An exit interview, or exitgesprek, is held shortly before the final working day. The conversation is usually led by HR rather than the direct line manager to encourage candid feedback. Questions cover reasons for leaving, role clarity, workload, leadership, development, culture, and any safety or compliance concerns the employee wishes to raise.
Although Dutch law does not require an exit interview, the insights support retention analysis, reveal systemic issues, and complement the personnel file. When clustered and reported back to management in an anonymised form, exit data feeds continuous improvement of the employee experience, onboarding, and reward design.
Privacy rules apply: individual statements should be handled confidentially, stored no longer than necessary, and never used in isolation to discipline remaining staff. Combining exit interview themes with engagement surveys and regrettable-attrition metrics gives the strongest picture of why people leave.