1. Conducting Stay Interviews
A Key Ingredient to Retaining Our Employees

2. What is a Stay Interview?
An informal one-on-one meeting each manager and supervisor has with each direct report in order to understand the reasons why that employee continues to work for the company.
These conversations are all about the job responsibilities, work environment, practices/policies, and the people that appeal to them and motivate them to stay on!
Read Slide
Suggest to managers: If possible, try to have the meeting in a more relaxing setting such as the cafeteria or grabbing a cup of coffee at a coffee shop or even over lunch!
Resource: SHRM (Retention Institute 2010 – Before It’s too Late: The Stay Interview)

3. Why are Stay Interviews Important?
Allows us to focus on current employees we want to keep
Helps to proactively correct certain things before an employee decides not to work with us anymore
Supervisors and Managers hear directly from the employee what they need in order to stay
Supervisors control the next steps
Do not have to depend on program solutions
Develops constant engagement with employees
Makes employees feel appreciated and motivated

4. Let’s Talk Facts!
A Florida hospital reduced overall turnover by 37 percent and decreased turnover among nurses by 70 percent by implementing stay interviews.
A retirement community raised retention for its employees in their first 180 days by 100 percent by doing stay interviews.
A call center decreased turnover among call center employees by 20 percent.
In an article titles “Predict Turnover with Stay Interviews” the author discussed three examples of how stay interviews were used to drive down turnover and keep people engaged!
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Resource: SHRM Article: Predict Turnover with ‘Stay’ Interviews by Desda Moss

5. Stay Interview Conversation Starters
“You’re a valued member of our team and UPMC.  I want to be sure that we’re doing everything we can to help you be satisfied and productive…so let’s spend a few minutes talking about that.”
“I want to talk with you about the most important reasons you stay with us because I hope we work together here for a long time”
“My greatest interest for today’s meeting is to learn what I can do to make this a great place for you to work”
Resource: SHRM (Retention Institute 2010 – Before It’s too Late: The Stay Interview)

6. Important Stay Interview Skills
Be a great listener
Take thorough notes
Don’t be afraid to ask for clarity or additional information
Be prepared to address concerns
Be informal, yet professional
End with a realistic action plan
READ SLIDE
Being a great listener will build that trust between you and your employee and allow them to feel more comfortable discussing different things with you.
You will not be able to remember everything from the conversation, take notes so that you can easily reference and create a plan to address the things discussed
If someone gives you an answer that you do not understand, ask for additional information and/or clarity!
Now, although you are asking the employee why they choose to stay with the company, do not be surprised if they bring up some current concerns or issues that they are having. Be prepared to address those concerns and take responsibility for the situations and action plans.
This should be a relaxing conversation - you want to make sure your employee is comfortable and honest with you, but you also want to make sure that you are staying professional – being too relaxed can lead to discomfort for your employee – especially if they are not used to having such informal conversations with you.
The great thing about this process is that it allows the next steps to be in the managers hands vs. program solutions. However, you must make sure that you are not giving your employees unrealistic expectations, just because you want them to stay. Be realistic and honest with your employee, they will appreciate this a lot more than false hopes.