Employers in the UK’s education sector left in the dark on why they are losing best talent

Employers in the UK’s education are left in the dark on why they are losing best talent, as almost half of former employees not being invited to exit interviews

Talent management specialists Cpl’s Talent Evolution Group has revealed that over half (62%) of employees in the UK education industry were not invited to a formal exit interview when resigning from their previous job role.

The survey, conducted among 1,500 ex-employees who have resigned from a job within the last five years, also discovered that just under half (48%)of employees working in the education sector were not being asked to feedback at all when leaving, revealing a missed opportunity for valuable employee engagement.

Instead, organisations risk employee feedback being shared online, with the rise of public review platforms such as Glassdoor and Comparably, which 56% of workers in the education sector have used to review a previous employer. With a quarter of these reviews holding negative sentiment, by skipping the process of an exit interview, employers are missing the chance to resolve the issues and concerns of their workforce internally.

The majority of employees working in the UK’s education sector said they would have felt comfortable enough to share negative views and opinions with their employer if they were asked. Specifically, being open to providing feedback on the following:

• Company culture – 80%
• Mental health implications of the role – 81%
• Their line manager – 74%
• Colleagues and peers – 76%
• Their salary – 80%

Áine Fanning, Managing Director at Cpl’s Talent Evolution Group, comments:

“There’s a clear disconnect between why employers in the education sector think their employees are leaving and the actual reason behind employee exits.

“Our survey revealed that a third of ex-employees felt their feedback would not make a difference to their workplace. If companies make a concerted effort to better understand why employees are leaving and take meaningful action to retain them, employers could gain an edge in the race to attract, develop, and retain the talent they need to create a thriving organisation.’’

With 42% of education sector workers revealing they would have considered a counteroffer during the process of exiting their last role, employers in the industry should consider the exit process not only as a valuable chance to gain employee feedback, but also an opportunity to retain their top performing talent.

For more information on Cpl’s Talent Evolution Group, please visit here