Talk before leaving: is it worth it to let off steam?
If you wrote a letter of resignation, your supervisor or HR manager will most likely want to talk to you. Even if they know for sure that a conversation will not change your mind. It is not an attempt to dissuade you, but a desire to ask a few questions. Sometimes, instead of talking, they ask to fill out a questionnaire. Why is this to the employer? And is it worth honestly talking and writing about everything that has boiled up?
Farewell interviews are now conducted not only in large advanced companies, but sometimes in small ones, which do not even have their own HR manager. Managers and business owners understand: at this moment you can hear criticism from you without fear on your part that because of this you may lose your job (you already quit already). And the unpleasant truth can be very useful for business development.
In companies where they understand the value of such information, such conversations are not conducted by the direct managers of the outgoing employee, but by someone who may be more impartial; in small companies, the owners of the business personally, regardless of how high the position of the resigning person is.
And for the outgoing employee, this is a good opportunity to express (or write in the questionnaire) everything that has accumulated. But is it worth it?
Let's see why the employer needs this conversation or survey - what exactly does he want to know.
Find out the reasons for dismissal
A standard declaration of one’s own free will does not imply a frank description of all the reasons for your departure. The last conversation is an opportunity for the employer to find out why you made such a decision. If the reason is in a personal conflict with a colleague or boss, it is important for the employer to pay it off (regardless of whether you leave or stay), so as not to make an enemy of yourself.
And finding out the reasons for dismissal helps to identify systematic problems in the company. If your case is not an isolated one, then the company will be able to collect analytics and identify a problem that has so far remained outside the field of vision of the management or the HR service, to work on it. Even if it seems to you that this problem is on the surface, it may not be obvious to the employer. Firstly, because other tasks are in focus, secondly, because the problem is hushed up, it is discussed only behind the scenes.
Surveys of retiring employees help organizations to find, for example, mistakes made by newcomers to adapt (“abandoned to their own devices, swim out as you know how”), excessive bureaucratization of processes or severe overload of people in certain functions, and learn about the unhealthy atmosphere in the department team. Periodic layoffs for similar reasons are a signal to management that something is going wrong.
If you go to another place on more attractive terms, they will most likely try to find out the details. True, this does not mean that they want to make you a controffer. Competitors' working conditions - information for the employer is valuable in itself. Thanks to her, companies can finally recognize that salaries, social packages and other working conditions are behind the market and it is time to improve them so as not to lose employees.
Learn About Company Weaknesses
“Farewell” questionnaires usually include standard questions asking them to assess the comfort of working conditions, the level of compensation, the atmosphere in the team, the degree of workload. It doesn’t matter if this is directly related to your desire to quit - this is in any case a useful feedback.
In companies that are seriously interested in keeping people working for a long time, they analyze the results and, thanks to them, identify weaknesses, try to change something for the better in time.
Learn about violations
In a farewell conversation or questionnaire, the question arises whether you have ever observed any serious violations or even illegal actions in the work of colleagues. This is not a call for "squealing," but a chance to talk about situations that you were previously forced to remain silent about because of established relationships in the team. Your information can help those colleagues who still have their hands tied, although they are also outraged by the same facts. Kickbacks for large projects, commonplace theft, bullying in the team - this is often found out by employers from outgoing employees in the final interview.
It is unnecessary to talk about rumors - only the facts are important, that is, what you personally witnessed. Otherwise, you can use a careless word to harm an innocent person. And, of course, one should not succumb to the temptation, taking this opportunity, to denigrate someone with whom a personal conflict has occurred. All the same, they will try to verify your information - and if it is not confirmed, you run the risk of getting a boomerang in the form of bad recommendations to new employers.
Prevent dismissal on emotions
This is possible if you wrote a statement impulsively, under the influence of a situation, and then doubted whether it was worth it to get excited. It can be embarrassing to pick up a statement, especially if they said they were firing publicly. But the employer is also not interested in losing a valuable employee due to an emotional impulse. Confidential conversation helps to find a compromise solution. And sometimes, on the contrary, he finally affirms his desire to leave the company.
Protect company reputation
An employee who leaves with a scandal can harm the employer's brand. Negative reviews on special sites that frighten away other potential employees, public posts on social networks that can suddenly become viral and draw extra attention to the company are all risks for the employer's reputation. Not always serious risks, but some companies try to exclude such risks. Therefore, employers have two behavioral strategies with quitting brawlers: to ignore them and not enter into negotiations or, conversely, to listen, sympathize, and try to calm down - just to smooth out the conflict.
