> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hitaji360.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Exit interviews

> An exit interview is the conversation HR has with a departing employee to understand why they are leaving and to capture honest feedback while it is still…

An exit interview is the conversation HR has with a departing employee to understand why they are leaving and to capture honest feedback while it is still fresh. In Hitaji 360 an exit interview is a small record you schedule, conduct, and then complete with the employee's feedback — their reason for leaving, how satisfied they were, whether they'd recommend the organisation, and any open comments. Each interview can be tied to a [separation](/hr/user/lifecycle/separation) so the offboarding picture is complete.

**You'll find this at:** `/hr/exit-interviews` (list) and `/hr/exit-interviews/:id` (detail).

> 📷 *Screenshot: the Exit Interviews list with the satisfaction-rating stars column — to be added.*

***

## Before you start

* **Which business am I in?** An exit interview belongs to one business and is invisible to users working in another. Confirm the business switcher before creating one.

***

## The exit-interview lifecycle (statuses)

| Status        | Meaning                                                     | What you can do                                                |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pending**   | Just created; not yet scheduled.                            | Set a date and interviewer(s), then mark Scheduled; or cancel. |
| **Scheduled** | A date and at least one interviewer are set.                | Record the feedback and complete; or cancel.                   |
| **Completed** | Feedback has been captured.                                 | View only.                                                     |
| **Cancelled** | Abandoned. This is a terminal state — you cannot reopen it. | View only.                                                     |

You must move an interview to **Scheduled** before you can **Complete** it.

> ⚠️ **Current state — completing can terminate the employee.** When you complete an interview and set the employee's status to **Exit Confirmed**, Hitaji 360 *also terminates the employee and ends their employment contract*, using the interview date as the termination date. This happens directly, outside the separation maker-checker flow. Use **Exit Confirmed** deliberately — if the leaver is being handled through a [separation](/hr/user/lifecycle/separation), let that drive the termination and choose **Retained** here. (Flagged for the team as a side-effect that should ideally be gated behind separation approval.)

***

## Creating an exit interview

There are two ways:

1. **From the list** — choose **New Interview** and pick the employee.
2. **From a separation** — on the separation detail page choose **Schedule Exit Interview**, which opens the create form pre-linked to that separation and employee (`?createFor=<employeeId>&separationId=<id>`).

> 📷 *Screenshot: the create-exit-interview dialog — to be added.*

| Field                   | Required | Notes                                        |
| ----------------------- | -------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **Employee**            | Yes      | The departing employee.                      |
| **Employment contract** | No       | Optional link to the contract being ended.   |
| **Separation**          | No       | Links the interview to a separation record.  |
| **Interview date**      | No       | Can be set now or when you schedule.         |
| **Interviewer(s)**      | No       | One or more people conducting the interview. |

***

## Scheduling and conducting

While **Pending**, set the **interview date** and add at least one **interviewer**, then mark it **Scheduled** (both a date and an interviewer are required).

When **Scheduled**, record the feedback. The questionnaire is a fixed set of fields (not a free-form question bank):

| Feedback field               | Notes                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Reason for leaving**       | Chosen from a list: Better Opportunity, Personal Reasons, Relocation or Family, Health Reasons, Compensation Dissatisfaction, Growth Limitations, Management Issues, Contract End, Retirement, Termination, Other. |
| **Satisfaction rating**      | A 1–5 star rating.                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| **Would recommend**          | Yes / No — would the employee recommend the organisation.                                                                                                                                                          |
| **Open feedback**            | Free-text comments.                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| **Employee status decision** | **Retained** or **Exit Confirmed** (see the warning above — Exit Confirmed terminates the employee).                                                                                                               |

Choose **Complete Interview** to finalise. A completed interview is read-only.

***

## How it links to a separation

If the interview carries a separation link, the separation's **Exit Interview** panel shows it and lets HR jump straight to it. Conversely, an interview detail page links back to its separation. This keeps the offboarding record joined up — the separation drives termination and settlement, the exit interview captures the feedback.

***

## Permissions

| Action                             | Permission |
| ---------------------------------- | ---------- |
| View exit interviews               | `hr:read`  |
| Create, schedule, complete, cancel | `hr:write` |

***

## Related

* [Separation (offboarding)](/hr/user/lifecycle/separation) — the leaving workflow an interview attaches to
* [Grievances](/hr/user/lifecycle/grievances) — the other lifecycle record HR manages for employees
* [The employee profile & its tabs](/hr/user/employees/employee-profile)