Exit interview template
An exit interview is a conversation with someone who is leaving, to understand why they're going and what might have kept them. This free Word template has questions grouped by theme, a short confidentiality statement to read out, a ratings section you can compare across leavers, a handover check and an action log.
Running a company of 30 to 200 people? Documents like this are now worth money.
One exit interview tells you about one person; twenty, recorded the same way, tell you what to fix. Below: how to run one, a fictional quarter's action log, confidentiality, and turning answers into decisions.
What's in the template
Exit interview
| Leaver | |
|---|---|
| Job title and team | |
| Length of service | |
| Last working day | |
| Interviewer | Not the leaver's line manager, where possible |
| Date and format | In person, video call or written |
Before you start (read this out)
This conversation is voluntary. Your answers will be reported as themes, without your name. Allegations of harassment, discrimination or danger can't stay confidential, because we would have to look into them.
1. Reasons for leaving (tick all that apply)
- Pay or benefits
- Career progression
- Manager or leadership
- Workload or hours
- Flexibility or location
- The job wasn't what was described
- Team or culture
- Personal reasons
- Other
- What made you start looking, and when?
- What does the new role offer that we didn't?
- Was there a moment when we could have changed your mind?
2. The role and the manager
- Did the job match what you were told at interview?
- Did you have the tools, training and information you needed?
- How well did your manager support you? Any examples?
- Did you get regular, useful feedback?
3. Growth and recognition
- Could you see a future for yourself here? What was missing?
- Was your work recognised fairly, including in pay?
4. Team and culture
- What should we never change?
- Did you ever feel excluded or held back? (You don't have to answer this.)
5. Ratings
| Statement | 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) |
|---|---|
| My job matched its description | |
| My manager supported me | |
| I had opportunities to develop | |
| My pay was fair for the work | |
| I would recommend working here |
6. Handover
- Handover notes written and saved
- Equipment, keys and access returned
- Final pay, including any untaken holiday, explained
- Happy to be contacted after leaving? Yes / No
7. Action log (HR, after the interview)
| Theme | What we heard | Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
How to run an exit interview
- Offer it once the resignation is confirmed, and hold it in the last week or two of notice, when the decision is settled but the person hasn't yet switched off.
- Choose a neutral interviewer: HR, or a manager from another team. If the line manager is part of the reason for leaving, you won't hear it from them.
- Read the confidentiality statement and be straight about its limits: comments can be anonymous in reports, but an allegation of harassment or discrimination can't be ignored.
- Ask the open questions before the tick-list. "What made you start looking?" gets a truer answer than a list of reasons.
- Listen rather than defend. A last-minute counter-offer turns it into a negotiation; make any offer separately.
- Write down their words, not your interpretation, and offer a written version to anyone who'd rather not talk.
- Fill in the action log within a week.
Example: one quarter's action log
The log after six exit interviews at a fictional 80-person food manufacturer.
| Theme | What we heard | Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shift patterns | 3 of 6 said rotas changed at short notice | Publish rotas four weeks ahead; agree any change with the person affected | Production manager |
| Job not as described | 2 of 6, both in their first year, had expected day shifts only | Rewrite the quality inspector job description to state the shift pattern | HR |
| No progression | 2 of 6 saw no route from operator to team leader | Pilot a team leader development programme | Operations director |
The ratings pointed the same way: "I had opportunities to develop" averaged 2.1 out of 5 across the six. The rewritten job description now goes to every shortlisted candidate before interview.
Confidentiality and the notes
- Decide who sees what before you start. A sensible default: full notes to HR only, anonymised themes to the leadership team, and themes rather than quotes for the leaver's former manager unless the leaver agrees.
- Small teams make anonymity hard: report by department and quarter, once there are enough leavers that nobody can be identified.
- The notes are the leaver's personal information. In the UK they can ask for a copy with a subject access request, and the ICO says you must respond without delay and within one month. Keep the notes factual and professional.
- Treat serious allegations as complaints, not feedback. Harassment, discrimination or safety concerns go through your grievance or whistleblowing procedure, even when the person is leaving.
This summarises official guidance rather than giving legal advice, so take advice on anything unusual.
Turning answers into action
Acas suggests using leavers' reasons to inform how you recruit and keep staff: for example, making job adverts clearer if people regularly leave because the job wasn't what they expected.
- Code every interview against the same reason list (section 1), so you count themes instead of remembering anecdotes.
- Review the log quarterly by team, manager and length of service.
- Compare with what new starters say in their probation reviews; the two often describe one problem from different ends.
- Tell staff what changed, so the next leaver has a reason to be candid.
Common mistakes
- The line manager runs it.
- Holding it on the last afternoon, squeezed between handing in the laptop and the leaving drinks.
- Promising total confidentiality, then having to act on what you heard.
- Taking "better pay" at face value. Ask what else the new role offers and when they started looking.
- Filing the notes and never reading them together, so the same reasons recur year after year.
Frequently asked questions
Should exit interviews be voluntary?
Yes. Make it optional and say so. Someone who doesn't want to talk won't give useful answers, and a short written form gives them another way to respond.
Who should conduct the exit interview?
Usually HR, or a manager from a different team: someone the leaver can be candid with, which rules out the line manager.
What are the best exit interview questions?
Ones that ask for specifics: what made you start looking and when, what the new role offers that we didn't, whether there was a moment we could have changed your mind, and what we should never change. The template groups them by theme.