ExEcutivE REPORt Stay interviews
With the Big Quit in full swing, Adam Bernstein wonders if so-called ‘stay interviews’ might be a good way to hang on to your employees.
T
here’s a shortage of labour across many business sectors. Partly due to changing
demographics and the changing nature of many industries, it’s also a function of what has been termed ‘the big quit’, where many people re-evaluated their lives and decided, where they could, to enjoy what time they had left.
This leaves employers in a double bind. On the one hand they can struggle to recruit, but on the other, they need to prevent good employees from leaving. Estimates vary, but Glassdoor suggests that it costs at least £3000 to recruit an employee, while the CIPD’s Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey 2020 thinks that for some employers it can be as high as £5000 (median).
It makes sense, then, for employers to retain good employees and one tool to do this is to run what is termed a ‘stay interview’.
The interview defined The polar opposite of an exit interview, where employers ask why an employee is leaving, the stay interview seeks to understand what would make an employee stay put – what are their motivations, what could be made better for them, and how they envisage their careers developing and how the employer can facilitate this.
The stay interview should be an informal conversation that aims to relax and reassure employees that the employer wants to understand and help with career progression. Further, it should be held in a form to encourage an employee to speak freely, without fear of retribution, and where they can give feedback on what is wrong in the organisation and where they would like to see improvements.
Stay interviews are not a one-time deal where an employer goes through the motions but neither responds to what has been divulged or regularly repeats the process to maintain an on-going understanding. Similarly, stay interviews should not be tied to performance or pay reviews.
The interview The whole of point of a stay interview is for the manager to be able to understand exactly what it is that the employee does, down to the nth degree, every day. The interview needs to uncover how employees visualise their work, how they feel their contribution is perceived, and where they see themselves within the organisation.
A stay interview should not seek information on work or project status and nor should it be a one-way conversation. And it often helps if an interviewee is told beforehand what the meeting is about and sent a few ‘starter’ questions to help them formulate their thoughts.
To start with, the interviewer ought to open
However, they may uncover issues that are easily fixed, such as low or unequal remuneration (which could be discriminatory and therefore illegal), a general lack of employee development or an inconsistent or unpleasant workplace culture.
Beyond that, an organisation that runs, and is known to run, stay interviews may find themselves becoming an employer of choice. Like any other employer, they will suffer natural losses as employees move away or retire, but they will find it easier – and therefore faster and less expensive – to recruit replacements.
the process with words such as ‘I want to discuss with you the reasons why you want to stay with us and what we can do to make it better’ or alternatively, ‘I want to talk informally about your work and how the management can support you.’
As for questions, many should be obvious but could include: What is it that makes you get out of bed to come to work? What are the best and worst things about working here? Why do you stay? If you could make a change, what would it be? Do you feel recognised? What are your motivations when you’re here? What demotivates you? What can we do to support you better? And importantly, what might cause you to want to leave?
The key is to let the employee feel that they can talk freely and openly so that the manager can learn and then direct appropriate resource where possible.
Interviews need to be closed properly with the interviewer summarising what the employee has said – both the reasons to stay and the reasons for a departure. It wouldn’t hurt, if, for example, the manager ended by saying something akin to ‘thank you for sharing your thoughts with me; I’ll do whatever I can to make this a place where you want to stay and work.’
And it's important that employees can see, post interview, that their comments have been taken on board and change has been actioned where possible. A process that operates on the basis of lip-service is a waste of time that will invariably do the exact opposite of what was intended – it’ll cause employees to distrust management and seek to leave.
Summary In today’s market, where employees are in short supply and the web has made both salaries and new job prospects very apparent, management that doesn’t seek to understand how employees feel are destined to lose experienced staff and pay to make good the losses. n
18 Executive Hire News - October 2022
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