Usertick
Start free
Employee exit survey template

Learn why people leave, while there is still time to ask

Seven questions for the notice period: the main reason for leaving, what would have kept them, how the job looked from inside and whether they would return. Use it as it is or change any question, and Usertick reads every written answer for you.

Get started freeAll templates

What this employee exit survey tells you

An employee exit survey asks people why they are leaving while they still work with you and are willing to say. This template asks seven questions in about two minutes: the main reason, a ranking of what would have made them stay, four statements about the job, how long they worked here, a recommendation score and whether they would come back.

It is written for an email Usertick sends during the notice period, before the last week, when people still have time and access. The reason question sits inside the email, so one tap starts the survey. When people should answer without their name, turn on Anonymous responses and share the link or QR code instead, because an email from Usertick ties each answer to the person's contact.

Every written answer is read as it arrives and filed under a category from your list, such as managers and leadership or growth and learning, with a type and an urgency. Results shows the share of each reason and the average place of each thing that would have kept people, compared with the period before.

In an emailAs a linkOn your websiteAs a conversation
Questions
7
Time to answer
About 2 minutes
Written for
An email during the notice period, before the last week
Plans
Every plan, the free plan included

See it on every channel

The same template on your website, behind a link, in an email and as a conversation.

In an email

Send it from Usertick to a contact list, with the first question inside the email. A tap on an answer opens the rest of the survey with that answer already kept. Usertick sends 50 emails a month on the free plan, or connect your own sender.

The 7 questions, one by one

What each question asks, why it is there, what it shows you and what to change.

Question 1 of 7 · Multiple choice

What's the main reason you're leaving?

Why ask it
One main reason, chosen from a short list, gives you a number to compare across quarters. The write-in Other catches reasons the list misses.
What you learn
A donut with the share and count of each reason, with typed Other answers listed. Select My manager to read everything those people answered.
Make it yours
Keep the list close to how people talk about leaving, and add a reason you hear often, such as a relocation or a reorganization.
Question 2 of 7 · Ranking · Optional

Rank what would most likely have made you stay

Why ask it
The reason someone leaves and the thing that would have kept them are often different. A ranking makes people choose between the fixes you could make.
What you learn
The average place of each option, so you see whether a clearer path to grow beats better pay among the people who left.
Make it yours
List only fixes you could really offer, so the ranking points at a decision.
Question 3 of 7 · Matrix · Optional

Looking back, how much do you agree with these statements?

Why ask it
Four statements check conditions that wear people down long before notice is given: tools, recognition, growth and feeling safe to raise concerns.
What you learn
A heat map per statement with its average. Compare it with similar statements in your engagement survey to see whether leavers saw the job differently.
Make it yours
When the statement on raising concerns comes back low, read the written answers from the same period before you act on it.
Question 4 of 7 · Multiple choice

How long did you work here?

Why ask it
Tenure shows whether people leave in the first year, which points to hiring and onboarding, or after several years, which points to growth and pay.
What you learn
A donut with the share of each length of service. Select Less than a year to see the reasons given by early leavers.
Make it yours
Keep the bands broad when few people leave each month, so the band says less about who answered.
Question 5 of 7 · NPS

How likely are you to recommend us as a place to work?

Why ask it
Asking leavers whether they would recommend the company as a place to work separates people who leave on good terms from those who don't.
What you learn
The score, promoters 9 to 10 minus detractors 0 to 6, with a bar of detractors, passives and promoters and a score line over time.
Make it yours
Read the score next to the reasons: promoters who leave for career growth tell a different story from detractors who leave because of a manager.
Question 6 of 7 · Multiple choice

Would you consider working here again?

Why ask it
A good leaver may come back one day or send others your way, and this answer tells you whether the door is open from their side.
What you learn
A donut with the share of Yes, Maybe and No, compared with the period before.
Make it yours
When the survey isn't anonymous, give the Yes answers an owner in the inbox and keep in touch with those people.
Question 7 of 7 · Text · Optional

What do you wish someone had asked you sooner?