Try to look at the situation objectively: it is one thing if the conflict is personal, and the company as a whole did not deserve blackening, and quite another - if the company deceived you, grossly violated your rights. But in any case, keep in mind: if the company as a whole has a good and strong reputation in the market, then your single public review may harm you rather than it (you run the risk of getting a brawler label from scratch in the eyes of other potential employers).
Keep in touch for the future
You are a valuable employee, and management is sorry to lose you. You leave without conflict - you just were offered somewhere conditions that the current employer, with all desire, will not pull, or somewhere where there are more career opportunities, is more interesting than the task. In modern companies, all this is not a reason to consider a retiring employee a cut off slice. There is always a chance one day to return someone who has a good impression of the employer. A farewell conversation may be dedicated to this very goal: they will let you know that the doors are always open for you.
This is in your interests - the company, too, can one day make such a leap forward that you will want to be in its team again, but under new conditions. In addition, it is not a fact that where you go, everything will be as beautiful as you were promised - it is possible that you will want to return faster than you think.
If you go to a client or a project partner of your current employer, then they will want to maintain good relations with you for another, obvious reason. Such connections are useful for business.
What is the use for you?
The final interview may be useful not only for the employer. If you have worked for a long time in a company, gone through difficult times and difficult projects with the team, then the last conversation before leaving, most likely, will not do without thanks. A good review from the leader will inspire you before going to a new job, and you will understand that you tried not in vain.
It is also important for you to leave a good last impression about yourself in the company: recommendations from former employers are important for future ones. Having parted on a good note, you can count on patronage or at least the absence of obstacles on the part of the former employer for a future career.
Measure seven times, speak out once
If in a farewell conversation you honestly and objectively tell about the shortcomings of the company as a whole or management in particular, such feedback can be useful to the employer. But only subject to two conditions.
The first one. Both sides are tuned in a constructive way. If your interviewer has hidden goals, is trying to manipulate you, and he does not intend to be completely frank, then talking in a negative way can turn into career risks for you. At least the loss of useful connections, at the very least - revenge in the form of bad recommendations behind your back. Therefore, take into account the company's corporate culture and the identity of your interlocutor.
The second one. You will refrain from excessive emotionality and try not to get personal, as much as possible. If diplomacy is not your thing, it might be better to keep silent than to express the harsh truth in a harsh way. Such a final interview will not benefit either you or the company - it is not a fact that your interlocutor will want to discern the rational meaning in the stream of emotions.
Farewell interviews are now conducted not only in large advanced companies, but sometimes in small ones, which do not even have their own HR manager. Managers and business owners understand: at this moment you can hear criticism from you without fear on your part that because of this you may lose your job (you already quit already). And the unpleasant truth can be very useful for business development.
In companies where they understand the value of such information, such conversations are not conducted by the direct managers of the outgoing employee, but by someone who may be more impartial; in small companies, the owners of the business personally, regardless of how high the position of the resigning person is.
And for the outgoing employee, this is a good opportunity to express (or write in the questionnaire) everything that has accumulated. But is it worth it?
Let's see why the employer needs this conversation or survey - what exactly does he want to know.
Find out the reasons for dismissal
A standard declaration of one’s own free will does not imply a frank description of all the reasons for your departure. The last conversation is an opportunity for the employer to find out why you made such a decision. If the reason is in a personal conflict with a colleague or boss, it is important for the employer to pay it off (regardless of whether you leave or stay), so as not to make an enemy of yourself.
And finding out the reasons for dismissal helps to identify systematic problems in the company. If your case is not an isolated one, then the company will be able to collect analytics and identify a problem that has so far remained outside the field of vision of the management or the HR service, to work on it. Even if it seems to you that this problem is on the surface, it may not be obvious to the employer. Firstly, because other tasks are in focus, secondly, because the problem is hushed up, it is discussed only behind the scenes.
Surveys of retiring employees help organizations to find, for example, mistakes made by newcomers to adapt (“abandoned to their own devices, swim out as you know how”), excessive bureaucratization of processes or severe overload of people in certain functions, and learn about the unhealthy atmosphere in the department team. Periodic layoffs for similar reasons are a signal to management that something is going wrong.
If you go to another place on more attractive terms, they will most likely try to find out the details. True, this does not mean that they want to make you a controffer. Competitors' working conditions - information for the employer is valuable in itself. Thanks to her, companies can finally recognize that salaries, social packages and other working conditions are behind the market and it is time to improve them so as not to lose employees.
