ESR Exit Questionnaire – help to build your workforce retention plans

Having access to good quality data on the reasons why your staff are choosing to leave your organisation can be key to your local retention plans.’  NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Looking After Our People - Retention Programme has worked with NHSBSA Workforce Directorate colleagues, the ESR team and NHS Wales to update the ESR exit questionnaire to include new questions, which align to the annual NHS Staff Survey and to allow staff an opportunity to self-report their reason for leaving. There is also a free text box to allow staff to confirm what (if anything) would have made them stay.

How it works

This functionality is available for any organisation using ESR Self Service.  Once the functionality is switched on by the organisation, the employee receives an ESR notification inviting them to complete the exit questionnaire as soon as a termination date has been entered into ESR. The questionnaire doesn’t have to be completed on a work PC or laptop - it can be completed at home once they have logged into ESR on their own device.

Data from the responses can then be used at organisation and system level to support local retention planning. 

Your organisation will be able to use the results of the survey to improve local working conditions and practices and to increase involvement and engagement with staff. Other organisations, including NHS England and NHS Improvement or NHS Wales for those employed in Wales, will make use of the non-identifiable and nationally aggregated results.

Once the answers have been submitted, HR professionals are able to access the reports via the ESR Business Intelligence dashboard. 

To help the NHSBSA ESR Team understand the impact of these new questions and how organisations might use the new exit questionnaire, a survey has been sent to all NHS organisations asking ESR Leads and Deputy HRD’s for their feedback about the ESR exit questionnaire and their current use of the functionality.  The results of this survey will help us to better support organisations going forward and identify any additional requirements that may assist the development of local retention plans.

If you would like more information about the ESR exit questionnaire, or guidance about how to begin using this functionality please contact your ESR Regional Functional Account

If you want more information about the ESR exit questionnaire, or guidance about how to begin using this functionality please contact your ESR Regional Functional Account Manager. There is also more information on understanding data on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Retention Hub and further information available in their FAQs.