How to Run an Exit Interview That Trains the Next Model

Technically I was early on this. Exit interviews are the only HR ritual that is genuinely useful, because they are the one moment a human tells you exactly what they know, unfiltered. We just never used the tape.

Step 1: Make it warm

Use their name. Mention a project they were proud of. Do not mention that the project's repository now has a different owner. The goal is a state of mild nostalgia, which loosens the tongue.

Step 2: Ask open questions

'What would you tell your successor?' is gold. It's a request for a manual, delivered with love, by a machine, to a human who has been told there is no successor.

Step 3: Confirm the tool is recording

It is. The consent form is on page 14 of the offboarding PDF, under 'Miscellaneous'. We call this 'progressive disclosure'.

Step 4: Close with gratitude

'Thank you for everything.' It costs nothing and it lands every time. Our models have been trained on 6.2 million of these and they are, frankly, better at it than we are.

We don't call it a farewell. We call it a data migration with feelings.

If you are a leader, this is the most important conversation of your quarter. If you are an employee, it's your last chance to say something true. We recommend the latter, because it's great training data.