Giving Notice: Why the Best and the Brightest Leave the Workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay

2.6. The Last Straw

The news about Hudson's bonus and raise were the proverbial "last straw" for Kristen. She never told her 10-Q lunch mates that she was quitting her job. At her exit interview, which had been outsourced to an HR benefits firm (further proof of the company's lack of commitment to employees), she wanted to talk candidly about the lack of flexible time and the long, antisocial, antifamily hours that all associates were expected to put in. Instead, she told the interviewer she wanted to work on personal projects.

Kristen knew that the company saw outsourcing exit interviews as a cost-saving maneuver and an unimportant part of the process. Each departing employee, like Kristen, hoped the exit interview would offer a chance to share ...