Short answer
An exit interview template should help a departing employee explain their experience in their own words, while giving HR a consistent record to review. It needs a clear purpose, open questions, room for examples, and a defined route for concerns. It cannot prove why someone left or promise that an action will prevent another departure.
Before the conversation
An exit interview is an offer, not a test. Say who will conduct it, how notes will be used, which people may see them, and what you cannot promise. Do not promise that every comment will stay confidential if a report of misconduct, safety risk, or another matter must follow your organisation's process. Give the employee questions in advance if that helps them decide whether and how to take part.
Acas notes that exit interviews can help an employer learn whether someone felt excluded or held back, and can provide feedback for future change. The Department for Education's social-work employer guidance recommends consistent, open and non-judgmental questions, with adequate time to reply. An interview is one source of feedback, not a finding on its own.
Copy-and-use template
1. Conversation record
- Role and work location: [record only what is needed for the review]
- Tenure and last working day: [insert]
- Interviewer: [name and role]
- Purpose: We want to understand your experience and identify any issue that needs the right follow-up. You may skip a question or end the conversation.
- Use of notes: [state who can see notes, how long they are kept, and the route for concerns]
- Immediate follow-up: [record any concern that needs an established HR, safeguarding, grievance, or other handling route]
Do not put a broad label such as "manager issue" in place of the employee's words. Capture the situation, time frame, and any detail they choose to give.
2. Start with their account
- What made leaving the right next step for you?
- When did you begin to consider it, if you are comfortable sharing?
- What would you want the next person in this role to know about the work?
Follow with, "Could you give an example?" rather than offering a diagnosis. A person may mention pay, workload, progression, a relationship, family circumstances, or a new opportunity. Those descriptions can overlap. Record what was said and avoid deciding the cause in the meeting.
3. Examine the work, not the person
- How did the role compare with what you expected when you joined?
- Which parts of the work were rewarding, and which created the most friction?
- What information, staffing, tools, decisions, or handoffs made work harder than it needed to be?
- What support or feedback made a practical difference?
- Was there a point when a different discussion or decision might have changed your experience?
4. Ask about the team carefully
- What helped the team work well?
- Where did priorities, workload, or decisions become unclear?
- What should the team continue doing?
- What is one change that would make the role more workable for the next person?
- Is there anything we have not asked that leaders should understand?
For example, a departing shift supervisor might say that handover notes are inconsistent across sites. Record that as one person's account, identify the handover they mean, and name who can check the process. Do not turn it into a claim about every site.
5. Close honestly
Thank you for sharing this. I will record the points you raised and explain the next route for anything requiring follow-up. I cannot promise a particular outcome today, but I can tell you who will review the relevant points and when we will update you if a response is appropriate.
Ask whether the employee wants to correct the record. Then confirm a contact point for a later clarification, if they want one.
Turn the record into a review
| Record | Question for HR | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Immediate concern | Does it need an established handling route? | Send it to the appropriate owner without waiting for a trend review. |
| Work example | What can the relevant team or process owner check? | Seek further context before changing a process. |
| Theme across exits | Are role, team, wording, and period comparable enough to review? | Bring it to a scheduled people or operations review with other evidence. |
This keeps a departure conversation from becoming either a filing exercise or a shortcut to a conclusion. For a question bank, see exit interview questions. For operating ownership, see exit interview best practices. A stay interview guide is a separate discussion with current employees.
Explore conversations before the departure
If your aim is to hear about work friction while people are still in the team, explore Lontra’s employee conversations and manager briefs. Use a focused work question to examine whether the resulting context helps prepare a human discussion.
A dedicated offboarding workflow, access for former employees, and exit-data exports are separate requirements to verify before choosing a tool. This guide does not establish that those capabilities are available.
