How Do “Stay Interviews” Improve Employee Retention?

“Why are you leaving the company?”

This is the question commonly asked during an employee’s exit interview. It is great to take the time to conduct an interview with an exiting employee, but it won’t (99% of the time) change the fact that you are losing that employee and everything you have put into them. Instead, improve processes and prevent employees from wanting to leave in the first place with “stay interviews.”

Stay Interviews and Their Purpose

What is a “stay interview”?

A stay interview is an interview conducted after the employee is onboarded and settled into their new position. It focuses on getting feedback from the individual about their experience at the company thus far and what suggestions they have to improve that experience.

This interview session will provide a couple of key benefits:

1. Your new employee feels valued and heard
2. Their feedback can help improve efficiencies

Stay interviews can be conducted several times throughout an employee’s career at a company. However, it is best to conduct the first stay interview after the employee is settled in and familiar with processes but is still new enough to have an outside perspective.

Although there is no exact time that works for every business and employee, 3-4 months after hiring is a good time to start thinking about conducting a stay interview.

Who should conduct the interview?

It is important that the interview is not conducted by the employee’s manager or anyone else they are close to. Instead, try having someone from HR, or a third party do the interview to ensure that the employee feels comfortable sharing their genuine feelings.

What is the most important part of a stay interview?

By far, the most important part of a stay interview is that the employee feels safe sharing their feelings and suggestions about their onboarding process and current business procedures.

Your business will not receive valuable, usable feedback if you are not ensuring a safe, emotional environment.  

Top 5 Questions to ask during a Stay Interview  

The purpose of these questions is to highlight the potential problems before they become an issue worth leaving over. Rarely can you change an employee’s mind when they are ready to leave because they are dissatisfied with their job, so it is important to be proactive.

1. What is most satisfying or what do you like best about your job?
2. How do you feel you are contributing to the company’s success?
3. What would you change about your job, the company, the culture?
4. What is one change you would make to your onboarding process?
5. Do you feel you have the tools, resources, and working conditions to be successful in your job? If not, which areas could be improved and how?

Why are Stay Interviews Crucial for the Success of your Business?

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics data, three million employees have voluntarily left their job every month for the past year. The top reasons employees are leaving are due to poor onboarding experiences, not acquiring proper directions or support, and inaccurate job descriptions or expectations. This is extremely problematic due to the cost of replacing an employee.

For any position, turnover is expensive. It costs an average of $4,000 to hire any new employee according to a SHRM study, and recent research suggests that the cost of replacing a highly-trained employee or executive exceeds double their annual salary.

The best way to lower the costs of turnover is to lower your rate of turnover. Stay interviews are a great way to achieve this as well as a modern onboarding training program to ensure new employees are off to a good start.

Stay interviews are a proactive and efficient way of checking in with your employees and your onboarding and training processes to increase employee satisfaction and lower turnover. If suggestions are brought up during a meeting, be sure to listen and implement them when you are able. Even little changes can have a big impact on the attitude of that employee and future employees.

About Knowledge Anywhere 

Knowledge Anywhere is an eLearning company focused on providing flexible, modern learning and development solutions that enable organizations to harness the power of an engaged, knowledgeable workforce.

Our Learning Management System, Virtual Reality Training, and Course Development services, combined with our experience and customer support enables our users to create a learning and development program that boosts sales and drives company growth.