Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER May 2, 2016 NEWS 3 your career in focus When it comes to practicing human resources, membership matters. Only HRPA offers Certified Human Resources Professional, Leader, and Executive designations: the new global standard for HR excellence and professionalism. The CHRP, CHRL and CHRE designations demonstrate an HRPA member's commitment to their career and the success of their organization. P U T Y O U R C A R E E R I N F O C U S hrpa.ca/infocus Fewer employers acting on feedback given in exit interviews: Survey But followup key to employee attraction, retention, employer reputation, say experts BY SARAH DOBSON WHEN it comes to exit inter- views, responses are mixed. Less than one-quarter (22 per cent) of HR managers in Canada act on the information gathered "very often" while 32 per cent respond "somewhat often" and 33 per cent "not very often." Compared to 2006, when the survey was last done, fewer em- ployers (54 per cent compared to 76 per cent today) are acting on the information gleaned from the interviews, said Gena Griffin, regional vice-president at Office- Team, a Robert Half company in Toronto. But that's because there are more frequent conversations in the day-to-day employee-em- ployer relationship, she said. "We don't think that less people are necessarily acting on it and companies are necessarily tak- ing it less seriously, we just think feedback is being acted on in a more timely manner and being give more throughout the em- ployment experience versus just from a conversation at the time of resignation." However, if an employer is just doing the interview to tick boxes, that's probably causing more harm than good, said Griffin. "Your workforce knows that they're happening, but then never ever sees anything get done about it. Employees are smart people…. at all levels of staff, they quickly put together it's just a tick of the box." Exit interviews are similar to employee engagement sur- veys, according to Sandra Re- der, founder and president of HR consulting firm Vertical Bridge in Vancouver. "Don't do them if you're not prepared to act on the feedback — it's a waste of time." An employer can undermine its credibility if workers don't see ac- tion afterwards, she said. "You have to make a decision corporately, from the top down: 'Do we see value in them? If we all say yes, what value do we see in them and what are we prepared to do as a company with the in- formation we gather?'" said Reder. "It has to have buy-in from ev- erybody and then it has to be sold, it has to be a cultural thing… if you're going to do them, they can also be a great way to show exiting employees that they matter, even if it's after they've chosen to leave." Employers can do as many exit interviews as they want, garner- ing results and doing the analyt- ics, but if they don't act on them, that's going to reflect on them as a company, said Rita DoCanto, HR services manager at employment screening firm Just Checking in Markham, Ont. "Initially, employees are en- couraged by the fact that com- panies want the feedback but it can be very discouraging if they find out nothing happened with the information they shared," she said. "It's a very valuable tool for any company to take this on, but it's just as critically important to make sure you act upon the infor- mation that you receive. e min- ute you start seeing certain trends, then you need to act upon it" Valuable tool Exit interviews are a valuable tool, according to the experts. For one, they help with engagement and retention, said Griffin. "e biggest win to the com- pany is from a retention point of view (and it's) even an opportuni- ty to attract talent when it's now acted on." Not all feedback from exit in- terviews can be acted on, but if improvements are mentioned or trends are shared with the workforce around the company's strengths and challenges, said Griffin, "that's where the win comes about for the company, when they sincerely put into mo- tion the sharing of the feedback and the action on the feedback." Exit interviews really help em- ployers gain insights into both the positive and the negative aspects of working for an organization, said DoCanto. "It would be in (employers') best interest to stay in touch with people who have left because they can be champions for your com- pany, they may continue to refer people. Because sometimes peo- ple leave for very rational reasons — their spouses have moved, they really had no choice — but they may continue to give very good news about the company and to promote the company as a good place to work." And the bigger the company, the more important it is to have TRY > pg. 17

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