Exit interviews have become an ingrained part of the human resources process, but have you considered conducting a stay interview with your employees? While exit interviews have their place in helping to understand why a specific employee is leaving, introducing stay interviews may well mean you’ll be holding a lot less exit interviews!

What is a stay interview?

In a nutshell, a stay interview is the opposite of an exit interview. Instead of asking one person why they have decided to resign, you can uncover what all of your employees like and dislike about their role and the company, and what changes and improvements they’d like to see to make them stay. Understanding what keeps your people motivated and engaged is a great way to retain top performers and build trust and psychological safety in your workplace.

What does a stay interview look like?

Unlike the formality of an exit interview, the best stay interviews are more conversational and held at regular intervals. And they don’t need to be stand-alone interviews either. If your managers already hold regular one-on-one meetings with their employees, then incorporating ‘stay’ questions into these structured feedback conversations is a great strategy. Alternatively, if you think your managers may not get honest feedback from their employees, you may consider having someone independent conduct these interviews through group sessions or a survey.

What type of questions should be asked?

The whole idea of a stay interview is to identify any issues or frustrations that your employees may have with their role or the workplace in general – and solve them before they become bigger issues. It’s also an important way to find out what your people like about their job and the company, as well as what goals and aspirations they have.

Some questions you may ask include:

•  – What do you like most/least about working here?
•  – What is the favourite/least favourite part of your job?
•  – Do you feel valued as an employee? Why/why not?
•  – What is one thing the company can do to improve workplace culture?
•  – What skills would you like to learn or improve on?
•  – How can the company better support your career goals?
•  – What strengths do you have that we’re not fully utilising in your role?
•  – What would tempt you to leave the company?

 

Regardless of the questions you ask, your employees need to feel comfortable in being open and honest in a stay interview. These questions can sometimes lead to some difficult conversations, especially if your managers are conducting the interview and the feedback relates to them.

For stay interviews to be effective, it’s essential that you not only listen to your employees’ concerns but also take action. All feedback should be noted, acted upon where appropriate, and then discussed during future stay interviews to keep your employees updated on any changes or improvements.

Need some assistance?

The team at Common Goal Consulting has extensive experience in employee retention strategies and can help you to implement stay interviews in your workplace. Contact us today to discuss your requirements and explore how we can assist.