[Retention and its levers](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#retention) # What is an exit survey? Definition An exit survey is the written, usually anonymous form version of the exit interview, built from consistent questions so answers can be counted across many leavers. Last updated October 13, 2026 ## An exit survey is the written form of an exit interview. Every leaver gets the same short set of questions, mostly rated on a scale with one or two free-text boxes, and answers anonymously or confidentially. Because the questions never change, the answers can be added up across many leavers. Many companies run both. The survey gives you numbers. The [exit interview](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/exit-interview) gives you the story behind them, but is harder to compare across leavers. _Figure: An exit survey and an exit interview side by side. The exit survey is written and usually anonymous: the same rated questions for every leaver, so the answers can be counted. The exit interview is a structured conversation: follow-up questions and the story behind the numbers, but harder to compare across leavers._ ## The same questions every time let you count the answers. Consistent questions are what make exit data analyzable. Free-text notes from twenty different managers cannot be compared, the same eight rated questions can. ## A short survey with fixed questions works best. Eight or so rated statements are enough. Rate the same areas every time, for example: - My manager supported my growth. - I saw a realistic path to the next role. - My pay was fair for the work. - My workload was sustainable. - I would recommend this company as a place to work. Add one free-text question, such as what would have made you stay, and one fixed list of main reasons for leaving. The last statement above is close to the [eNPS](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/enps) question, which lets you compare leavers with current staff. ## Here is how the numbers come out in an invented example. Take an invented year with 50 completed exit surveys, rated from 1 to 5. If 30 leavers rate the statement about a realistic path to the next role at 1 or 2, that is 30 ÷ 50 × 100 = 60% disagreeing, the clearest pattern in the data. _Figure: An invented year with 50 completed exit surveys rated from 1 to 5. 30 leavers rated the statement about a realistic path to the next role at 1 or 2, so 30 divided by 50, which is 60%, disagreed._ Compare the same statement across years and teams. A rising share on one question tells you more than any single year's average. Check the response rate before you trust the pattern. If those 50 surveys came from 80 leavers, the response rate is 50 ÷ 80 × 100 = 62.5%. When only some leavers answer, ask who did not, because the people with the strongest views are sometimes the ones who stay silent. ## Send the survey while the person is still employed. The best moment is a few days after notice is given: the decision is made, the reasons are fresh and the person still reads their work email. Say who will see the answers and at what level of detail, and keep that promise. On a small team, report results only once enough leavers have answered that nobody can be identified. ## These are the common mistakes with exit surveys. - Changing the questions every year, which breaks the trend. - Asking so many questions that leavers stop answering halfway. - Promising anonymity on a team so small that the answers identify the person. - Reading the free text and ignoring the counts, or the reverse. - Sending it after the last day, when the leaver has little reason to answer. ## Put a score on how your team feels. Score the would-you-recommend question with the free eNPS calculator, and compare leavers with the people who stay. [Calculate your eNPS](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/enps-calculator) Free, no signup required. ## These related terms are in the glossary too. - [Exit interview](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/exit-interview) An exit interview is a structured conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what would have changed their mind. - [Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/enps) eNPS is a single-question engagement measure: how likely an employee is, on a zero to ten scale, to recommend the company as a place to work. - [Voluntary turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/voluntary-turnover) Voluntary turnover is a departure the employee chose: a resignation, a retirement, or a move to another employer. - [Regretted attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/regretted-attrition) Regretted attrition is a departure the company did not want: someone whose performance, skills or relationships you would have paid to keep. - [Survey fatigue](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#survey-fatigue) Survey fatigue is the fall in response rate and answer quality that follows asking people the same questions too often, especially when nothing visibly changes afterwards. - [Employee engagement](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/employee-engagement) Employee engagement is how committed and involved people are in their work and their company, beyond simply doing the tasks assigned to them. ## These pages on this site go deeper. - [Exit survey questions and template](https://www.teampredict.ai/blog/employee-exit-survey) About TeamPredict TeamPredict is retention early-warning software that flags resignation risk from public LinkedIn signals, so you have lead time to keep the people you want to keep. [See how TeamPredict works](https://www.teampredict.ai/retention-software) [Back to the HR glossary](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#exit-survey), where all 52 terms are defined.