Exit interviews are a trap • Hacker News Board

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#51

Post by mikem170 » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:20 PM UTC

bumby wrote: post #20

My issue with the author's claims is that everything is framed in a "what's in it for me" reference. Even when they decided to break their own rule and go to an exit interview, the decision was made because there was the "didn’t think I had any downside risk." There are times when your personal choices may need to take a backseat to more important goals. If you are really committed to a mission, even one you've decid…

Maybe it makes a difference how the company treats their employees?

Large organizations tend to become bureaucratic and very concerned with their downside, both as a group (human resources) and as individuals (managers). Often they don't treat employees as people, but rather as resources, as cogs in a machine.

Some companies are rather inhumane. I don't think there's anything wrong with analyzing the situation with this in mind.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#52

Post by robohydrate » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:21 PM UTC

I left a job a few years ago and put the entire management on blast because they could not fathom the singular reason for leaving was poor compensation.

A few months later some former coworkers told me that everyone in the company got a surprise raise a few weeks after I left.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#53

Post by xxs » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:21 PM UTC

sweetheart wrote: post #11

The author states there is no upside to giving honest feedback of a company in an exit interview, and the one comment I see at the moment which argues perhaps there could be an upside is making the case that the upside is when you personally benefit from stock prices increasing. Why is it difficult to see that an upside would be that the company makes a positive change and people other than yourself are benefitted? W…

If you have to wait for the exit interview to provide any meaningful feedback, you have to be naive to consider, it'd provide any benefit.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#54

Post by wccrawford » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:22 PM UTC

eeeficus wrote: post #43

I agree with the article. If you leave, feedback is not worth it. I always gave honest feedback at exit interviews and felt like shit for a while afterwards. And I don’t understand why companies are doing this, honestly. Take feedback from your employees and really listen! What is the gain to ask for feedback to someone leaving the company? Is it more honest? Then you have a cultural problem because it means your emp…

Somebody up top thinks this will actually provide valuable information for the future. In my experience, it'll provide information, but the company won't actually value it. Either the information is actually useless (person is leaving because they want more experience that can't be had there) or the company won't actually learn anything from it (person is leaving due to bad situation or not enough money). They may claim to learn from it, and may even think they are, but they don't.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#55

Post by gbrown_ » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:22 PM UTC

Not sure about others by my exit interviews have typically been towards the end of my notice period. I've long since communicated (or at least vented) to my manager what I've been unhappy with as well as having a detailed talk upon giving my notice. And likely as a result, my experiences have been HR just nodding along. I certainly can't imagine treasuring up all the negatives and blurting them all out to HR one one meeting as this post games out.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#56

Post by hnal943 » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:22 PM UTC

sweetheart wrote: post #11

The author states there is no upside to giving honest feedback of a company in an exit interview, and the one comment I see at the moment which argues perhaps there could be an upside is making the case that the upside is when you personally benefit from stock prices increasing. Why is it difficult to see that an upside would be that the company makes a positive change and people other than yourself are benefitted? W…

This is addressed in the article. The company is unlikely to change as a result of your feedback.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#57

Post by mdoms » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:22 PM UTC

The supposed "downside risks" in this article just don't seem realistic to me.

> There are all sorts of ways that your former employers might retaliate. They might decide not to give a reference they would have before the exit interview. They might say bad things about you at industry events. It might be more subtle: they might just carry a negative impression of you in the back of their minds, and when you both end up working together again in the future they’ll hesitate to trust you. Or it might be blatantly unethical or even illegal. They could tell you they’re fine to be a reference, but when someone calls they could say bad things. They could refuse to confirm your employment to a background investigator. They could call your new company and tell them you were fired for fraud.

I just don't see it. Exit interviews are valuable. I find the never-ending cynicism around here exhausting. Sometimes people just want to hear why you're leaving because they want to learn from it.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#58

Post by politelemon » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:22 PM UTC

> They might decide not to give a reference they would have before the exit interview.

At least in the UK, there aren't good or bad reference. It basically boils down to "Yep they worked here, for this long, this was their role." All of the other possible outcomes mentioned are illegal.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#59

Post by julienb_sea » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:22 PM UTC

optymizer wrote: post #45

andrew_ wrote: post #6

Generally spot on in my experience. I've only ever agreed to one, and it was a mess, with the interviewer getting very upset and pushing back on all of my answers. Since then I politely decline. I've had one boss tell me it wasn't optional, to which I responded that I'd be happy to leave earlier if he wanted to enforce the requirement. He swiftly backed down, as we hadn't yet finished knowledge transfer.

Hypothetically and assuming 1) at-will employment, 2) company policy requires exit interview and 3) they didn't care about the knowledge transfer, could the company then terminate you "for cause" because you refused to do the exit interview?

Yes, they could, that is the definition of at-will employment. As long as the termination reason is not illegal there is nothing stopping them. Some employers will escort you out of the building immediately once you let them know you plan to leave, I know multiple examples of this happening at Microsoft at least.

Re: Exit interviews are a trap

#60

Post by wnoise » Mon, Apr 04, 2022, 6:22 PM UTC

tqi wrote: post #46

> Last I checked, the organization was still very much headed in the direction that I disagreed with. This assumes that your opinion on direction is the right one, and that anyone or team that doesn't agree is wrong?

No, it's just a report that the feedback didn't make any difference.