Retaining employees seems to be on all of our minds these days. With few applicants, employers are working hard to hire and onboard quality employees. After employees are trained in, it’s easy to move on to other things and assume that ‘no news is good news’. Unfortunately, that’s not always accurate.
Stay interviews provide leadership with information on:
- How things are going for current employees
- Provide an opportunity to make adjustments before employees decide to exit the organization
The ROI of a Stay Interview
2022 SHRM benchmark data found that the median cost-per-hire is $1,244 in hard costs. This does not include time spent:
- Recruiting and interviewing
- Training and onboarding
- Covering open position’s workload by coworkers and manager
When these factors are included, the cost of replacing a current worker is estimated to be 6 to 9 months of the employee’s annual salary.
Gallup research found that 52% of employees who voluntarily leave the organization say their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job. Common reasons for resignations include:
- Unclear job duties
- Inconsistent communication or expectations
- Limited development or promotional opportunities
- Lack of manager or team support
- Work schedule or location requirements
- Money
- Burnout
- Personal situations outside company’s control
What is a Stay Interview?
Stay interviews are a conversation to capture the perspective of an employee on working at the organization. The goal is to learn about any potential issues BEFORE the employee begins looking for another position or responds to headhunter messages on LinkedIn. Once an employee begins looking, one foot is out the door and it often becomes difficult to retain them (both financially and emotionally).
Stay interviews conducted by managers who have a trusting relationship with the employee are the most impactful. However, not all employees feel comfortable or safe sharing their perspectives with their manager. In those cases, it is best if HR or another third-party conducts the stay interviews. This will improve the quality of feedback received.
Stay interviews give management additional insights in employee motivations, and barriers to success. These insights can be utilized to provide a better employee experience – which improves engagement, retention and as a result – customer satisfaction and organizational financial success.
How to Conduct a Stay Interview
Too often, we ask people “How’s it going?” and assume that we’ve asked them how they are doing. In the U.S., that question is actually a greeting. When was the last time you heard an in-depth response to that question? If you received a lengthy response, you may have been slightly shocked that the response was more than “good” or “fine”. Taking a few minutes in the morning to ask employees “How’s it going” is friendly and likely appreciated, but it’s also typically a superficial conversation.
A stay interview conversation takes preparation.
Prepare Questions. A number of sample questions are included below for your reference. These are meant as a starting point for leadership. Add additional questions that make sense for your situation.
- What do you like best about your job?
- What don’t you like about your job? (You can’t always change this, but knowing can inform distribution of work moving forward)
- What is one change we could make that would make the biggest difference for you?
- What are your career goals?
- What do you want to learn more about?
- What development opportunities would you like to have?
- What motivates you to do good work?
- How manageable is your current workload?
- What meetings are not a good use of your time?
- What would increase your job satisfaction?
- Do you have access to resources (equipment, time, coworkers) needed to do your job?
- What barriers are you currently experiencing in your role?
- How can I better support you?
- What would you tell me if you weren’t concerned about my response?
There are situation-specific factors that may trigger additional questions to be added. Those factors may include:
- New employee (ask about onboarding)
- New manager (ask about management and communication style)
- Organizational changes or mergers
- Organizational success / financial strain
Communicate Intentions. Before the conversation, share your intentions of the conversation with the employee. Provide an overview of questions you will ask them. This helps them prepare and will provide you with better data.
- Explain that you want to know what it’s like to be an employee here from their perspective. Explain your goal to make impacts where you can. For example, to make the organization/team a better place to work.
- Share what you plan to do with the information gathered.
- Re-affirm your commitment for maintaining a safe and open space for them to provide you with information.
Plan for Success. Schedule enough time to have an in-depth conversation based on the number of questions included. Plan a location and space that will allow for confidential conversations without interruptions. Turn off your email and cell phone notifications during the meeting so the employee has your complete attention.
Conduct the Stay Interview. Take time to connect with each employee before jumping into stay interview questions, to make them more comfortable. Reaffirm your commitment to confidentiality, transparency and your interest in learning about the employee’s experience on the team and in the organization.
Don’t make promises you may not be able to keep. Make efforts to neutralize your response and work to avoid any negative or defensive responses. Be conscious of voice tone and body language.
- Maintain an open and inviting posture
- Avoid crossing your arms
- Maintain neutral facial expressions and smile encouragingly
- Ask follow-up questions to further your understanding and minimize any potential misconceptions or assumptions
- Summarize what you’ve heard back to the individual to confirm understanding
End the interview by asking if they have any additional feedback or thoughts that should be known and thank them for their time.
After the Stay Interview. Take note of any commitments for follow-up and ensure those are completed in a timely manner. Maintain confidences to ensure ongoing trust with employees. The data provided will give managers insights on how best to motivate, distribute work and create a more productive environment.
Summary
While nothing will prevent all unwanted turnover, stay interviews can provide leadership with the information needed to make adjustments, improve employee engagement, and reduce turnover.
Foundations Consulting offers stay interview services for organizations that are looking for an outside perspective to capture insights on current trends.
