From Exit To Engagement: The Power Of Stay Interviews
There is a strong correlation between a team member having a positive experience in the workplace and their intent to stay. Retaining talent is integral to an organisation’s long-term success as well as the customer experience. There are significant costs associated with turnover aside from recruiting and retraining. It can impact the customer, and before people physically leave, they may ‘check out’, resulting in lower engagement, reduced productivity and morale.
According to experience management company Qualtrics XM, engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their organisation. That means reduced turnover costs in recruiting and training new staff and less lag time between training and full productivity. It also results in improved outcomes and performance, lower attrition, increased revenue and improved customer experience.
Employee retention is closely linked to employee experience, and there are strategies an organisation can employ to help people want to stay. It is important to reflect on what makes people want to leave. While a certain level of attrition is normal, other reasons for leaving could have been avoided. These include team members not feeling valued, misaligned values, poor leadership, burnout and leaders not taking action or listening to feedback. People also leave if there is no development path or a more attractive external opportunity arises. As a service leader, consider how you can proactively retain talent. This must remain an overarching priority for every organisation.
One of the ways to encourage retention is through ‘stay interviews’. I love this concept. So many organisations focus on exit interviews rather than proactively reaching out to team members to ask if they are happy, spend time exploring their career goals and ensure they are satisfied and happy at work.
In her book, The 7 Intuitive Laws of Employee Loyalty, Heather R. Younger writes,
“There is a growing trend toward conducting employee-stay interviews in place of, or in addition to, exit interviews. This is primarily due to unsuccessful attempts to gather trustworthy feedback from people on their way out the door.
It turns out that current employees are much more likely to give human resources the time of day and even sit to talk about the work environment. Also, they are more likely to provide balanced feedback.”
Implementing stay interviews requires careful planning and a genuine willingness from leadership to listen and act on feedback. Here are a few tips to make stay interviews effective:
Schedule Regularly
Conduct stay interviews at least annually, or more frequently if possible. Consistency is key to gaining accurate insights into employee sentiments over time.
Prepare Thoughtfully
Leaders should prepare specific questions that delve into what people enjoy about their job, any challenges they face, and their career aspirations.
Act on Feedback
Perhaps the most crucial aspect of stay interviews is the follow-up. People need to see that their feedback has led to real changes. Even small adjustments can have a significant impact on morale and retention.
Maintain Confidentiality
Ensure that the information shared during these interviews is treated with confidentiality to maintain trust and openness.
Stay interviews represent a strategic shift in the approach to employee retention. By focusing on why people stay, rather than why they leave, organisations can not only keep their best talent but also foster a workplace environment that promotes growth, satisfaction, and loyalty. Embracing stay interviews as part of a comprehensive Employee Exit strategy is a forward-thinking move that can lead to substantial benefits for employees, customers and the organisation as a whole.
If you would like to read a copy of my book ‘They Serve Like We Lead – How to take care of your people so they take care of your customers’ please email me with ‘yes please’ in the title and I will forward you a complimentary e-book.
Someone asked me recently why I write books and it is for two reasons. Firstly, to give them away and secondly, to elevate Service Leadership and Customer Service on the planet to create a more caring world.
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