5 things to remember during an exit interview

Prepare yourself before appearing for an exit interview. The 5 must-dos
Srilagna Saha, TimesJobs.com Bureau
Many of us still have a misconception about exit interviews. Whether it is just another platform for outgoing employees to vent or their only chance to prove a point, is highly debatable. However, irrespective of the situation, employees must remember to follow certain rules during their exit interviews. You were a good performer, but could have done more; you were a people’s person, but couldn’t gel well with some; you had multi-tasking abilities, but were overworked – are some key points to highlight during an exit interview.
Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access, says, “At times employees are apprehensive because they don’t want to spoil their relationship and thus avoid being quoted for any feedback. Companies must maintain confidentiality.” It is also crucial for the HR to invite suggestions and feedback from these outgoing employees. This only allows the management to create a more employee-friendly working atmosphere and work upon workplace issues that hamper employee productivity and motivates people to leave.
Udit Mittal, Managing Director, Unison International points out 5 points that employees should remember during an exit interview:
Maintain your composure: You might come across very trivial questions but maintaining your composure is very critical, no matter how irrelevant you feel they might be. Be graceful and witty while answering tricky questions.
Emphasis on your experience: Discuss your experiences and key learning from them. Always mention about the opportunities those were given to you and how you were able to perform on them, which has enhanced your skills for future endeavours.
Don’t be negative:  Focus on the key learning from difficult situations at the work place. You should portray that every crisis had given an opportunity for you to be adaptable in different situations and be a quick fixer to any given problem.
Comments should be constructive: Be honest but polite while putting across your grievances. Instead of accusing anyone or any process, try giving examples on how it can be improved for better results.
Don’t take out personal grudge: It’s better to express your problems in a non-personal way rather pin-pointing it to any individual. Remember, it is unnecessary for you to comment on someone (negatively) who you are not going to see for much longer.
According to Puri, exit interviews have become more like a formality and this has degraded the whole idea and importance of such interviews. Companies should encourage HR to be more proactive while dealing with these interviews, at the same time make this a process to understand and improve workforce management rather than having it as a formality for outgoing employees only.