Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Staff Retention topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Osseo HR outlines exit-interview findings, points to early-career attrition and mentorship plans
Summary
HR leaders told the board that automated exit surveys and voluntary interviews are beginning to show patterns: many departures occur in the first three years and career advancement is the most common controllable reason cited. HR said it will share more disaggregated data with the board.
Osseo Area Schools HR leaders presented early results from their exit-interview process at the board’s Nov. 11 work session, telling board members the automated Qualtrics survey and follow-up interviews are helping the district understand why staff leave and how to improve retention. The hourlong update was led by HR executive director Yvonne Shorsland and workforce recruitment and retention coordinator Nelsa Anderson.
The presentation described an automated workflow that generates a confidential Qualtrics survey when staff submit a resignation or retirement. "The exit survey is voluntary. It's confidential. It's hosted by Qualtrics," Anderson said, noting the automation ensures consistency and timeliness of feedback. HR reported that through the current July–present cycle roughly 99 employees left the district and about 24 completed the exit survey (about 30% completion); four requested in-person interviews.
The nut graf: HR officials said early, controllable drivers of turnover center on career mobility and supports during employees’ first three years—an interval they called critical—while other reasons such as relocation and retirement are less actionable for district policy. Board members pressed for more breakdowns (by staff category, by tenure and by demographic group) to help the board evaluate equity and program effectiveness.
In the body of the presentation, Anderson summarized early findings: about 25% of respondents selected "career advancement" among reasons for leaving and another large share selected "other," which the team said contains a mix of explanations captured in open-text responses. "We see opportunity to strengthen how we're keeping staff, especially in the first three years," Anderson said, describing planned steps including stronger onboarding, mentorship programs targeted at ESP (education support personnel) and new-teacher mentorship work.
Shorsland and Anderson said HR has partnered with the district business-analytics team to improve data cleaning and that staff plan to digitize exit interviews to allow better tracking and analysis. When board members asked about responses from retirees and whether those responses could be captured before departure, HR said they typically attempt to deliver surveys during the notice period and will explore ways to increase retiree response rates.
Board members also asked whether the district can disaggregate results for ESPs, teachers and other job categories; HR said more detailed reporting is in progress and that they will email the board the fuller dataset and sample responses. The presentation emphasized that exit interviews are one tool among several—mentorship, compensation benchmarking and leader coaching are part of a broader retention strategy.
The board did not take formal action during the work session; staff said they will return with additional data and recommended next steps for implementing mentorship and use of exit findings.
The HR slides and a detailed data package will be provided to the board after the work session for follow-up review.
