Exit interview tracking spreadsheet
A tracking sheet with one row per leaver and one column per fact, so exit interviews add up to a pattern you can read, copy or download as a CSV file.
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Exit interview tracking spreadsheet
Template from https://www.teampredict.ai/templates/exit-interview-tracker
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A tracking sheet turns exit interviews into numbers you can count.
One exit interview is an anecdote. The same eight facts recorded for every leaver, in one sheet, become a pattern: which teams lose people, why, and whether those were people you wanted to keep. This sheet has one row per leaver and a short review at the bottom for the quarter.
Three columns do most of the work. Who chose separates a resignation (voluntary) from a dismissal or layoff (involuntary). Regretted marks the exits you would have paid to prevent. Primary reason is one pick from a fixed list. Fill in the rows here and download the sheet as a CSV file, which opens in any spreadsheet program.
Here is how to use the exit interview tracking spreadsheet in five steps.
How to use it
- 1Fix the reason list first
- 2Add a row within a week
- 3Ask one level up about regret
- 4Read it every quarter
- 5Write down one change
Fix the reason list first. Agree on eight or so reasons before the first row and never type a new one. A fixed list is what makes the column countable.
Add a row within a week. Fill in the row straight after the exit interview or survey, while the notes are fresh. Every leaver gets a row, including the ones who declined an interview.
Ask one level up about regret. The question is whether the company would have paid to keep this person. The manager's own manager is usually the fairest judge.
Read it every quarter. Sort by team, then by reason. Look at the regretted rows first, because those are the exits worth preventing.
Write down one change. End each review with one action and one owner. A tracker that never changes anything is only a record.
Here is a worked example with invented names.
Take an invented company, Farrowmere Foods, with 180 employees. Over two quarters the sheet collects nine rows.
Seven of the nine exits are voluntary and five of those seven are tagged regretted. Four of the five regretted exits come from the warehouse team, and three of those four list workload as the primary reason. No other team has more than one regretted exit.
Worked example
Farrowmere Foods, an invented company: the exit log after two quarters
- Rows in the sheet9 exits
- Voluntary7 of 9
- Regretted5 of the 7 voluntary exits
- Regretted exits from the warehouse team4 of 5
- Primary reason on those rowsWorkload, 3 of 4
One change
Review the warehouse shift pattern and hold stay interviews with that team
A total of nine exits had not worried anyone. The sheet shows the problem sits in one team with one reason, so the operations lead reviews the warehouse shift pattern and holds stay interviews with the people still on that team.
These mistakes spoil an exit tracker.
- Typing a new reason for every leaver, so the column ends up with thirty values and no pattern.
- Logging only the leavers who agreed to an interview. A declined interview is still an exit and still a row.
- Counting all exits the same. Without the regretted column, a painful loss and a welcome one look identical.
- Putting interview quotes in a sheet many people can open. Keep the notes elsewhere and the sheet to facts and tags.
- Reviewing it once a year. By then the people who could have been kept have left.
Each row answers separate questions about one departure. Who chose: voluntary if the employee did, involuntary if the company did. Did you want to keep them: regretted or non-regretted. Some teams add a third tag for what the exit did to the organization: dysfunctional if it damaged it, functional if it left it better off.
One exit, three separate tags
One departure
Who chose?
VoluntaryThe employeeInvoluntaryThe companyDid you want to keep them?
RegrettedYou would have paid to keep themNon-regrettedNeutral or relievedWhat did it do to the organization?
DysfunctionalDamaged itFunctionalLeft it better off
People ask these questions about exit interview tracking.
These glossary terms explain the ideas behind it.
An exit interview is a structured conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what would have changed their mind.
Regretted attrition is a departure the company did not want: someone whose performance, skills or relationships you would have paid to keep.
Voluntary turnover is a departure the employee chose: a resignation, a retirement, or a move to another employer.
Involuntary turnover is a departure the company initiated: a termination, a performance exit, or a layoff.
Dysfunctional turnover is a departure that damages the organization: a high performer, a specialist, or someone hard to replace at any price.
These pages on this site go deeper.
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