Do you want to enhance your company’s culture, improve employee satisfaction, and build lasting post-employment relationships with just one simple activity? Conduct an exit survey.
Leading enterprises use exit surveys to gain valuable feedback from departing employees, helping them understand their experiences and identify areas for improvement. This feedback is crucial for refining company policies, improving workplace culture, and addressing employee needs. But there’s so much more to gain from these surveys.
We’ll show you how exit surveys provide the insights necessary for lasting and impactful change. Learn how to go beyond the exit using survey responses and Aluminate for Enterprise to create stronger, more engaged relationships with former employees and enhance your company’s long-term success.
What is an alumni exit survey?
An exit survey for enterprises gathers important information from departing employees. As they leave the company and transition to new opportunities, their survey responses provide firsthand insights into their past experiences and future expectations.
An exit survey can be conducted telephonically, online, or by mail. Most enterprises find online surveys more convenient for all parties. Many organizations leverage online survey templates. If you choose, customize it to suit your company and its objectives.
Exit survey question examples
The way enterprises structure their exit surveys may differ. However, the purpose remains the same.
You want to understand employees’ experiences and determine how they view their time with your company, as well as how you can foster ongoing engagement after they leave. Structure the questions to align with your company’s objectives and its policies on gathering employee feedback.
Employment preparedness
These questions about employment prospects help identify the roles or experiences that left employees ill-prepared for their next steps. This feedback offers an opportunity to support employees during their transition and helps pinpoint alumni with higher earning potential, which can also inform your fundraising efforts fundraising.
- Are you currently employed, or do you have confirmation of employment within the next year?
- How long did it take for you to secure formal employment after leaving the company?
- How prepared do you feel for your new role? Rate your answer on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being wholly unprepared and 10 being fully prepared. Please explain your rating.
- What was your role with the company, and was it instrumental in securing your next employment? What skills or knowledge would have better prepared you for your next opportunity?
Interests and aspirations
Follow up with questions about employees’ personal goals and aspirations. Responses to these types of questions provide insights into how your enterprise can improve employee experiences and ongoing relations.
This feedback helps you build a reputation as a supportive, employee-focused organization.
- Did you participate in any company programs or initiatives, and did they enhance your overall experience?
- Did you feel supported by your managers, colleagues, and the company as a whole? If yes, tell us why. If not, what could have been done differently?
- Would you recommend the company to others seeking employment? If yes, tell us why. If not, tell us what we can do to improve.
- Do you consider your next job as the realization of your career goals or merely a stepping stone toward further career fulfillment?
Alumni network participation
As former employees of your enterprise, the respondents are already part of your extended network. Your goal is to encourage them to stay connected and actively participate in your alumni program. Answers to questions like these help identify potential candidates for future involvement in your network.
- Are you aware of our company’s alumni network and interested in staying connected?
- Would you be willing to participate in alumni events and activities or fundraising campaigns?
Turning data into actionable insights
Once you have collected all the data from your exit surveys, it is time to interpret the results and take meaningful action.
- Interpreting Exit Survey Data: Analyze the responses carefully. Is there a common theme between the answers to specific questions? Can you identify any recurring patterns or trends? This analysis will help you pinpoint the most urgent issues affecting your employees.
- Implementing Changes Based on Feedback: The feedback you receive in your exit survey provides valuable insights that can help you refine company processes, improve workplace culture, and enhance employee retention strategies. Address the most common complaints or concerns raised by departing employees. Use this feedback to inform changes in HR policies, management practices, and internal communications, and refer improvement suggestions to the relevant departments for follow-up.
The benefits of conducting an alumni exit survey
When you ask employees to complete an exit survey, your company can enjoy these benefits:
Enhanced reputation
Survey results enable you to make data-driven improvements that can enhance your company’s image, improve employee satisfaction, and attract top talent. You can also use the insights from the survey data to refine your alumni network program and increase engagement with former employees.
If you want to build a strong and reputable alumni network, you need the right platform. You need Aluminate for Enterprise, brought to you by Aluminati, the world’s most customizable alumni engagement software.
Strengthening your employee alumni network
Gathering feedback about former employees’ interests will show you how to strengthen post-employment relationships and increase engagement within your company’s alumni network.
Aluminate offers a range of dynamic features that boost employee engagement and strengthen connections. Our groups module allows you to segment your growing alumni network into sub-communities, with dedicated spaces tailored to their interests.
Institutional improvement
Exit survey responses can highlight areas in need of improvement within your company’s policies, programs, and support structures. This drives company-wide improvement, ensuring a better experience for future employees.
Departing employees can be approached to take on mentoring roles within your alumni network.
Aluminate can support this process. Our e-mentoring module is a fully scalable, peer-to-peer system that connects employees with mentoring opportunities. We have also developed a Matching Engine algorithm that matches suitable users for such programs within your network.
Boosting your alumni exit survey response rate
Is your exit survey response rate falling short? Boost it with these simple strategies.
Incentives and ease of access
What can you offer respondents in return for their time and participation? An exit survey is more likely to attract interest when there’s an incentive attached, such as exclusive offers or discounts on company services.
Personalized follow-up
Follow-up questions provide deeper insights into the initial responses given in the survey. While your exit survey may include standard questions, make sure your follow-up is more personalized. This shows respondents that you value their opinions and are genuinely interested in their feedback.
Measuring success
Your exit survey data will reveal areas for improvement within your company’s operations, culture, and employee support programs. It will also highlight which questions received detailed responses and which did not.
Revise your survey structure and questions to ensure you receive more useful feedback in the future.
Choose the Aluminate for Enterprise platform to post updates about surveys and follow-up surveys. With our Insights feature, you’ll be able to easily track how much engagement your surveys attract.
The future of alumni engagement: beyond the exit
An exit survey helps you discover what matters most to departing employees. You’ll learn what they valued about their time with your company, where they felt improvements could have been made, and what they expect from their future careers. This required feedback will give you insights into how to build a more engaged and connected alumni network.
That’s where Aluminate for Enterprise can help, guiding you and your employees toward a future of lasting engagement. Are you ready to go beyond the exit and create a thriving alumni network that strengthens your company’s long-term success? Request your demo and start building that future today.
