Understanding Employee Cycle Through Exit Interviews : Conceptual Framework and Case Illustration

In this age of quot;knowledge workersquot;, people are the most important assets for the continual success of the organizations. The big question for organizations is quot;What are the determinant factors to attract and retain the best talentquot;. Nothing less than a complete system of employee communication tools could serve to enhance an organization's ability to retain its top talent. These communication tools are employed by organizations to understand the employee cycle, which helps in attracting and retaining talent by providing best fit.This paper conceptualizes the methodology for understanding the employee cycle by using the information generated through the exit interviews. Previous research has focused on quantitative analysis of the data collected through exit interviews ignoring the insights that qualitative analysis could have provided. Qualitative data collected through open-ended questions are source of well-grounded and rich descriptions, and explanations of processes in identifiable local contexts. With qualitative data one can preserve chronological flow, see precisely the consequences of each event, and derive fruitful explanations. Qualitative research framework to analyze the rich data collected through exit interviews is developed to gain a holistic (systematic, encompassing and integrated) overview of the employee cycle: its logic, its arrangements, and its explicit and implicit rules. The framework developed is illustrated by taking a case of a Software Company in India