- 1/2/14
Stay interviews offer managers the opportunity to identify
and correct employee problems before top performers walk out the door. Follow these steps to
get the most out of the management tool.
In
a stay interview, an employee meets one-on-one with a supervisor to discuss his
or her satisfaction with the company. The idea is to learn about what is and
isn’t working, so managers can adjust their efforts to retain staff. The goal
is to catch problems before employees decide to take off.
In
a recent survey by administrative staffing firm office team, 27 percent of human
resource professionals said they’d never even heard of the concept of a
stay interview. What’s more, another 41 percent said they weren’t sure how
useful they are — mostly because they hadn’t conducted them very often.
Nevertheless,
a stay interview can prove effective as long as these five steps are followed:
Start off on the right foot: Since
many employees may be unfamiliar with the concept of a stay interview, a clear
explanation of the process — including a review of the goals and types of
information that will be sought — is needed before managers begin. This could
prevent skeptical workers from wondering, “Why are you asking these questions?
Is there a reason I shouldn’t stay with the organization?”
Ask the right questions: Avoid
closed-ended questions that yield “yes” or “no” responses. They won’t provide
useful feedback. To gain specific information, it’s better to ask questions
such as: Which aspects of your job make you eager to get into the office each
day? Which aspects cause a feeling of dread? Why have you chosen to stay at our
company? What do you find most rewarding about your work? If you could change
one thing about our department or about the entire organization, what would it
be? What skills or talents do you possess that aren’t being used in your job?
Most
important, stay interviews should be conducted separately from performance
reviews. Stay interviews are designed to gain insights into what motivates
employees and keeps them invested in the firm. Performance reviews, on the
other hand, are intended to give staff a candid assessment of their work.
Although
the two meetings should be separate, they complement each other and give
employees a chance to discuss their feedback more than once during a year.
Make it a positive experience: Managers
can make the experience a positive one if they listen more than they talk. When
it is time to talk, it is not the venue for a supervisor to get defensive if he
or she disagrees with an employee’s concerns or comments.
If
staff feel like they’re engaging in a debate, they’re not likely to be candid
with further responses. The best questions will attempt to elicit opinions on
the work environment, company culture and advancement
opportunities rather than on specific people.
Consider the participant list: Some
firms prefer to conduct stay interviews with top employees only, since the goal
is to retain their best and brightest, not their poor performers. However,
careful thought should be given before limiting these meetings. If select
individuals are singled out for stay interviews, other employees may wonder why
managers don’t value their opinions or want to improve their job experiences.
Stay interviews should boost — not deflate — general morale.
Follow through: One
of the most important steps in a stay interview is taking action afterward.
There’s no point in meeting with employees to address their concerns if there’s
no genuine intention to make changes as a result of those discussions. Leaders
should let staff know what they hope to do to make improvements, including the
anticipated timelines and plans.
One
final consideration is timing. Managers shouldn’t wait until there’s a
noticeable morale problem to launch stay interviews. Making them a routine part
of company life will show that the organization is sincerely interested in
boosting job satisfaction.
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