Do we know the real reason behind an employee exit?

Most times we don’t as people never like to tell the truth and especially if it’s going to be a bitter one. Most people I have interviewed during my experience have cited various personal reasons for leaving the organization and when you flip the question and ask why did you look out in the first place or what were your drivers for looking out, I have seen a clearer and more truthful answer emerging.

What someone is leaving now for might be very different from why he / she thought of looking out in the first place. Case in point might be a employee who is unhappy with his team environment and decided to look out and now has a job with a 40% pay increase.

Also sometimes having a third person talk to an employee is more effective, especially if there is fear of retaliation or defensiveness that the employee perceives from the organization.