Retaining and engaging talent are big pain points for most organizations. Hearing the voice of the employee and getting his or her feedback on what is going well and opportunities for improvement is critical to retention and engagement. Last week, I wrote about employee surveys, which can be a great tool. Stay interviews are another powerful strategy to consider!
A stay interview is a periodic one-on-one interview that identifies factors that drive an employee to stay or leave an organization. These interviews are done proactively before employees leave, rather than doing an exit interview when they have already made their decision.
Questions that are commonly included in stay interviews are:
- What do you look forward to when you come to work each day?
- What do you like most or least about working here?
- What keeps you working here?
- If you could change something about your job, what would that be?
- What would make your job more satisfying?
- How do you like to be recognized?
- How can I best support you? (if the manager is conducting)
Who should conduct stay interviews?
Stay interviews can be conducted by the manager, HR or a third party, depending on your organization’s specific goals and needs. The following shares information related to each approach.
Stay Interviews Conducted by the Manager
Ideally, the stay interview is conducted by the manager.
- Pros – It can help build the relationship and is ideal if there is a foundation of trust.
- Cons – If there is a lack of trust, employees will likely not be forthcoming. And, it requires training for managers on coaching/communication/listening skills and the importance and process for stay interviews.
Stay Interviews Conducted by HR
If there is a lack of trust with the manager or no time to train them, stay interviews may also be conducted by HR professionals.
- Pros – HR may be seen as more of a neutral source in most cases so may get more candid feedback. Less training is involved as HR is typically skilled in having these types of conversations.
- Cons – There may be concerns about information getting back to others. And, HR professionals are typically very busy, and time may be an issue.
Stay Interviews Conducted by an Outside Party
Sometimes organizations will engage an outside consultant to conduct stay interviews.
- Pros – Employees may be more apt to be authentic in their responses, and this approach saves time for internal staff.
- Cons – There will likely be expenses involved, and this approach doesn’t help to build internal relationships.
How often should we do stay interviews?
It’s a good idea to consider once or twice a year, and you should typically plan for them to last about 45 minutes to one hour. It’s also recommended that this be separated from the performance management process.
What should we do with the information gathered in stay interviews?
You should take notes and create action items at the end of the stay interview to determine the next steps and then follow through.
