Exit Interviews for Restaurants: Questions in English and Japanese

Most restaurants learn why people leave from rumours, a bad review on a job site, or not at all. An exit interview is a short, structured conversation with someone who has resigned, held so that you can fix what drove them out before it drives out the next person. This guide shows how to run one in a Japanese kitchen, with a question set you can use in English and Japanese.

1. Why bother in a restaurant

Restaurants lose staff faster than most employers, so the lessons pile up quickly:

These are official figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Singapore's Ministry of Manpower and Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. They measure different things, so compare each row across, not between countries. The point is the same everywhere: restaurants lose staff at roughly one and a half to two times the average rate. For more on the numbers and their cost, see our turnover guide.

With that much movement, a handful of exit interviews a year gives you a real picture. Three cooks who all mention the same split shift pattern is a finding, not a coincidence.

2. When to hold it: two conversations, not one

People are rarely fully honest while they still need a reference, their last pay or a smooth visa exit. A practical approach is two short conversations:

• In the last week of work (15 to 20 minutes). Practical matters and the main reason for leaving. Do it away from the pass, before or after service, not in the middle of a shift.
• Four to eight weeks after they leave (10 minutes, by phone, video or a short written form). Once final pay is settled and they have started somewhere new, people tend to say more.

For a chef returning to Japan, the second conversation can be a video call or a short form in Japanese. Mind the time difference; our guide to scheduling across time zones has a table of workable slots.

3. Who should ask

Not the person they reported to. If the head chef was part of the reason for leaving, the answers will be polite and useless. Better options, in order:

1. The owner or general manager, if they were not the direct manager.
2. A manager from another site in the group.
3. For Japanese staff whose English is limited, a Japanese speaking person outside the kitchen line. A second language hides the real reason more often than not.

Tell the person at the start what will happen to their answers: who will see them, that they will not affect their reference or final pay, and that they can decline any question.

4. Twelve questions, in English and Japanese

Use them in order, skip what does not apply, and keep to open questions. The Japanese wording is deliberately soft and polite, which tends to get fuller answers from Japanese staff.

Question 10 is optional; some people will not want to say. Never press. Question 12 matters more than it looks: boomerang hires are among the easiest you will make, and chefs who leave on good terms refer others.

5. Getting honest answers from Japanese staff

Many Japanese employees are reluctant to criticise a workplace directly, especially to a senior person. Common reasons given at resignation, such as family circumstances or wanting to return to Japan, may be true and still not the whole story. Some practical techniques:

• Ask about situations, not people. "What happened on the busiest nights?" gets more than "Was the head chef difficult?"
• Offer a scale first, then ask why. "On a scale of one to five, how were the hours?" A three invites the follow-up "What would have made it a four?"
• Offer a written option. Some people say more in a short form in Japanese than face to face.
• Accept silence. Leave a pause after each question. The real answer often comes second.
• Thank them for any criticism. If the first criticism is met with a defence, the conversation is over.

6. Recording and using the answers

Write up each interview on a single page, the same day. Use the person's own words for the main reason. Then code it into one or two categories so you can count:

Review the log every six months with the owner and head chefs. Look for repeats: if three of the last eight leavers cite the rota, the rota is the problem. Report back to the team what you changed. People who stay notice when exit feedback leads to action, and it makes the next exit interview more honest.

Handle the notes as personnel records under your local privacy law: keep them secure, limit who can read them, and do not keep them longer than you need. Our guide to retaining Japanese chefs covers the stay interview, which asks the same questions to people who have not yet resigned.

7. What to avoid

• Counter offers during the exit interview. The conversation is for learning. If you want to make a counter offer, do it separately and before the exit interview.
• Arguing. You are not there to correct their version of events.
• Sharing what one person said with the team in a way that identifies them.
• Doing nothing with it. An exit interview that changes nothing is worse than none, because the team sees it as box ticking.
• Mixing it with the legal exit. Final pay, return of equipment, visa or sponsor notifications and reference letters are a separate checklist. Keep them out of the conversation, apart from confirming who will handle them.

General information, not legal advice. Turnover statistics are official figures as published and measure different things in different countries. Privacy and employment record rules depend on your jurisdiction.