Should I conduct exit interviews with departing employees?

Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues: from how to deal with a micromanaging boss how to talk to someone on your team about body odor.

Here is a summary of the answers to five questions from readers.

1. Do I have to conduct exit interviews?

​My assistant is leaving at the end of the month. I've always heard that you should conduct an exit interview with anyone who quits. Is the exit interview still standard if the employee was part-time? He was in our organization 20 hours a week for a year. If I have to conduct an exit interview, can you please let me know what types of questions should be included?

Green responds:

It's really up to you. Some employers do and some don't. There is no point in doing them unless you are genuinely interested in the information you will receive and are willing to act on it in some way; don't do it just to follow the moves, as this will create cynicism among your other employees. And of course, exit interviews shouldn't replace regular interviews with people while they're still employed (and if you're just doing one or the other, do it!), but sometimes you get more honesty from people when they leave.

Rather than doing it yourself, it might be a good idea to assign this task to someone like HR, as people might not feel as comfortable sharing feedback directly with you (especially if the comments concern you).

Good questions to ask: What could we do to make this work work even better? What should your manager do differently? How comfortable were you approaching your manager with a concern? What did you wish you had known when you started working here? What do you wish you could say to the next person in that role? What, if anything, could we have done to convince you to stay?

2. I heard rumors about the professionalism of an employee

I recently inherited a team of several employees who frequently travel abroad. A member of the team, Bob, does not currently travel but has often asked to be allowed to do so.

I asked another employee (who used to be responsible for managing everyone's travel) if she knew why Bob hadn't been cleared to travel, and she told me that after When Bob was hired, several colleagues in the field had shared negative stories about his behavior since he had traveled for a previous institution. Another colleague in the field (whom I fully trust) who worked at Bob's previous establishment told me that he did not have a good reputation among his former colleagues and his boss. People thought he was not responsible for the institution's time or money when he was on the road, and that he abused the freedom and autonomy of the position.

Bob repeatedly asked why he couldn't cover the rides as we were looking for someone to cover. I generally believe in being honest with people as much as possible, so my instinct is to explain that I received negative comments about his professionalism on the road. There are other issues that I'm also dealing with with this employee, and he may not be in this position for very long. But I would like to be honest and help him grow as long as I work with him. How should I handle this?

Green responds:

The way this was handled before you came in is a bit odd - both Bob was penalized for issues people heard he had in a previous job but no one has seen at that job, and no one has spoken to him about it, especially when he is apparently directly asked for an explanation.

I think you have...