When an associate, consultant or manager leaves a professional services firm, the firm needs to understand what shaped the decision. The product is the people and their time, so a resignation affects client work, team capacity and the firm's relationships, not only a headcount number.
The purpose is to learn from their experience, respect their decision and identify what could improve for the people who remain.
CIPD's guidance on employee turnover highlights the value of understanding why staff leave and addressing areas such as fair treatment, flexibility and employee wellbeing. Source: CIPD
Look beyond the first answer
"Better opportunity." "Moving to industry." "Taking a break." These answers may be accurate, but they may not explain the whole decision. A better opportunity could mean a clearer path to senior roles, a more even spread of work, a different specialism or hours that are more predictable than the firm could offer.
Start with a simple question: "What made you start considering a change?"
Then ask what made the employee decide to leave. This helps distinguish what started their search from the opportunity that eventually attracted them.
Avoid assuming that every resignation reflects a problem with the firm. Completing a qualification, further study, relocation, family responsibilities and a change in career direction can also influence someone's decision.
Explore the areas that shaped their experience
Use the following areas as prompts rather than assuming any one of them caused the resignation.
- Pay and recognition: Did the employee feel their pay reflected their responsibilities? Were appraisals, increments and any bonus clear, and was credit for good work shared fairly?
- Progression: Could they see what was needed to reach the next level, and when that would be discussed? Was the path to senior roles or partnership explained honestly?
- Work allocation: Did interesting work and client exposure go to a few people? Did some colleagues carry the urgent and routine work?
- Hours and busy seasons: Were peaks planned or constant? Was extra effort acknowledged and followed by recovery time?
- Partner and manager support: Were expectations and feedback clear? Could they raise a concern about a partner or manager and expect it to be heard?
- Client pressure: Did short-notice requests, changing scope or difficult client relationships fall on junior staff without support?
- Learning and qualification: Did the firm support study leave, exams and skill-building alongside client work?
- Personal circumstances: Did relocation, further study, caregiving or other priorities affect their ability or wish to continue?
Several factors may contribute to one resignation. Allow employees to explain these connections in their own words.
Create a respectful exit conversation
Invite the employee to a voluntary exit interview during their notice period. Explain that the purpose is to understand their experience and improve the firm.
Where possible, choose an interviewer who is sufficiently independent of the issues being discussed. In a firm where the person's own partner or manager is the likeliest subject of the feedback, that person should not run the conversation. Offer another partner, an HR contact or an external person. Give them the option to provide written feedback.
Explain who will see their responses and how the information will be used. Avoid promising complete anonymity in a small practice or team where details could identify the person. Remind the employee that client confidentiality continues, and avoid asking for client details in the discussion.
Listen without interrupting or defending each company decision. If clarification is needed, ask for a specific example respectfully. The employee should not have to debate or justify their decision to leave. For how to run the process around the conversation, see exit interviews that produce action.
Ask questions that lead to useful feedback
- 1
What first made you consider leaving?
This finds the starting point, which is often different from the final reason.
- 2
What were the main factors in your final decision?
Let them rank or connect the factors in their own words.
- 3
How did the role compare with what you expected when you joined?
Gaps here point to hiring conversations or role changes that were never discussed.
- 4
Did you understand what was needed for your next level, and how that was assessed?
Listen for gaps between what was said and what was applied at promotion time.
- 5
How was work allocated, and did it feel fair?
Ask about access to varied work, senior exposure and who received the urgent tasks.
- 6
Were your hours and busy periods manageable?
Listen for whether peaks were planned or constant.
- 7
How would you describe the support you received from your manager and partner?
Offer another interviewer if the employee is uneasy answering this to someone close to them.
- 8
Did the firm support your learning and qualification alongside client work?
Ask what they would have wanted, not only what was missing.
- 9
Were there concerns you raised earlier? How were they handled?
This shows whether concerns reach anyone who can act.
- 10
What should we improve for the next person in this role?
A forward-looking close that leaves the conversation constructive.
Use follow-up questions where necessary, while allowing the employee to skip questions they do not wish to answer.
Turn individual feedback into a pattern review
Record the primary reason for leaving, any contributing factors and a brief factual summary. Separate what the employee said from your interpretation.
Review departures over time by practice, level, partner group and length of service. Repeated concerns deserve attention, but a small number of exits should prompt further investigation rather than an immediate conclusion about a partner or a team. The general guide to why employees leave covers the wider approach, and the attrition number that hides the problem explains why a single headline rate is not enough.
Compare exit feedback with current employee conversations, utilisation and workload information and other relevant evidence. Keep identifiable responses restricted to those who need access, and use summaries when presenting to partners.
Give each improvement an owner
An exit interview has limited value if the feedback is simply filed away. For each issue selected for action, agree on:
- The specific change needed.
- The person responsible.
- A completion date.
- How progress will be reviewed.
For example, unclear progression could lead to a written description of each level and a yearly conversation with a named partner. Uneven work allocation could prompt a regular review of who is staffed on what. Hours concerns could prompt a review of how peak periods are planned and how extra effort is balanced.
Where appropriate, tell current employees what has changed without revealing a departing employee's private feedback.
Start listening before employees resign
Include regular conversations about what helps people work well and what makes the job difficult, not only at appraisal time. A short conversation at the end of a busy season or a major engagement can surface concerns while there is still time to act. Ask: "What would make you consider leaving, and what could we improve now?"
These conversations can create opportunities to address concerns while the employee is still part of the team. Follow-through matters: asking for feedback creates an expectation that someone will consider it seriously.
Every resignation deserves a respectful response. Understanding the reasons, checking the wider evidence and acting on issues within the organisation's control gives that conversation a useful purpose.
