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UPFRONT
EXIT (INTERVIEW) STRATEGY
Many employers are taking their workers’
parting words to heart, new research from
staffing firm OfficeTeam suggests. More
than half (54 per cent) of HR manag-ers
said their company commonly acts on
feedback from exit interviews.
When asked how they follow up on in-formation
gleaned from these meetings,
46 per cent of respondents stated they
address comments about management.
Another 20 per cent make changes to
the work environment, while 14 per cent
update job descriptions and 10 per cent
review employee salaries.
“While losing a high-performing employ-ee
can hurt a team or business, companies
must recognize the opportunity it offers to
gain valuable insight into improving their
organizational structure or culture,” said
Koula Vasilopoulos, a district president for
OfficeTeam. “Departing workers can offer
firsthand feedback that current staff may not
be as willing to share, which can help com-panies
deal directly with issues and may
mitigate further turnover down the road.”
OfficeTeam offers some pointers for em-ployers
when conducting exit interviews:
■■ Do time it well. Consider scheduling
the meeting on one of the worker’s last
days. Keep the conversation brief and
professional.
■■ Don’t make it awkward. Because
departing employees may be
uncomfortable discussing certain
subjects with their immediate
supervisor, have an HR representative
conduct one-on-one meetings in a
private setting.
■■ Do cover the right topics. Ask
general questions about why the
worker is leaving, what the person
liked and disliked at the company and
recommendations for improvements.
■■ Don’t get defensive. Avoid correcting
or confronting the person. Listen
carefully and gather as many details as
possible.
■■ Do be upfront. Explain that any
information provided can help to
better the organization and will be kept
confidential.
■■ Don’t brush things off. Give all
comments that are shared the proper
attention. Also check for patterns in
feedback collected from employees,
which can signal persistent problems.
WOMEN IN TOP CORPORATE
JOBS DROPS
After International Women’s Day cele-brations
and Justin Trudeau being lauded
at the United Nations for his progressive
approach to gender equality, global talent
acquisition firm Rosenzweig & Company
released its 11th annual report, which in-dicates
that corporate Canada lagged this
past year in recognizing and promoting
women leaders.
Last year, the number of women hold-ing
the highest executive positions at
Canada’s 100 biggest publicly traded com-panies
actually fell from the previous year.
The latest Rosenzweig Report on Women at
the Top Levels of Corporate Canada finds
only eight per cent of the highest paid ex-ecutive
positions are now held by women,
down from 8.5 per cent. (Rosenzweig’s
first report more than a decade ago found
4.6 per cent of women held top jobs.)
“The Rosenzweig report plays a critical
role in showing a realistic profile of where
we stand today, and in exposing Canadian
businesses to the clear benefits of bring-ing
women into the C-suite and onto
corporate boards,” said Heather Munroe-
Blum, chair of the Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board and director of RBC
Financial Group. “To make broad, mean-ingful
progress requires us to understand
the current gaps that exist with a lack of
diversity at the top of many Canadian
corporations, along with the great com-petitive
value to be had in championing
progress in this area.”
The annual Rosenzweig report tracks
the 100 largest publicly traded companies
in Canada, based on revenue, and exam-ines
how many of the top-paid executive
roles are held by women. Here are some of
the findings in this year’s report:
■■ Of 526 top executives, 484 are men
and only 42 are women
■■ Of the 100 largest companies, 66
have all male leaders with not a single
woman in a top leadership role
■■ In the 25 largest companies, only
four women are in top-paid executive
positions
■■ In the corner office, only seven CEO
positions are held by women among
the 100 largest publicly traded
companies
INVESTMENTS IN MORALE PAY
BIG SATISFACTION DIVIDENDS
The latest ADP Canada Sentiment
Survey reveals that a large majority of
working Canadians (83 per cent) believe
if their employer made an effort to raise
spirits at work, their own satisfaction level
would significantly improve.
Axsimen/Shutterstock.com HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2016 ❚ 11
