One of the greatest ways that a company can positively impact its bottom line is to make the necessary efforts to increase retention rate. The regular turnover of a position is something that many people consider to be unavoidable – an inevitable, re-occurring expense. But in fact, there is a lot that you can and should be doing.
By not regularly checking in with your employees, you cannot truly know how happy they are in their existing role. You do not know whether they will be helping evolve and strengthen the position over years to come, or whether you will be looking for their replacement next month. You need to do your due diligence to make sure that you understand where your employees are happy, and where they feel like changes need to be made.
“Stay interviews” are essentially check-ins to make sure that your employees are engaged. Plan to schedule time for conversations – particularly with your star employees – at least once a year. Here are some of the key questions that you should be asking during these meetings:
What aspects of your job are you most excited about?
Consider whether there are daily things that your employees look forward to, or if they are only excited about rare or random events. Also, are they excited about core aspects of their jobs, or just the superficial benefits? This will help you discern how content employees are in their existing positions.
In these answers, you should also be listening for the aspects that separate your company from the competition and make your business unique. These are factors that you can highlight in future job descriptions to help you identify the best candidates.
What could help make your job better? Easier?
It is just as important to know what components of their jobs your employees are dissatisfied with. This information can help you in a number of ways. There may be easy changes that you can make that have a great impact on an employee’s professional experience. This may also help you understand what type of candidate would be best suited for the particular role. And finally, it can provide direction for foundational changes that your company can work toward in the future.
How would you like your role to evolve in the next six months? Year?
If you want your employees to be loyal to their positions and your company, they need to feel as though you have their best interests in mind. Their career trajectory should be an open dialogue. In additional to helping your employees accomplish their professional goals, investing in your employees’ skills and development is also great for your company. You can retain industry knowledge, improve company morale, and not spend additional resources recruiting and hiring.
Your Role Is to Listen
There is one thing that you need to regularly remind yourself of when conducting stay interviews: Your employees have the floor. This is their time to voice their opinions and share their feelings. By being open to criticism, you can gain invaluable insight that helps you continually engage – and retain – your employees for years to come.
Photo by Nik MacMillan on Unsplash
