Getting your top employees to stay is a factor for long term success. However, most companies don’t worry about convincing top performers to stay until they have already submitted their letter of resignation.
A stay interview is a protective strategy to help improve retention rates. It’s important to hold stay interviews with top performers as a way to check in with them. They give you a chance to have frank conversations with team members, identify issues, motivating factors, and the steps you need to take to ensure they intend to stay long term. It’s part of the ongoing recruiting process. Think of them in terms of performance reviews.
Asking the right questions can provide you with valuable insights into how you can improve retention rates. You can also learn a lot more about what motivates and drives individual employees. Here are some questions you can ask during stay interviews:
There are multiple levels of questioning you can use, depending on the employee or internal concerns you are having. The key is to make it an open conversation and take your employees’ input seriously. Use what you learn to make changes before more employees decide not to stay.
A stay interview is not just about uncovering the things that you may need to improve internally. It’s also important to learn about the reasons why employees choose to stay with the company. Ask employees about why they stay and let them elaborate. Let them lead the conversation so you can learn about the things that work well.
Are You Prioritizing Retention? 5 Ways to Retain Top Executive Talent
Employee Retention: Why Employee Engagement Matters
Want to Keep Your Top Employees? Try the ‘Stay Interview’
IQ PARTNERS is an Executive Search & Recruitment firm supporting clients across the country. We help companies hire better, hire less & retain more. We have specialist teams of recruiters in Executive Search / Board & C-Suite, Technology, Media, Digital & Marketing, Accounting & Finance, Financial Services & Insurance, Cannabis, Startup, Data Science, Consumer, eCommerce & Retail, Operations & HR, Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Engineering, Legal & Professional Services, Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences, Non-Profit & Sustainability, and Sales. IQ PARTNERS has its head office in Toronto. Click here to view current job openings and to register with us.
Riel is a VP of Client Services with IQ PARTNERS where he recruits across the full scope of multiple lines of business, with a particular focus in Financial Services & Insurance, Technology, Human Resources, and Real Estate Services.