Of all the obstacles and surprises managers know may be heading their way each day, the one they usually least anticipate and prepare for is the resignation of a seemingly happy and extremely valued employee. With the current labor market, are you noticing employees resigning for other positions? Are you worried about keeping your best talent? Consider stay interviews.

What is a stay interview?

A stay interview is an interview where you ask current employees questions to determine why they stay and what might cause them to leave. It also allows you to assess job satisfaction and discover warning signs. It is like an exit interview but before a potential exit.

A stay interview allows you to gain valuable feedback. It can help to improve retention and promote good relationships with employees. However, a stay interview is not a substitute for regular communication with a manager.

What are some best practices?

• Schedule stay interviews in advance and let the employee know what to expect so they can prepare and come with helpful information.  
• Ask good questions and give the employee being interviewed your undivided attention.
• Keep it informal and express appreciation to the employee for talking with you.
• Determine how you will use the information and then act as appropriate to make any changes.

What are some good questions?

The questions you ask can be beneficial to both the employee and the company. The goal is to understand what keeps employees happy and try to retain them. Top questions include:

• What do you like about your job?
• What do you like least?
• If you could change something what would it be?
• Do you feel your skills and talents are being fully utilized?
• Do you feel appreciated?
• Do you feel you are able to have a positive work-life balance?
• What keeps you here at our company?
• What would make you want to leave?
• When did you last think about leaving and what prompted that?
• Do you have any suggestions for me?
• Anything you want to share that we did not cover?

Unwanted turnover has a negative impact on the organization. Stay interviews provide insight into how to keep employees while they are still employed. Done well, you can understand drivers of employee retention and turnover. You can work with key employees to develop stay plans and see a positive impact on your retention rate.

For guidance, you can reach out to your FrankAdvice HR Consultant.