“Managers would be wise to learn the art of the stay interview…”

Managers would be wise to learn the art of the stay interview. Put simply, more stay interviews equals fewer exit interviews. What’s more, having “What will keep you here?” conversations is more apt to promote the engagement culture that organizations must have to survive and thrive amid increasing competition for talent.

Many people leave companies because no one asked them what might keep them there or what would entice them away. Instead of asking, many managers opt to guess what is best to retain their talent — and they’re often wrong.

In an exit interview-oriented environment, asking employees what would keep them is folly; they already have one foot out the door.

Why, then, are talent managers prone to ask perfectly effective questions at the wrong time? It’s time to change that thinking, with stay interviews as the remedy.

Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans, “More Stay Interviews, Fewer Exit Interviews”, talent management (23 September 2014) [http://www.talentmgt.com/articles/6828-more-stay-interviews-fewer-exit-interviews]