4 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.

Available on: Basic.

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 steps on a phone or a screen: type the person's name, pick the main reason for leaving from a short list, type the feedback in their own words, and note 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. The manager opens the canvas, types the negotiator's name, picks "Better offer elsewhere" from the reason list, and 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 four fields 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:

• 1 text input (person leaving)
• 1 single-choice step (main reason for leaving, 5 options)
• 1 text input (main feedback)
• 1 text input (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 photo evidence (#3) once leavers hand back equipment and you want a record that the laptop, keys, or uniform actually came back.
3. Add a signature (#4) 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.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The basic check-in plus two guidance panels woven through the canvas. One panel at the start coaches the manager on how to set the right tone. One panel near the end coaches them on what to do with sensitive feedback. 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 first panel 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 four questions. Near the end, a kitchen assistant mentions they are leaving partly because of how a supervisor spoke to them. The second 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 previous template:

1. A "how to set the right tone" panel at the start that tells the manager to keep it relaxed and to reassure the leaver about their reference and final pay.
2. A "what to do with sensitive feedback" panel near the end that tells the manager 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:

• 1 guidance panel (how to set the right tone)
• 1 text input (person leaving)
• 1 single-choice step (main reason for leaving, 5 options)
• 1 text input (main 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 leavers are handing back equipment. Once a laptop, a set of keys, a uniform, or an ID badge changes hands at the same conversation, a typed note that it came back starts to look thin. A photo at the moment of handover settles it.

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Businesses wanting proof returned equipment came back, where the exit conversation is also the moment company kit changes hands.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The guided conversation plus a photo step at the end. The manager takes a quick shot of whatever the leaver is handing back: a laptop, a set of keys, a uniform, an ID badge. The photo lands in the same record as the four answers, so the kit that came back is logged against the person and the date, not tracked in a separate spreadsheet that drifts out of sync.

In practice: Take a four-van plumbing firm. An engineer leaves to go self-employed, and the office manager runs the exit chat when they drop their van back. After the four questions, the manager lays the returned items on the desk: the work phone, the fuel card, the branded fleece, and the two sets of yard keys. One photo. It lands in the leaver's record with the date attached. Three months later, when nobody can remember whether the second set of keys ever came back, the answer is in the photo, not in someone's memory.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A photo step at the end of the conversation.
2. A visual record of the returned equipment, attached to the same record as the leaver's name and the date.
3. An end to the separate equipment-return spreadsheet, because the proof now lives with the exit record itself.

Why it works: A typed line saying "all kit returned" is a claim. A photo is the evidence behind it. The two together survive a later question in a way the typed line alone does not. The note records what was meant to come back; the photo shows what actually did. Captured at the moment of handover, on the same device, the photo cannot be reconstructed after the fact.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (how to set the right tone)
• 1 text input (person leaving)
• 1 single-choice step (main reason for leaving, 5 options)
• 1 text input (main feedback)
• 1 text input (anything to keep confidential)
• 1 guidance panel (what to do with sensitive feedback)
• 1 photo step (returned equipment)

When to upgrade: Move to Exit Interview #4 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.

#4 - With photo and signature

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.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The photo-evidenced conversation plus the leaver's signature at the end. 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 the four answers and the equipment photo. They do not have to sign anything they disagree with, which is what makes the signature mean something. Three things on one record: the structured answers, the photo of returned kit, and a signed confirmation that it is accurate.

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, photographs the returned till key and uniform, and 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 previous template:

1. A signature step at the end of the conversation.
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 four answers and the photo say what was discussed and what came back. 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:

• 1 guidance panel (how to set the right tone)
• 1 text input (person leaving)
• 1 single-choice step (main reason for leaving, 5 options)
• 1 text input (main feedback)
• 1 text input (anything to keep confidential)
• 1 guidance panel (what to do with sensitive feedback)
• 1 photo step (returned equipment)
• 1 signature step (leaver's signature)

When to upgrade: The next variations layer Poppi on top. A Poppi briefing that surfaces the leaver's recent recognition and any open issues before the chat starts. A Poppi gate that routes serious feedback to the right person automatically. A Poppi action that drops the headline reason into a private people channel the moment the record is saved. Coming in the next post update.

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 three 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 #2 onwards. 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 a photo as proof, or is the typed record enough?

If nothing changes hands at the conversation, the typed record is enough. Go to #1 or #2.

If the leaver hands back equipment at the same chat (a laptop, keys, a uniform, an ID badge), a typed "all returned" is easy to dispute later. Go to #3. The photo at the moment of handover logs exactly what came back, against the person and the date.

Do you need someone to sign off at the end?

If the notes are just for the business and nobody will ever revisit them, a record is enough. Stick at #3.

If the conversation should be a fair account both sides agree on, the signature is the lock. Go to #4. 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.

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. Four questions asked the same way every time 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.