Stay Interviews Can Help You Retain Employees

Hiring and training new employees is a big investment in money and time. As noted by glassdoor.com, “The average U.S. employer spends about $4000 and 24 days to hire a new worker.” So it's really important to keep employees once you find a good one. An effective way of doing that is by performing stay interviews.

Traditionally companies do exit interviews to find out why an employee is quitting, but there is a new idea in the world of working—stay interviews. Stay interviews are designed to find out what is happening with your employees—how they feel about working for your company. They can probe into what is and isn’t working for your employees, what your company can do better to retain them, and what each employee needs for personal growth.

Here's a video with a quick overview of the process. 

Stay Interviews Versus Exit Interviews

Per builtin.com,

“A stay interview is just as, if not more, important than an exit interview. Stay interviews are conducted with enough time to identify and correct a problem. Exit interviews, on the other hand, occur when an employee is headed out the door.

When done correctly, stay interviews can have an extremely positive impact on your employee retention rate. The key is to use the information you collect from stay interviews. Failing to act on what your employees have to say will make you appear disingenuous and cheapen the value of stay interviews. Your team members took the time to share their honest feedback, and it’s your responsibility to try to make improvements.” 

Stay Interviews Done By Direct Manager

Stay interviews should be done by the employee’s direct manager. This helps to build a good relationship between an employee and their manager. Again per builtin.com, “One survey showed that less than one-third of employees “trust that their managers actually care about their career progression.”"

Stay interviews can be viewed as an opportunity for managers to get to know their employees better, and impress them with how much they are valued at the company.

Not An Annual Review

Stay interviews should be done annually, but not as an annual review, or as an add-on to a performance review. Those are different things, with different goals. Stay interviews need follow-up, too. Employees need to see that their suggestions and needs are taken seriously, that their managers are listening to them and care about their experience at work.

Here are a few sample questions that you might ask at a stay interview:

• What do you enjoy at work?

• When is the last time you thought about quitting, and what prompted it?

• Why do you stay here?

• What can I do to make your job better?

• How can we show you that we value you and want you to keep working here?

These questions might seem too personal or prying, but if you truly want employees to stay, you need to find out how working for you is going for them. And if you can retain your staff, it will save you money in the long run.

Shaw & Associates would love to sit down with you and discuss your business, and help you make plans for your future.

Contact Shaw & Associates Chartered Accountants for accounting help you can count on. One complimentary meeting with us will put you and your business on a more profitable and positive path.