Every business needs a system to see how best to retain talent. Today's employment atmosphere is highly competitive, and losing well-performing employees to competitors can affect your business. A stay interview can help you prevent high turnover rates.
Taking advantage of stay interviews can help you boost employee engagement and improve your retention strategy. They can tell you more about what improvements your team would like to see and what matters to them in a work environment before they start looking for greener pastures. When conducted effectively, a stay interview allows you to develop trust with your employees and point out issues before they spiral.
So what is a stay interview?
Some might assume that a stay interview involves convincing your star employees to stay when they turn in their 2-weeks notice, but that couldn't be further from the case.
A stay interview is simply a conversation with your current high-performing employees to evaluate their job satisfaction and determine why they're staying with the organization. It gives you insights into their daily experiences, what keeps them satisfied or engaged in their role, and any changes they would like to see. By asking specific questions during a stay interview, you can learn what makes your business a good place to work and any problems that could drive away good employees so you can address them accordingly.
It is meant to be a positive interaction that gives a voice to your team and allows you to learn from your mistakes.
Fair warning, there needs to be a high level of trust between management and the employees for stay interviews to be productive. This all boils down to your company culture; if effective two-way communication is not part of the organization's culture, a stay interview might not be as fruitful.
What benefits does a stay interview bring to your organization?
Stay interviews are just as vital as exit interviews. A stay interview gives you enough time to recognize and deal with problems in the organization early on, while exit interviews are conducted when an employee is on the way out. Stay interviews are an excellent strategy for engagement while giving you the information you need to develop an employer brand that helps you attract new talent and retain your best hires. It can also give you the related data and patterns to tell you more about your turnover rates.
Employees want more than a salary from their employers; they want to feel appreciated and valued at work and stay interviews can help you achieve that while showing you care about their satisfaction. Stay interviews and other employee engagement tools such as surveys make for a better retention rate overall.
How to effectively conduct stay interviews
You must have a clear strategy when conducting stay interviews with employees, so the process goes as smoothly and productively as possible. The ideal stay interview should be a one-on-one conversation held in a safe and confidential setting. You want your employee to feel as comfortable as possible to give you the best insight into your company and brand as an employer. Before starting the stay interview, let the employee know their feedback is valuable and what the company will do with their input.
Conducting the stay interview
Did you know that the employer's relationship with employees contributes to their decision to stay at a company? Ideally, the employee's direct manager should lead the stay interview session. This is a great way to build a strong relationship with honest communication and trust.
Who should get a stay interview?
Employers should do these sessions for all employees focusing on high-performing or the most tenured employees. Mainly because they can give insight on what about their employment experience motivates them to do so well at their jobs or why they have stayed on for so long. Employees will stay with their organization for various reasons, but you need to learn how your company explicitly offers value to each person.
Where to do it
When selecting a location for stay interviews, the goal is to ensure employees are comfortable enough to have an open and honest conversation with you. Feel free to ask your employees for suggestions on possible stay interview locations and maintain flexibility. It doesn't have to take place in an office setting; you can take it outside by having a walk-and-talk session, going to a coffee shop, or even taking a hike. Changing the location like this helps shift the mood so everyone can feel comfortable talking about their work engagement.
Timing
Stay interviews should not be done immediately after new hires start their roles and shouldn't clash with annual performance reviews. Ensure the employee has settled into the position entirely and gotten used to the work environment for the stay interview to be productive and valuable.
You can hold stay interviews for each employee annually during the same period, which could mean spacing them days or weeks apart. This allows you to act quickly on the feedback and data collected without letting it stay unaddressed for too long. On that note, you can also include stay interviews in your onboarding process; this could be within 30, 60, or 90 days of hiring a new employee(s).
Stay interviews can last for about 20 to 60 minutes, but you can take as long as necessary (within reason) to understand each employee's grievances and satisfaction level. Schedule them in advance and inform employees on what to expect during the session so they can prepare accordingly and are not taken by surprise.
Asking the right questions
This is the most essential part of the stay interview process. Ask questions that benefit the employee and the company in a way that encourages an honest and open conversation. Stay interview questions should show employees that you value their opinions and will take feedback seriously.
Avoid asking closed-ended questions that could only get you "yes" or "no" answers. After all, we are trying to get quality information from the employees. Also, steer clear of questions about employee salaries and save those for the performance review. Depending on the information you want to get and the employee you're interacting with, your stay interview questions will vary. Here are some excellent questions to consider for the stay interview. Feel free to tweak them :
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What keeps you working at this company?
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What do you look forward to every day at work?
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What does a good work day look like for you?
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What aspects of work have made you frustrated or anxious in the past year?
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How happy are you here on a scale of 1 to 10? How can we get you to 10?
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How would you rate the work-life balance here, and how can it be improved?
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What would you change about our company culture?
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What could cause you to leave the company?
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What motivates and demotivates you at work?
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What is your opinion on employee recognition at this company?
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What can I do to make your experience at this company better?
After conducting the interviews:
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Remember to show your employees that their feedback will be treated confidentially and taken seriously.
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Express your appreciation for participation in the stay interview and your employee's work in general.
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Don't forget to follow up with each person via email with specific details to show you were actively listening.
Key takeaway points
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Please avoid minimizing or dismissing your employees' opinions or answers, no matter how much you disagree with them.
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Do not mesh stay interviews with performance reviews to focus entirely on the employee's needs and experience.
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Make sure to ask questions focusing on all aspects of the employee's role and their experience working for the company
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After making changes, inform the employees whose feedback helped to do so to appreciate their efforts.
Most importantly, use the info you've gathered to make positive organizational changes to gain the most value from the stay interviews. After all, stay interviews are valuable tools for positively influencing your organization's employee-retention rate.