and it's clients. And all of the sensitive information he'd shared when drunk. And I knew at that stage they were looking for dirt in order to get rid of him. But it's a small world, and there was every chance I could run into him again in the future, so I just said no. That guy would get what he deserved eventually, but it wouldn't be down to me. You are best protected by saying nothing.

I was honest in mine. Not harsh, but honest.

I know from a family member who is still there that they’ve not changed a thing.

I left my employment about 18 months ago for semi-retirement. I was going to keep my exit interview very brief, but full credit to the business manager he asked some good questions. I was clear that my current boss was useless, explained why and discussed the potential impact to the organisation of his failures. Within 6 weeks he had been moved to a different role. I was unfailingly polite about other staff, the organisation values, and what I liked about the organisation. So it wasn't a general moan. I do know other people had similar issues, so guess that my feedback was the final straw.