The Question Nobody Asks in Exit Interviews
Most exit interviews ask "why are you leaving?" The better question: "what almost made you leave before?" It surfaces fixable problems instead of post-hoc rationalizations.
Exit interviews have a fundamental design flaw. By the time someone is leaving, they've already constructed a narrative. Cognitive dissonance ensures they'll rationalize the decision: the new job is better, the culture wasn't right, the growth wasn't there. You're collecting justifications, not intelligence.
The sharper question is one most organizations never ask: "What almost made you leave before you decided to stay?" This surfaces the near-misses, the moments when something fixable pushed a good employee to the edge but something else pulled them back.
Those near-misses are your actual retention data. They tell you which problems are generating flight risk right now, in your current team, among people who haven't yet decided to go.
The hack: Add this one question to your next exit interview: "Before this decision, was there an earlier moment you considered leaving? What happened?" Then track the patterns. The recurring near-miss themes are your retention priorities, and they're cheaper to fix than backfilling roles.
