What can leaders gain from conducting stay interviews?
The concept of interviews is very well known for leadership, especially in the early stages of individual employment. But what happens later when employees have already spent several years with your company? No more need for a conversation to discuss their goals, overall satisfaction, and involvement? These interim interviews are known as stay interviews and can be valuable tools for employers who want to combat high sales rates or maintain and improve their retention. This article explains what stay interviews entail and what benefits leaders can expect when they command regularly.
What is a stay interview?
A stay interview is an informal conversation between an employee and a manager who aims to understand his or her dislike of his or her job. This argument goes beyond the typical one-on-one catch-up or performance review.
Through targeted questions, managers or HR representatives seek to measure employee engagement levels, integration with company culture, and especially their benefits and peers satisfaction. They might say it’s similar to exit interviews in the sense that they are looking for insight into each employee’s unique experience. The difference is that stay interviews occur before employees decide to leave to pursue different employment opportunities. In fact, the insights gained from these interviews can be used to prevent employee departures.
Depending on what you want to focus on, there are many questions that you can include in your stay interview. Here are some examples:
“Is there anything you want to see from management and leadership?” “Do you feel recognized and valued?” “Have you ever thought about leaving the company? What prompted you to do?” “Are there any challenges that hinder your productivity?” “How do you want your role to evolve in the future?” “What skills would you like to develop?” “Do you recommend this workplace to friends and family?”
These are just a few of the many questions you can ask employees during your stay interview. When the time comes, prepare a list of questions and consider whether to send them to employees in advance. The advantage of doing so is that employees are prepared, but the downside is that they may receive rehearsed responses that feel dishonest.
Five Benefits of Conducting a Stay Interview
1. Improved satisfaction and engagement rates
Stay interviews are a place where employees are free to talk about their concerns, needs, and future goals and aspirations. The fact that these meetings do not focus on their performance and outcomes means that there is less pressure for employees to prove themselves, allowing them to be honest instead. In this way, employees feel listened and valued, making a significant contribution to the trustworthy relationship between employees and employers, improving overall satisfaction and engagement levels.
2. Improved retention rate
Many reasons can drive employees to consider quitting their job. A typical perpetrator is a sense of stagnation. Organizations that fail to innovate in terms of internal processes and workforce are more likely to experience increased turnover. However, you can address this issue by starting an employee listening strategy that includes stay interviews as one of these issues. Through them, you can identify specific areas where your company may be lacking, highlight the skills employees need to develop to advance their careers, and ultimately contribute to the growth of your business.
3. Identify the problem early on
While challenges are not common, they are common in any organization, it is essential to identify and address them as soon as possible to minimize negative impacts. The best way to do this is to maintain close communication with employees through continued research, regular conversations and of course interviews. Asking thorough and thoughtful questions can reveal challenges and issues that have not been noticed before escalating that could harm productivity, corporate culture, or profitability.
4. Cultivating a reliable workplace
Maintaining interviews is essential to promoting a reliable and open work environment. This is crucial to employee engagement and loyalty. Employees who feel comfortable sharing their challenges and concerns are far less likely to seek alternative employment opportunities. In addition to listening to what employees have to say, don’t forget to take appropriate action. This includes making daily tasks easier or reinforce aspects of the company culture. This joint and continuous exchange of feedback demonstrates the reliability and integrity of leadership and has a significant impact on employee commitment.
5. Improve your corporate culture
The special thing about stay interviews is that they want to stay at the company, if not all of the employees participating. This desire motivates the company to share genuine insights to improve and, as a result, have a positive impact on daily life. This 2024 report on toxic workplaces reveals that 75% of respondents experienced a toxic workplace environment, compared to 87% who noticed negative mental health effects. Stay interviews will be your weapon against such issues, help you track key corporate culture indicators and promote a healthy and supportive work environment.
Conclusion
Stay interviews are invaluable for leadership and management, helping to increase employee retention and involvement and identify internal issues and challenges. But most importantly, they cultivate a culture of trust and integrity, and therefore strengthen the company culture, not only within your workforce, but also among employees and leadership. Focusing your attention on employees who have made the conscious choice to stay in your company can provide much more information than talking to new recruits and employees who are currently offboarding. Make the most of this opportunity by asking the right questions and ensuring that employees can speak honestly.
