A Stay Interview by Any Other Name

You might be thinking that this sounds like the once-a-year conversations you’re required to have with your employees. But is it really? Or is that annual (often mandatory) conversation actually a performance appraisal? You know, where you list what they’ve done well, where they’ve fallen short, and what you hope they’ll do differently next year.

Or perhaps it’s an individual development planning discussion. These conversations focus on what your employees want to learn next.

Or maybe it’s a career discussion? Chats about careers are often about employees’ career goals. It’s a discussion about next steps.

The stay interview might include components of every one of these types of conversations. When you ask a question like “What will keep you here?,” the answer might prompt a discussion about career, performance, or learning opportunities. But the dialogue often goes well beyond those topics. It could include discussions of work/life balance concerns, or how to manage conflict with a teammate, or what your employees really want and need from you.

“What will keep you here? What might entice you away?” These are the most powerful stay interview questions, the granddaddies of them all. Until you try them, you won’t believe the positive impact they can have on the talented people you hope to keep on your team. And you’ll be amazed at the new information you’ll receive.

Beyond those questions, there are dozens of other terrific queries you can use, depending on variables such as your relationship with this person, the organization’s culture, the situation at hand, your goals for the conversation, your comfort level, and your experience with stay interviews.