3 ways to automate exit interviews

#1 - The basic check-in

Who it's for: Small businesses doing the occasional exit chat, where one manager runs the conversation and there is no formal leaver process to follow.

What it is: An exit interview is a short structured conversation a manager has when a team member leaves, to capture why they are going and what they would change. Four fields on a phone or a screen, arranged in two groups: The leaver (their name and their main reason for going) and The conversation (their feedback in their own words and anything to keep confidential). Each leaver is one stamped record. The manager runs the canvas once per departure, and the audit trail builds up as a list of completions over time.

In practice: Take a three-branch estate agency. A negotiator hands in their notice, and the branch manager sits down with them on their last afternoon. In The leaver group, the manager opens the canvas, types the negotiator's name, and picks "Better offer elsewhere" from the reason list. In The conversation group, the manager types out what the negotiator actually said: the commission structure was hard to predict, but the team itself was the best they had worked in. The manager adds a confidential note that the negotiator does not want their new employer mentioned to the rest of the office. Submit. One stamped record, no scrap of paper that gets lost by Monday.

Why it works: The structured questions are the value. The conversation still feels like a chat, but the answers land in the same two groups every time, so they can be compared later. A reason picked from a short list turns into a pattern the moment you have three or four of them. The free-text feedback keeps the nuance a tick-box would lose. And capturing it at the moment of leaving means it gets captured at all, instead of being half-remembered a week later.

Steps included:

• The leaver group: 1 text input (who is leaving), 1 single-choice step (main reason for leaving, 5 options)
• The conversation group: 2 text inputs (their feedback, anything to keep confidential)

When to upgrade:

1. Add written guidance (#2) once more than one person runs these chats, so every leaver gets asked in the same calm, consistent way.
2. Add a signature (#3) once the conversation needs to be a fair, signed record both sides agree on.

#2 - With written guidance

Who it's for: Businesses wanting a consistent set of questions every time, where different managers run the exit interviews and the tone needs to stay the same across all of them.

What it is: The same two groups as the basic check-in, but each now carries its own guidance. The leaver group opens with a panel that coaches the manager on how to set the right tone before the conversation starts. The conversation group closes with a panel that coaches them on what to do if the feedback turns sensitive. A duty manager running their first ever exit chat gets the same steer as a head of people who has run a hundred, without anyone having to brief them beforehand.

In practice: Take a 40-bed care home. Exit interviews are run by whichever senior is on shift, so the same conversation might be handled by five different people across a year. The panel at the top of The leaver group reminds the senior to keep it relaxed, off the floor, and to make clear that nothing said will affect the leaver's reference or final pay. The senior asks the questions. Near the end of The conversation group, a kitchen assistant mentions they are leaving partly because of how a supervisor spoke to them. The panel is right there, reminding the senior to thank them, take it seriously, and pass it to the right person rather than promise to bury it. The leaver feels heard, and the home gets a signal it would otherwise have missed.

What it adds to the basic check-in:

1. A "how to set the right tone" panel at the start of The leaver group, so the manager keeps it relaxed and reassures the leaver about their reference and final pay.
2. A "what to do with sensitive feedback" panel at the end of The conversation group, so the manager knows how to handle anything serious that comes up.
3. Consistency across managers, so every leaver gets the same calm, fair conversation regardless of who runs it.

Why it works: Written guidance sits inline at the moment the manager is about to act. The tone panel is on screen right before the conversation starts, not buried in an onboarding document nobody reopened. The sensitive-feedback panel appears at exactly the point where it is most likely to be needed. The manager does not have to remember the right approach. It is on the screen when it matters.

Steps included:

• The leaver group: 1 guidance panel (how to set the right tone), 1 text input (who is leaving), 1 single-choice step (main reason for leaving)
• The conversation group: 1 text input (their feedback), 1 text input (anything to keep confidential), 1 guidance panel (what to do with sensitive feedback)

When to upgrade: Move to Exit Interview #3 once the conversation needs to be a record both sides agree is fair. Once the feedback could ever be revisited, by the leaver, by a manager, or by an adviser, a signature on the record turns a one-sided note into a shared one.

#3 - With sign-off

Who it's for: Businesses needing a signed, fair record of the conversation, where both the leaver and the business want it on the books that the chat was captured accurately.

What it is: The basic check-in plus the leaver's signature, captured at the end of The conversation group. There is no guidance here, just the same two groups as the basic check-in with a signature added to the close. The leaver signs on the touchscreen to say the record of the chat is fair, and the signature is attached to the same record as their feedback and the confidential note. They do not have to sign anything they disagree with, which is what makes the signature mean something.

In practice: Take a regional bakery chain with twelve shops. A shift supervisor leaves after a few years and the area manager runs the exit interview. The supervisor's feedback is mostly positive, but they raise a real concern about staffing levels at weekends. The area manager captures it honestly, then turns the screen for the supervisor to read back what was written. The supervisor agrees it is fair and signs. Months later, if the staffing point ever resurfaces in a wider discussion, the record shows what was said and that the leaver agreed it was an accurate account at the time.

What it adds to the basic check-in:

1. A signature step at the end of The conversation group.
2. A signed confirmation from the leaver that the record of the chat is fair and accurate.
3. A shared record both sides have agreed on, rather than a note written by the business alone.

Why it works: The signature is what makes the record mutual. The answers in The leaver and The conversation groups say who left, why, and what they said. The signature adds: and the leaver agrees this is a fair account. Because they sign only if they agree, the signature is real consent, not a formality. Captured on the same device, at the same moment, in the same record, it turns a manager's notes into a record both sides stand behind.

Steps included:

• The leaver group: 1 text input (who is leaving), 1 single-choice step (main reason for leaving)
• The conversation group: 2 text inputs (their feedback, anything to keep confidential), 1 signature step (the leaver)

How to pick the right version

You do not need to know how the canvas builder works to pick the right version. You only need to answer two questions about how your business runs.

Is it just you running this, or do other people run it too?

If it is just you, the basic check-in (#1) is enough. You already know how to set the tone and how to handle a tricky moment, so you do not need the canvas to coach you through it.

If anyone else runs these chats (a duty manager, a branch lead, whoever is senior on shift), go to written guidance (#2). The guidance panels are what keep the tone calm and the handling consistent across people. You write the guidance once; everyone reads it inline at the moment they need it.

Do you need both sides to agree the record is fair?

If the notes are just for the business and nobody will ever revisit them, #1 or #2 is enough.

If the conversation should be a fair account both sides agree on, sign-off (#3) is the lock. The leaver signs only if they agree the record is accurate, which turns your notes into a shared record rather than a one-sided one.

Need both written guidance and sign-off? Open whichever matters more in the playground and add the other's steps yourself. That is how the product works anyway: every option here is the same conversation with steps added.

Related workflows

• How to run an anonymous feedback box
• How to automate tool and asset checkout
• How to log a customer complaint
• How to capture a job completion sign-off

Conclusion

An exit interview is a short structured conversation a manager runs when someone leaves, to capture why they are going and what they would change. The same four fields, grouped into the leaver's details and the conversation itself, turn scattered leaver chats into a pattern you can act on, and the signed version gives both sides a fair account on the record.

Pick the version that matches how your business runs today, not the most sophisticated one you can imagine running someday. Open each template in the playground above and try it on your next leaver.

→ Build your own exit interview on Pilla.