Turnover across the country has been increasing and is expected to continue to increase resulting in increased costs and reduced company effectiveness. CEOs have identified employee retention as a critical business imperative. Retaining current employees has many cost and productivity benefits that affect the bottom line. Most companies will always have to recruit, onboard and train new employees but there are big costs to compete for best fit talent. Leaving positions vacant or long hire and ramp times can affect employee burnout, reduced client service, falling behind in operational processes, and more.
Because hiring is extremely competitive, employers are looking for ways to boost retention. One method gaining momentum is the stay Interview. Stay interviews engage current employees with a targeted process to assess job satisfaction as well as why employees are "staying" with the company. These interviews empower managers to work with employees to identify areas of retention risk and provide a proactive solution for managing this risk.
The following are a few best practices identified from an Indeed article to keep in mind when developing the stay interview process:
Whatever questions you ask, avoid questions that would result in only a "yes" or "no" answer. Theses answers will give employees the opportunity to expand on their opinions and feelings and in turn wont provide you with quality information.
If your current company culture promotes open communication and trust, employees are going to be more open to a stay interview process. However, if your company lacks these qualities, it may be best to spend time working on communication prior to launching a stay interview program. Most important is to learn from the experience and use the information to make positive changes that will improve retention.
Create a formal procedure for the interview process, and make a plan on how to gather and analyze the information. HCM software can streamline the process for managers and centralize the questionnaires, workflows and reports in your HRIS. This will make it easier to see trends and analyze response data to make meaningful changes. But be ready to make changes based on the feedback. Taking action as soon as the interviews are complete shows employees you are serious about their feedback and improving the company where needed.