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If these companies wanted to learn from you -- they would have availed themselves of that opportunity while you were still working there. As the blogger himsel

If these companies wanted to learn from you -- they would have availed themselves of that opportunity while you were still working there. As the blogger himself put it: If you have suggestions on how things should work differently at the company, the time to tell your boss is while you work there. If they can’t bring themselves to act on it during your tenure, telling them at the exit interview isn’t going to do any good.

thenerdhead 4y ago
That’s assuming your boss has enough influence to change something and also is the right person for the feedback. That sadly is not the case in most big companies. So telling people at exit interviews is the best way to get the feedback across. It’s not having a bad boss either, it’s just the right context for the feedback.
IMTDb 4y ago
Who's to say that companies do not also ask those questions while you are there ? I am a manager at my current company, we regularly ask feedback to employees. Partly thanks/because of this, we have a very high employee retention rate. But we also conduct exit interviews when someone leaves. In my experience, exit interview yield good result if the employees leaves on good terms, and if he tends to be a bit "secretive/corporate" during his time. If the employee leaves on bad term, you get nothing, or nothing of value (just "rants"). If the employee was already outspoken, you get a repeat of what he already said in the past. But once in a while, you get plain and honest feedback that an employee didn't really "dare" to give while working, by fear of (real or made up) repercussions. People are taught to "play the corporate game", keep to themselves and not make too much waves. For some people that also means "not saying what they really think", unfortunately. Being in a position where they are gone anyway and are off the hook can sometimes liberate their voices. And that feedback is extremely valuable because it's so hard to get in any other way.
- akhmatova 4y ago
  Yeah, I can imagine there are environments where exit interviews are actually meaningful, and yield valuable data. And that these are also the places that manage to attract managers who actually know what they are doing. But I was thinking more average case, i.e. environments with non-high retention rates, and the usual "if we want you to have an opinion we'll give it to you" atmosphere that seems to rule the vast bulk of the corporate world. Which is what keeps many people from being outspoken in the first place.

thenerdhead 4y ago

That’s assuming your boss has enough influence to change something and also is the right person for the feedback. That sadly is not the case in most big companies. So telling people at exit interviews is the best way to get the feedback across. It’s not having a bad boss either, it’s just the right context for the feedback.

IMTDb 4y ago

Who's to say that companies do not also ask those questions while you are there ? I am a manager at my current company, we regularly ask feedback to employees. Partly thanks/because of this, we have a very high employee retention rate. But we also conduct exit interviews when someone leaves. In my experience, exit interview yield good result if the employees leaves on good terms, and if he tends to be a bit "secretive/corporate" during his time. If the employee leaves on bad term, you get nothing, or nothing of value (just "rants"). If the employee was already outspoken, you get a repeat of what he already said in the past. But once in a while, you get plain and honest feedback that an employee didn't really "dare" to give while working, by fear of (real or made up) repercussions. People are taught to "play the corporate game", keep to themselves and not make too much waves. For some people that also means "not saying what they really think", unfortunately. Being in a position where they are gone anyway and are off the hook can sometimes liberate their voices. And that feedback is extremely valuable because it's so hard to get in any other way.

akhmatova 4y ago
Yeah, I can imagine there are environments where exit interviews are actually meaningful, and yield valuable data. And that these are also the places that manage to attract managers who actually know what they are doing. But I was thinking more average case, i.e. environments with non-high retention rates, and the usual "if we want you to have an opinion we'll give it to you" atmosphere that seems to rule the vast bulk of the corporate world. Which is what keeps many people from being outspoken in the first place.