A stay interview is conducted by a manager whose goal is to understand what causes employees to leave their roles, and what keeps them on board. Highly effective stay interviews include structured, standard questions asked by managers in a relaxed atmosphere and casual manner. While this process may seem easy on paper, it is actually highly involved and takes a great degree of skill to execute. This is why the most successful organizations partner with companies that train managers how to conduct stay interviews, so they can keep their best people in the right seats. This article is intended to outline the powers of the stay interview, and help managers better understand why it is critical to master this practice.
Mastering the Stay Interview Involves these Five Questions
Multiple studies have indicated that there are five top questions all managers should be asking in stay interviews. When you delve into the arena of asking probing questions, you will be able to get the information you need to execute retention strategies that will save your company a great degree of time and money. Here are the five questions:
- What do you look forward to each day when you prepare for work?
- What do you want to learn and work, and what have you learned?
- Why have you stayed in your current position?
- When was the last time you thought about leaving your role, and what prompted it?
- What can be done to make your job better for you?
These are the five basic questions that should always be asked in any stay interview.
Be Sure To Listen
One of the most common mistakes made in conducting exit interviews is that the manager does too much talking, and not enough listening. As a manager, 80% of the stay interview should involve you listening. You will need to be highly disciplined to listen, without running questions through your head.
Be On a Mission to Learn More
It goes without saying that the person you are interviewing may be nervous and hesitant in divulging data. From a standpoint of showing genuine care, ask probing questions that will give you clearer insight into the employees feelings about their role within the company. Ask the person you are interviewing to give examples, and ask him or her to talk about how these components make them feel in relation to their job role.
Be Sure to Take Notes
Ask the employee if you have permission to record the interview. If they are not comfortable with that, then take careful notes. Once you have compiled your notes, create a spreadsheet and enter them accordingly under the right categories. This will help you stay organized and provide a structured manner for your company to really delve into the psyche of your employees and see why they are happy in their job, or not happy.
Consider Working with an Employee Retention Expert
Companies like C-Suite Analytics offer specialty programs that help organizations learn how to execute the best stay interviews which, in turn, will protect the bottom line. Reach out to such an organization, ask how they can help your company keep the best employees in their current roles, and help to ensure your organization has the best people in the industry, for years to come.
