Why Seasonal Employees Deserve Exit Interviews Too

Summer is on its way out, and so are your seasonal employees. While it's tempting to take a shortcut and send them on their way with nothing more than a handshake, you'll do your business a favor by treating their departure the same as any other employee's. That's right, we're talking exit interviews.

Sure, exit interviews are traditionally meant for full-time employees, but just because Jane only worked for you from April to August doesn't mean she doesn't have valuable insights about your operation.

Exit interviews provide two-way feedback for managers and employees. Not only are they a valuable resource for your employees to find areas of professional improvement, but they also provide you with possible improvements to your operations. Because seasonal businesses hire and release team members regularly throughout the year, tracking how well you manage them is essential to ensuring they return.

Leaders cannot work in a vacuum. They may take on larger, seemingly more important roles in an organization, but this does not exclude them from asking for and using feedback. In fact, a leader arguably needs feedback more than anyone else.

This is your chance to hear what some of the main pain points are for your seasonal employees, and it's your chance to fix those problems.

Of course, ongoing feedback should always be part of your management, whether from full-time or part-time workers. When you demonstrate a commitment to continuous evaluation and improvement, even employees who had a poor experience are more likely to leave on friendly terms.

Protecting Your Online Reputation

Which leads us to another value of exit interviews: conflict mitigation.

A common issue we've seen with service-based companies is unhappy former employees venting their frustrations on online review platforms such as Facebook, Glassdoor, and Indeed. Not only can this make you look bad to your customers, but it can also have a disastrous impact on your ability to hire new team members.

Discussing conflict with employees is one of the most complex parts of management, but it's also one of the most beneficial. Making an unhappy teammate feel heard is the quickest way to calm their nerves. And giving them the chance to air their frustrations can mean the difference between keeping it within your company and seeing it plastered across the internet.

7 Essential Exit Interview Questions

Come prepared! Here are a few examples of questions to ask in your exit interview:

What did you like most about your job?
What would you change about your job, your team, or the company as a whole?
Were you given the tools to succeed at your job?
Were you comfortable discussing work-related issues with your manager?
Did you feel you were kept up to date on new developments and company policies?
If you had a friend looking for a job, would you recommend us? Why or why not?
Are there any other unresolved issues or additional comments?

What to Do After the Interview

If the interview and your overall experience with that worker go well, remind them to reapply the following season. And consider offering incentives for them to refer their friends.

Regardless, once you have the feedback, use it. Don't write it down and shove it into a drawer, never to be seen again. By conducting these interviews at the end of each season, you will begin to pinpoint feedback trends. Use that information to make a plan for positive change within your company. After all, happy employees mean happier customers and a more successful business.