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I am leaving the company for another opportunity as I am quite dissatisfied about the behaviors of some colleagues. HR specifically asked me what I think about other people in my team in a meeting room. Since I'm not sure whether I will work for the company again, I lied and said everyone was nice and helpful, and I'm just not OK with the content of my work.

What is the purpose of this question? Should I be honest about the inappropriate words and behaviors of some of my team members if given a second chance? Or would it be fine to just focus on the good side of colleagues?

iBug
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It is a best practice that you never tell officially exactly what you think about colleagues, bosses and companies.

Sooner or later, your honesty will hit you back, because we are all people and we are not perfect. The desire for revenge is too big in us all (or at least, in most of us).

ESPECIALLY: do not say anything bad about former colleagues, employees, companies DURING AN INTERVIEW! They will assume that you will speak bad of them in the future too, if something unpleasant happens.

Best course of action: be politically correct - only say good things. Claim that you leave because of better opportunities (or anything similar). DO NOT FALL into the trap to tell the truth, regardless of the tricks they apply to get it from you.

virolino
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What is the purpose of this question?

The purpose of that question is simply to identify if there is something which is not right with behavior of your colleague. If they get similar answers from people exiting then there is a high chance that it's true then HR can look into what is needed to be done to improve that behavior to avoid high attrition rate.

Should I be honest about the inappropriate words and behaviours of some of my team members if given a second chance? Or just focus on the good side of colleagues is fine.

I think you should point out the behavior you were uncomfortable with as long as it stays as a confidential information between you and HR. But again you are under no obligation to do so and have no incentive to do so either.

If the behavior was inappropriate then it makes sense to first inform HR before quitting.

Stupid_Intern
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What is the purpose of this question?

Only the HR department that asked it will ever know the real reason.

Here are a few potential reasons

  • Find employees who aren't acting appropriately
  • Making sure management are doing their jobs appropriately
  • Preventing potential fines that could hit the company (e.g. colleagues harassing each other, discrimination etc..)

Should I be honest about the inappropriate words and behaviours of some of my team members if given a second chance?

I doubt they're going to ask you again, but this is up to you. What do you have to gain from doing so?

Focusing on the good sides could cost the company if there are serious matters to be addressed that are not prevented/identified however no one will blame you or even know you knew about it so again, do you have anything to gain from saying good or bad?

Twyxz
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