Employee turnover has become a major issue facing employers. Instead of sitting back and wondering, “hey, why is this happening?”, why not take action? Stay Interviews are a great way to plug those leaks before they sink your ship by finding out what is causing your employees to consider leaving. Give yourself time to improve employee happiness and keep your top talent around. Find out what a stay interview can do for your company below.
What is a Stay Interview?
Stay interviews are conducted with current employees to find out what they like about their role and the company, as well as what they would like to see improved. This is a great tool for increasing employee retention. Stay Interviews help you collect employee feedback on what the major pain points are before they make the decision to leave. It is also a great way to discover what the employee envisions their future with the company to look like. There are many benefits of conducting stay interviews for your company.
6 Ways Stay Interviews Benefit Your Business in the Long Run
Helps to Decrease Turnover
This is the most important takeaway from stay interviews. They help you discover what is causing your top employees to consider leaving their positions. This gives you time to really dive into those issues and find a solution before it is too late. There are many areas that could cause an employee frustration including salary, benefits, culture, proper tools, etc. Zoom in on what your company could be lacking. This is also a great time to find out what the employee loves about their job so that you can capitalize on that throughout the company.
Increase Workplace Morale
The culture of the workplace is so important for employees. Stay interviews will give each individual employee an outlet where they can feel heard and validated. It is easy to get lost in the shuffle of everyday work and large group meetings. Providing a safe space for the employees to be asked their opinion, and then be genuinely listened to, is invaluable.
Stay interviews are also a great tactic for improving employees’ commitment to their job. Over time, employees tend to get burned out from doing the same thing day in and day out. Find out what they would like to be doing at work through the stay interview and find ways to increase their engagement.
The stay interview itself also increases workplace morale by showing the company is interested in creating positive change for its employees.
Worklife Balance
Check in on your employees and see if they think they are maintaining a good work-life balance. This has been found to be a top priority for employees in modern times and a leading contributor to employee turnover. Find out if your current employees are using all of their available time off, and let them know it is safe, and encouraged to do so. If you find that your employees are feeling overworked, consider offering unpaid time off. It is a low-cost way to provide your valuable employees with a great opportunity to maintain that balance.
Improve Professional Development
According to Harvard.edu, “Professional development can be instrumental in growing a stronger team. Employers who encourage their employees to seek out professional development opportunities are in turn encouraging higher productivity and job satisfaction.” The stay interview is a great place to find out if your employees are aware of the professional development programs offered at the company, and if they are satisfied with the offerings. If they do not know about them, educate them! Encourage them to sign up for programs they are interested in. Sometimes it is necessary to make employees feel safe and comfortable utilizing perks at a company. If they are not satisfied with them, find out what they would like to see and try to make it available.
Streamline Onboarding Process
Onboarding, or the process of getting employees trained and up to speed on their position and the company, can be a significant pain point at any company. Conducting consistent stay interviews during the process can be helpful in identifying what is working, and what is not for your company’s onboarding process. According to payscale.com, “about 20% of new hires leave within their first 45 days of employment.” Hiring is an expensive and slow process. Improving your onboarding process in order to retain new hires can go a long way to saving your company time and money.
Give Insight for Recruiting
It is important to know what benefits matter most to current employees, in order to highlight that when recruiting new talent. You want to be able to show the top things your company offers that differentiate it from others. The stay interview is the place to gather this valuable information. The stay interview is also a great time to find out what makes a great “fit” for the company so that recruiters can keep those qualities in mind when looking for new hires.
A Word of Caution for Stay Interviews
Be Ready to Listen and Act
An essential aspect of a stay interview is the importance of active listening and being willing to apply what you learn. The fastest way to shut down any conversation is to get defensive. Some of the feedback may not be easy to hear, and it may even involve you, but it is paramount to stay neutral and accept what you are being told. Ask follow-up questions in order to truly understand their concerns. After listening, be proactive in helping to resolve employee concerns. Whether recognizing employees with company ecards, clarifying company policies, or addressing company culture issues, any action to improve workplace morale is essential. Follow up with your employee as well to let them know what actions you have taken. This will go a long way in helping the employee feel heard and validated.
Not Every Concern Can Be Fixed
There will be issues brought to your attention during stay interviews that may not be able to be resolved. This is where good, strong communication comes in. Set expectations appropriately and accurately. Do not tell the employee you will resolve something you know cannot be resolved. This will only lead to disappointment and further frustration which will not help your employee retention. Take the time to talk through these issues, and find ways to mitigate the negative effect they are having on the employee. Empathize with them and let them know their happiness is important to you, even if you cannot fix every issue perfectly.
Meetings Should Be Regular
In order to catch issues before they become huge issues, you must commit to holding stay interviews regularly. They cannot be a one-time thing. A good rule of thumb is to hold them annually, separately from their yearly performance reviews.
Tips for a Successful Stay Interview
Who Should Interview
Your first thought about who should conduct the stay interview may be human resources. According to cultureamp.com, stay interviews are “often more effective when led by an employee’s direct or skip-level manager. Consider choosing the individual the employee is closest with, as the employee might be more forthcoming with their feedback if they trust the meeting organizer.” Managers work with the employee the most and have more context in terms of their position than human resources would. Iresourcest is important to frame the interview as a meaningful conversation between the employee and manager. Use it as a way to open up lines of communication in order to improve workplace morale. This will allow you to not only gather valuable information for the company but improve the manager/employee relationship in the process.
Who to Interview
Schedule stay interviews with high-performing employees in order to retain top talent. Find out what their pain points are before it is too late. Take time to find out what these employees love about their job as well in order to help you capitalize on those items. It is also important to conduct stay interviews with new hires after their onboarding has been completed. They have a high turnover rate and it will help to catch them before they make a decision to leave.
Stay interviews should be scheduled well in advance with appropriate context. Provide employees with a list of stay interview questions. This will give your employees time to prepare their thoughts. This will lead to a more insightful conversation than an impromptu interview would.
What to Ask in a Stay Interview
- What is your favorite part of your job?
- What is your least favorite part of your job?
- Do you feel you have a good work-life balance?
- Do you feel like a valued employee? What would make you feel more valued?
- Do you feel your voice is heard at work?
- Do you feel you have a good relationship with your management team and co-workers?
Get Started Now
There are many reasons why you should get started today scheduling those stay interviews. Discover what your employee experience is truly like and find ways to retain your top talent so that your company can grow and achieve greater efficiency, which will lead to a profitable and positive place to work. Be thoughtful about each interview question and become the type of company that values the voice of their employees and watch the difference in employee satisfaction that will make.
