Exit Interview Template
Turn departures into insights that improve your employee retention strategy
Goodbyes don’t have to be awkward. Instead, they’re a great chance to learn something valuable. This free employee exit interview template helps HR professionals learn why people leave, spot trends, and take action before top talent walks out the door.
- Ask the right exit interview questions, every time
- Identify patterns across multiple employee exits
- Turn feedback into employee retention strategies
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Who is this exit meeting template for
This exit interview template is designed for HR professionals who want to:
- Understand the real reasons employees leave
- Improve the organization’s employee retention strategy
- Create a respectful, structured employee exit interview process
- Strengthen organization culture through honest, actionable feedback
- Identify areas where employee experience needs attention and improvement
When to use it in the offboarding process
Use this employee exit meeting template when an employee prepares to leave the organization, whether through resignation, restructuring, or mutual agreement. The exit interview should be a separate conversation from the initial employee offboarding process. At this point, it’s not about changing the outcome but about learning from the employee’s experience.
For the most honest and valuable feedback, the conversation should be led by someone from the HR team, not the employee’s direct manager. This helps create a neutral, safe space for sharing insights without any pressure or awkwardness during the employee exit interview meeting.
🚫 When NOT to use it
Not every moment is the right one for an exit interview. It’s best to avoid holding the conversation immediately after the employee’s departure is announced. Give it a bit of space. It should also be led by someone from the HR team rather than the employee’s direct manager, as that dynamic can introduce discomfort or bias.
Most importantly, don’t schedule an exit interview if you’re not prepared to hear honest and constructive feedback with an open mind. This isn’t a space for defending decisions or correcting perceptions but a moment to listen and learn.
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Download the exit interview questions template
How to use this template effectively
The real value of an employee exit interview comes from its ability to surface what you might otherwise miss—those hidden patterns and organizational blind spots that quietly impact your organization’s employee retention.
Approach the exit interview with curiosity and flexibility. The goal isn't to stick rigidly to a script but to let the exit interview questions serve as gentle conversation starters. Give the employee space to share openly because this is a time to listen more than speak. Take notes, document key feedback across exit interviews, and reflect not just on individual responses but on recurring themes across multiple exits.
Why use this exit interview template
Using a template like this one helps you surface the most common friction points inside your organization while also giving each employee a respectful space to share their story. Here are the five core areas this exit meeting template helps you explore:
- Role clarity and expectations
Learn how the role matched [or didn’t] with what the employee expected. These conversations often reveal gaps in communication, alignment, or onboarding.
Exit interviews are your chance to find out if unclear expectations are causing people to leave your organization, too.
- Career growth and development
A lack of development opportunities is one of the most common reasons employees move on. Use this to learn whether your organization’s growth paths truly work.
- Compensation and recognition
Get valuable feedback on whether the employee felt fairly compensated and appreciated. These insights are some of the best exit interview questions you can ask to strengthen your employee retention strategy.
- Team dynamics and culture
Understand how the employee experienced collaboration, leadership, and the broader work culture. These insights can highlight patterns that affect engagement and employee retention.
Exit interviews can help you understand if lacking support pushes your people away.
- Organizational blind spots and forward-looking feedback
Exit interviews often provide a rare moment where employees are more willing to speak candidly. Use these insights to identify systemic issues, spot patterns across exits, and guide strategic improvements.
Here’s what you’ll get
- Ready-to-use HR exit interview questions, no setup required
- Questions grouped into key topics for structure and flow
- Dedicated space for notes and observations
- Built to support structured exit meetings
- HR-friendly, easy-to-use layout
🎯 Conduct insightful, stress-free exit interviews with Kadar
Exit interviews don’t have to be inconsistent or time-consuming. With a free skill-based tool like Kadar, they become structured, scalable, and simple to track. Kadar helps you capture constructive feedback, connect it to performance insights, and turn it into meaningful action, all in one place.
Here’s how Kadar supports the HR exit interview process:
- Use the 1:1 Meeting feature to guide the employee offboarding process with structure and purpose. Add the exit survey questions as agenda points and document insights directly in the Notes section.
- Turn exit interview questions into Surveys for a more standardized, scalable approach. This is especially helpful when handling multiple exit interviews or remote offboarding.
- Track patterns across departures by connecting exit interview form with team metrics and performance data. This makes it easier to spot recurring issues early and act before they impact employee retention.
When exit interviews are easy to run and strategically captured, you create a feedback loop that drives smarter decisions and helps you keep your best people longer.
Goodbyes are never easy, but they can be incredibly valuable when done right. A thoughtful HR exit interview template helps you learn from each experience, spot what’s not working, and create a better path forward for your team.
