Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act No. 55 of 1998)Code of Good PracticeIntegration of Employment Equity into Human Resource Policies and PracticesPart C : Ending Employment22. Exit Interviews |
22.1 SCOPE
| 22.1.1 | Exit interviews are conducted by the employer with the employee at the time of voluntary termination, retirement or retrenchment. |
| 22.1.2 | The purpose of an exit interview is to obtain information about the employee's experience during employment. These exit interviews could provide valuable information about barriers and other factors that could have contributed to the termination. |
| 22.2 | IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT EQUITY |
An employer should analyse the information it obtains from exit interviews and identify trends, which should inform barrier removal initiatives.
| 22.3 | POLICY AND PRACTICE |
| 22.3.1 | To make exit interviews an effective process, employers should consider: |
| 22.3.1.1 | Conducting a standard exit interview providing a set of guidelines for consistent application; |
| 22.3.1.2 | Conducting an exit interview that allows the departing employee to comment on any discriminatory practices in the workplace; |
| 22.3.1.3 | Senior employees, who are skilled at obtaining information, should conduct exit interviews. Alternatively, an employer may consider using an independent person or persons from designated groups to ensure that the departing employee is able to speak as openly and honestly as possible about their experiences; and |
| 22.3.1.4 | Information disclosed in exit interviews is confidential and can only be used to identify themes or problems in the workplace. |
| 22.3.2 | Employers may consider developing periodic reports reflecting trends that may have emerged during exit interviews, including the identification of barriers experienced by employees from designated groups. |
| 22.3.3 | Senior management should take action to eliminate barriers that are identified during exit interviews. |
| 22.3.4 | Employers may consider comparing their staff turnover rates against similar jobs within the same sector. If turnover is higher than these benchmarks then an employer should consider initiating interventions to address the problems. |
| 22.4 | KEY LINKS TO OTHER TOPICS IN THE CODE |
| 22.4.1 | Retention - There are numerous factors that impact on the retention of employees from designated groups. These factors include work climate, competitive remuneration, effective performance management, learning pathways, organisational culture, incentive schemes, challenging work assignments, work-life balance and workplace environment. |