Why ask it
The question invites the one thing nobody asked during the job, which is often the most useful answer in the survey.
What you learn
Usertick reads each answer, files it under a category and a theme such as managers and leadership or pay and benefits, marks complaints and ideas, and flags the urgent ones.
Make it yours
Share the themes with leadership each quarter and keep the exact wording of individual answers inside the people team.

What the answers show

Results turns each question into numbers you can follow week by week.

How likely are you to recommend us as a place to work?

Your NPS from promoters and detractors, compared with the period before and split by device.

What's the main reason you're leaving?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

How long did you work here?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

Every written answer, read for you

Each answer arrives with its category, theme, type and urgency, so the urgent ones reach your team first.

Use this template in four steps

From the template to the first answers.

  1. 1

    Open the template

    Sign up free and pick Exit survey in the template gallery. It opens in a matching style, ready to change.

  2. 2

    Make the questions yours

    Reword any question, change the options, and add logic or more questions.

  3. 3

    Choose where it runs

    Show it on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.

  4. 4

    Publish and read the answers

    Answers arrive in Results and the inbox as people send them, each written one read and filed by Usertick.

Tips for this survey

Small choices that keep people answering and the answers useful.

  1. 01

    Ask before the last week

    The last days fill up with handovers and goodbyes. Send it in the first half of the notice period, when there is time to answer properly.

  2. 02

    Decide on names before you send

    An email from Usertick ties each answer to the contact. For answers without a name, turn on Anonymous responses and share the link or QR code instead.

  3. 03

    Read reasons by quarter

    Few people leave in any one month, so look at Results by quarter or by year before you treat a reason as a trend.

  4. 04

    Act on one reason at a time

    Pick the reason with the largest share, change one thing about it, and see whether its share drops in the next quarter.

Churn surveysEmail surveysBenefits and leaving questions

More churn templates and questions

Templates like this one, and single questions from the library to add to it.

Templates

Browse all templates
ChurnOffer declinedUnderstand why candidates turn down your offers and how they compare with the one they took. Send it within a week of the decline.
RetentionTeam pulseA short, anonymous check on workload, support and whether people feel heard. Send it every week or two to the whole team.
OnboardingNew hire, day 30Check in with new hires after their first month: what's in place, what slowed them down and what the next person should know. Send it on day 30.
CSATTraining feedbackFind out whether a training was relevant, whether people can apply it and what to train on next. Send it at the end of the session or the next morning.

Questions from the library

Browse the question library
  1. Rank the benefits you value mostRanking · Benefits and leaving
  2. Which benefit is missing?Multiple choice · Benefits and leaving
  3. What is the main reason you are leaving the company?Multiple choice · Benefits and leaving
  4. How much do you feel you belong on your team?Big scale · Belonging and inclusion
  5. How much do you agree about working here?Matrix · Belonging and inclusion
  6. Do you feel comfortable speaking up in meetings?Yes / No · Belonging and inclusion

Frequently asked questions

During the notice period, before the last week. The person still has time and access, and the reasons are fresh.

That is your choice. With Anonymous responses on and the survey shared by link or QR code, Usertick stores no user ID, traits or visitor ID with the answers and keeps the country and a salted hash of the IP address. When only a few people leave each month, tenure and reason together can still point to one person.

It works best next to it. The survey gives you numbers to compare across quarters, and the interview lets you ask about what the answers raise.

Five to eight. This template asks seven and takes about two minutes, and only the reason, the tenure, the score and the come-back question are required.

Yes, on every plan. A workflow adds each answer to a Google Sheet, posts to Slack or Microsoft Teams, calls a webhook or runs a Zapier step to reach other tools.

Yes. Every template comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.

Yes. The template becomes your own survey, so reword any question, add or remove questions, and change the options and the logic. The gallery stays as it is.

Yes, from Starter. The template is written in US English. Add languages by hand or with AI translation, and each person sees the survey in their browser's language.

Listen better, act faster, and build what truly matters.

Start free, see what your customers mean, and get each answer to the person who can act on it.

Get started freeTalk to sales
  • 150 responses a month on Free
  • Every channel and AI analysis
  • No card needed