Free employee exit interview template

Why conducting exit interviews is essential for Social Care organisations

The Social Care sector is at a crisis point. More and more organisations are finding it harder not just to hire staff, but to keep them as well. There has been an increase in people leaving their jobs - and the sector - due to:

• A demanding and heavy workload
• Lack of support
• Overwhelming and lonely conditions causing mental health issues

All hope is not lost, however. If companies listen to their workers and put employee experience at the forefront, this will strengthen the employer brand. A care provider that’s willing to put its employees first will:

• Secure employee retention
• Attract top talent
• Save money - replacing a lost employee costs 21% of their salary.

This is where Exit Interviews come in. This will help all the above factors, where staff are given a platform to candidly speak of their experiences. Being able to pinpoint the experience of an employee is valuable information. Let’s have a look at why Exit Interviews are imperative to a successful business.

Why are exit interviews important?

An Exit Interview is an interview conducted with an employee who is leaving the Social Care Sector by their own choice. 

They are absolutely essential if you are wanting to get to the bottom of why there are issues with employee turnover. It also leaves a positive lasting impression on the employee leaving - after all, 79% of workers leaving the Care Sector would consider working in Social Care again in the future.

The fact that you are taking the time to get down to brass tacks with the employee who is leaving, shows you value your employee. Staff are more likely to leave the Social Care sector because of stressors on mental health, as well as physical health. Workers have been reported working through illness, leading to burnout. It is more important than ever to offer staff a listening ear and promote a healthy and supportive work environment. 

Exit Interviews help with keeping staff from leaving potentially. If there are issues that can be rooted out through a conversation, and the issues can be resolved, this may prevent the member of staff from leaving altogether. Often, workers find it difficult to express their needs, feeling that they aren’t in a position to communicate with their hires ups. 

Around 1 in 4 employees either spoke to their employer only or not at all before handing in their notice. This feeling of lack of care from employers to employees leads to instances of Quiet Quitting - where workers will only do the bare minimum. This is because of feeling unimportant, thus leading to a lack of motivation to perform more than what is expected of a Carer. Just 8% of employees in 2022 said that they were fully engaging with their work. 

Exit Interviews are essential to identify and, in the future, prevent all of these aspects of an employee’s experience from occurring.

3 Ways exit interviews help retention and boost employee experience in Social Care

Here are some pointers as to why Exit Interviews are so integral to the success of a Care Providing company - and employees are at the forefront of how customers will feel towards the brand. The benefits of conducting exit interviews are plentiful. Showing that an employee’s welfare is one of the highest priorities will result in helping to keep your employees on, as well as make your employees happier. This is going to boost productivity and attract top talent.

Here are the three ways in which Exit Interviews in Social Care do all these things:

1) Pinpoint trends for staff leaving

Communicating interest as to why a worker is leaving the Social Care sector can help spot the trends of why many care staff do leave providers, or the Social Care sector altogether. Our ‘Big Exit Interview’ report found that the top recurring reasons for employees leaving were the pay was too low, and they were working too many hours. It’s also a good chance to see where workers are heading - What is the company they are moving on to offering that the job they are leaving does not? Workers may be moving to a different Care providing company, so it’s a good chance to get an insight into your competitors. 

2) Bolster company culture

Perhaps it's lack of recognition -which is so often the cause of employees leaving; 69% of workers said they would stay with a company they were leaving if they were appreciated more and were offered rewards for their performance.

Conducting an exit interview with your departing employee can give the company a chance to identify what rewards the employee feels they are missing out on. It also gives the employer a chance to hear about other aspects of the company’s culture that could be improved. 

Companies should be putting their worker’s mental health as a top priority. Workers taking absences due to mental health issues causes a loss of 8.4 days in the Care Sector. Perhaps the company that the employee is moving to prioritises mental health support, such as daily team check-ins from management. 

Providing an Exit Interview in Social Care will help root out what would help improve the employee experience. 

3) Improve your reputation as an employer

The more you enhance the offboarding experience, the more it will leave a good impression on the departing employee. Giving workers a platform to express their experiences shows a personal investment in an employee’s career at the company. 

An employee who may put the business down on their CV and as a potential reference for future work. When the worker has left on a positive note, they will speak highly of the business they left, and this could draw others towards the brand. This is because potential applicants are three times more likely to trust an employee’s experience over an employer’s, to depict an accurate picture of how the company actually runs.

Now that you know how exit interviews can help, what exactly should you be asking your employees to get the most out of your exit interview? Our exit interview templates contain all the key questions you should consider asking. 

Leave a positive lasting impression and boost retention rates with an exit interview 

We’ve covered how Exit Interviews can be integral to the success of your care organisation, and how they can motivate workers to stay, and also inspire new talent to apply. Let Sona help your Care-providing business really fly:

• Improve your work culture
• Strengthen relationships between employer and employees (past and present)
• Have access to a rota system that enables staff to pick up shifts and book holidays

To find out more, visit Sona and book a demo today.