Exit Survey Theme Analysis Template

An anonymous exit survey designed to aggregate departure feedback into actionable themes by department, tenure, and manager so HR and leaders can identify turnover patterns and prioritize retention actions.

Departure Context

• What is the primary reason you are leaving the organization?
  Select the option that best reflects the main driver of your decision.
• How strongly did each of the following influence your decision to leave: compensation, growth opportunities, manager relationship, workload, role fit, work-life balance, or company direction?
  Rate the overall influence of these factors on your decision to leave using a 5-point scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
• Please explain any factor you rated as Agree or Strongly agree.
  Use this to capture the specific retention driver or turnover reason behind higher ratings.

Manager Effectiveness

• My manager provided clear expectations and feedback.
  Rate on a 5-point Likert scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
• I felt comfortable raising concerns or speaking candidly with my manager.
  Rate on a 5-point Likert scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
• If you rated either manager question as Disagree or Strongly disagree, what specifically should have been different?
  Capture the manager-related root cause behind low ratings.

Role, Growth, and Work Experience

• I had opportunities to learn and grow in this role.
  Rate on a 5-point Likert scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
• My workload was sustainable.
  Rate on a 5-point Likert scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
• The role matched what I understood when I accepted the job.
  Rate on a 5-point Likert scale: Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree, Strongly agree.
• What would have made this role a better fit or more sustainable?
  Use this to capture job-reality gap, growth, or workload themes.

Retention Levers and Final Feedback

• What is the one change that would have most increased your intent to stay?
  Focus on the highest-value retention lever.
• Would you recommend this organization as a place to work to a friend or colleague?
  Use a 0-10 eNPS scale: 0 = Not at all likely, 10 = Extremely likely.
• What is the primary reason for your score?
  Required follow-up for eNPS-style analysis to distinguish promoters, passives, and detractors.
• Anything else you'd like to share?
  Final open-ended feedback.

Optional Segmentation

• Department
  Optional segmentation field; collect at the end to reduce bias.
• Tenure band
  Optional segmentation field; examples: Less than 6 months, 6-12 months, 1-2 years, 2-5 years, 5+ years.
• Manager name or team
  Optional segmentation field for theme analysis. Use only if anonymity policy and sample size allow.