A recent Harvard Business Review article ‘How to Keep Your Top Talent’ warns that 25% of your top talent plans to jump ship in the next year. It also found one in three admit to not putting all their effort into their jobs. This should be alarming to companies who believe that their competitiveness relies on the passion, drive and creative energy of their talented people.
Many companies use exit interviews to find out why employees are leaving their jobs. Unfortunately, asking an employee on their last day “why are you leaving?” doesn’t provide useful information in time to prevent the turnover. A superior approach is a “stay interview.” because it occurs before there is any hint that an employee is about to exit the firm.
A stay interview helps managers understand why employees stay so that those important factors can be reinforced. They also signal frustrations that can be nipped in the bud before they drive the employee to start looking elsewhere.
The Benefits of Stay Interviews:
• They stimulate the employee: Most employees are excited simply by the fact that the organization is concerned about their future and that their manager took the time to consult with them.
• They’re personalized: Unlike engagement surveys and many other retention tools that are focused on what excites a large number of employees, this approach is customized to a single identifiable individual and their wants.
• They include actions: Unlike exit interviews, which only identify problems, stay interviews also encourage the parties to identify actions that can improve the employee experience and actions that can help eliminate any major turnover triggers.
• They are inexpensive: These informal interviews don’t require a budget. In most cases, a half to an hour of a manager and an employee’s time are the only major cost factors.
Adding stay interviews to your engagement and strategies can help your organization retain critical employees. It’s the single best tool you can give managers.