Stay interviews.

• Author: Curry, Lynne
• Position: HR Matters

If you've ever been blindsided by a valuable employee's resignation and conducted an exit interview, you may have asked the right questions six months too late.

Like autopsies, exit interviews detail why employees leave your organization. In contrast, stay interviews, which are rarely done, provide a valuable tool for retaining valued employees.

Stay interviews uncover what really matters for each key employee--whether it be a raise, dental as well as health benefits, decision-making autonomy, knowing their supervisor cares, challenging work or something you might not realize. You may learn your employees are looking for opportunities to grow faster or beyond what they see as achievable within your company, while you have viable ideas for letting them gain additional skill and authority while remaining with your company. Stay interview responses give managers the ability to address factors that significantly increase employee discretionary effort and retention--before the employees hit the exit ramp.

Start Today

Interested? You can start today, by calling in a consultant or handling the interviews yourself. If you conduct the interviews yourself, begin the interview by saying, "I want to talk with you today about the key reasons you stay with us, because we want our organization to have a great and satisfying work environment. My goal is to learn what I can do to make us an employer of choice for you in areas we can control."

For best results, you need to ask easily answered questions on hard topics. Employees may not honestly answer a question about whether they have ever thought of leaving the company for fear it may make them seem less dedicated or result in other ramifications. Instead ask: "If you won Publishers Clearinghouse and decided to leave us, what would you miss most and least?" Also ask: "If you can imagine your dream job, or your job here could be enhanced, what would you be doing?"

During the stay interview, really listen and don't attempt to either guide the conversation toward what you want to hear or defend the status quo. Although you'll want to...