Learn About Company Weaknesses
“Farewell” questionnaires usually include standard questions asking them to assess the comfort of working conditions, the level of compensation, the atmosphere in the team, the degree of workload. It doesn’t matter if this is directly related to your desire to quit - this is in any case a useful feedback.
In companies that are seriously interested in keeping people working for a long time, they analyze the results and, thanks to them, identify weaknesses, try to change something for the better in time.
Learn about violations
In a farewell conversation or questionnaire, the question arises whether you have ever observed any serious violations or even illegal actions in the work of colleagues. This is not a call for "squealing," but a chance to talk about situations that you were previously forced to remain silent about because of established relationships in the team. Your information can help those colleagues who still have their hands tied, although they are also outraged by the same facts. Kickbacks for large projects, commonplace theft, bullying in the team - this is often found out by employers from outgoing employees in the final interview.
It is unnecessary to talk about rumors - only the facts are important, that is, what you personally witnessed. Otherwise, you can use a careless word to harm an innocent person. And, of course, one should not succumb to the temptation, taking this opportunity, to denigrate someone with whom a personal conflict has occurred. All the same, they will try to verify your information - and if it is not confirmed, you run the risk of getting a boomerang in the form of bad recommendations to new employers.
Prevent dismissal on emotions
This is possible if you wrote a statement impulsively, under the influence of a situation, and then doubted whether it was worth it to get excited. It can be embarrassing to pick up a statement, especially if they said they were firing publicly. But the employer is also not interested in losing a valuable employee due to an emotional impulse. Confidential conversation helps to find a compromise solution. And sometimes, on the contrary, he finally affirms his desire to leave the company.
Protect company reputation
An employee who leaves with a scandal can harm the employer's brand. Negative reviews on special sites that frighten away other potential employees, public posts on social networks that can suddenly become viral and draw extra attention to the company are all risks for the employer's reputation. Not always serious risks, but some companies try to exclude such risks. Therefore, employers have two behavioral strategies with quitting brawlers: to ignore them and not enter into negotiations or, conversely, to listen, sympathize, and try to calm down - just to smooth out the conflict.
Try to look at the situation objectively: it is one thing if the conflict is personal, and the company as a whole did not deserve blackening, and quite another - if the company deceived you, grossly violated your rights. But in any case, keep in mind: if the company as a whole has a good and strong reputation in the market, then your single public review may harm you rather than it (you run the risk of getting a brawler label from scratch in the eyes of other potential employers).
Keep in touch for the future
You are a valuable employee, and management is sorry to lose you. You leave without conflict - you just were offered somewhere conditions that the current employer, with all desire, will not pull, or somewhere where there are more career opportunities, is more interesting than the task. In modern companies, all this is not a reason to consider a retiring employee a cut off slice. There is always a chance one day to return someone who has a good impression of the employer. A farewell conversation may be dedicated to this very goal: they will let you know that the doors are always open for you.
This is in your interests - the company, too, can one day make such a leap forward that you will want to be in its team again, but under new conditions. In addition, it is not a fact that where you go, everything will be as beautiful as you were promised - it is possible that you will want to return faster than you think.
If you go to a client or a project partner of your current employer, then they will want to maintain good relations with you for another, obvious reason. Such connections are useful for business.
What is the use for you?
The final interview may be useful not only for the employer. If you have worked for a long time in a company, gone through difficult times and difficult projects with the team, then the last conversation before leaving, most likely, will not do without thanks. A good review from the leader will inspire you before going to a new job, and you will understand that you tried not in vain.
It is also important for you to leave a good last impression about yourself in the company: recommendations from former employers are important for future ones. Having parted on a good note, you can count on patronage or at least the absence of obstacles on the part of the former employer for a future career.
Measure seven times, speak out once
If in a farewell conversation you honestly and objectively tell about the shortcomings of the company as a whole or management in particular, such feedback can be useful to the employer. But only subject to two conditions.
The first one. Both sides are tuned in a constructive way. If your interviewer has hidden goals, is trying to manipulate you, and he does not intend to be completely frank, then talking in a negative way can turn into career risks for you. At least the loss of useful connections, at the very least - revenge in the form of bad recommendations behind your back. Therefore, take into account the company's corporate culture and the identity of your interlocutor.
The second one. You will refrain from excessive emotionality and try not to get personal, as much as possible. If diplomacy is not your thing, it might be better to keep silent than to express the harsh truth in a harsh way. Such a final interview will not benefit either you or the company - it is not a fact that your interlocutor will want to discern the rational meaning in the stream of emotions.
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