What Can Leaders Gain From Conducting Stay Interviews?
The concept of interviews is quite familiar to leadership, especially during the initial stages of an individual's employment. But what happens later on, when an employee has already spent a few years with your company? Is there no longer a need for conversations discussing their goals, overall satisfaction, and engagement? These interim interviews are known as stay interviews, and they can be valuable tools for employers who want to combat high turnover rates or maintain and improve their retention numbers. In this article, we will discuss what a stay interview involves and what benefits leaders can expect when conducting them regularly.
What Is A Stay Interview?
A stay interview is an informal conversation between an employee and a manager that aims to understand the employee's likes and dislikes about their job. This discussion goes beyond a typical one-on-one catch-up or a performance review, as it focuses more on what the company does for the employee instead of the other way around.
Through targeted questions, the manager or HR representative tries to gauge the employee's engagement level, integration with the company culture, and satisfaction with benefits and colleagues, among others. One might say that they resemble exit interviews in the sense that they seek insight into each employee's unique experience. The difference is that stay interviews occur before an employee decides to leave to pursue another job opportunity. In fact, the insights gained from these interviews can be used to prevent employee disengagement.
There are many questions you can include in your stay interview depending on what you want to focus on. Here are a few examples:
- "Is there something more you would like to see from management and leadership?"
- "Do you feel recognized and valued?"
- "Have you ever thought about leaving the company? What prompted that?"
- "Are there any challenges that hinder your productivity?"
- "How would you like your role to evolve in the future?"
- "Which skills do you want to develop?"
- "Would you recommend this workplace to friends or family?"
These are only a few examples of the many questions you can ask an employee during a stay interview. When the time comes, make sure to prepare a list of questions and consider whether you want to send them to the employee in advance. The benefit of doing so is that it allows the employee to prepare, but the downside is that you might receive rehearsed responses that feel disingenuous.
5 Benefits Of Conducting Stay Interviews
1. Improved Satisfaction And Engagement Rates
Stay interviews are a place for employees to speak freely about their concerns, needs, as well as their goals and aspirations for the future. The fact that these meetings don't focus on their performance and achievements results in less pressure for employees to prove themselves and instead allows them to be honest. This way, employees feel heard and valued, which greatly contributes to a trusting relationship between employee and employer and improved overall satisfaction and engagement levels.
2. Improved Retention Rates
Many reasons can drive an employee to consider leaving a job, with a common culprit being the feeling of stagnation. Organizations that fail to innovate in terms of internal processes and workforce are more likely to experience increased turnover rates. However, you can combat this problem by launching an employee listening strategy that includes stay interviews as one of its tools. Through them, you will be able to identify the specific areas where your company may be lacking and highlight the skills employees need to develop to advance their careers, ultimately contributing to the growth of your business.
3. Identify Problems Early On
Although challenges are common—if not expected—within any organization, it is essential that you identify and address them as soon as possible to minimize their negative impact. The best way to do this is to maintain close communication with your employees through surveys, regular conversations, and, of course, stay interviews. If you ask thorough and thoughtful questions, you will be able to uncover challenges and issues that may have gone unnoticed until now before they escalate, potentially harming productivity, company culture, or profitability.
4. Foster A Trusting Workplace
Stay interviews are vital in fostering a trusting and open work environment, which is crucial for employee engagement and loyalty. Employees who feel secure in sharing their challenges and concerns are much less likely to seek alternative job opportunities. In addition to listening to what employees have to say, you must remember to take appropriate action. This might involve making their daily tasks easier or enhancing aspects of the company culture. This collaborative and continuous feedback exchange will demonstrate the trustworthiness and honesty of leadership, making a significant impact on employee commitment.
5. Improve Company Culture
What is special about stay interviews is that most, if not all, of the employees who participate want to stay with the company. This desire motivates them to share genuine insights to help the company improve and, in turn, positively impact their everyday work lives. This 2024 report about toxic workplaces reveals that as many as 75% of the respondents had experienced a toxic work environment, while 87% of them had noticed a negative impact on their mental health. Stay interviews will be your weapon against such issues, helping you track essential company culture metrics and promote a healthy and supportive work environment.
Conclusion
Stay interviews are invaluable for leadership and management, helping them increase employee retention and engagement and identify internal issues and challenges. But most importantly, they foster a culture of trust and honesty, not only within your workforce but also between employees and leadership, thus enhancing company culture. Turning your attention to employees who are making the conscious choice to stay with your company can give you much more information than speaking with new hires or employees who are currently offboarding. Make the most of this opportunity by asking the right questions and allowing employees the space to speak honestly.
