If you work for a company that is trying to improve its employee retention rate, then you may be asked to do a stay interview. A stay interview allows you to tell your employer about the positive and negative aspects of working for the company. You can help make your job more enjoyable by giving detailed and thoughtful answers in your stay interview. In this article, we provide tips for how to prepare for and answer questions in an employee stay interview.
A stay interview, also called a “retention interview,” is when an employer talks with employees to see what motivates them to stay with the company and what would cause them to leave. A stay interview can provide employers with actionable insights into how to improve their workplaces and prevent more employees from resigning.
For you, stay interviews ensure that your voice is heard and provides employers with an opportunity to create a better work environment. The employer will meet with employees on an individual basis to ask stay interview questions that are meant to gauge the workplace environment and job opportunities of the existing company.
A stay interview can be an avenue for preventing smaller issues from escalating to a point where a job change is necessary. Since your employer is asking for feedback about your experience, your voice can help to improve your working conditions for many years to come. Often, employers are too far removed from the day-to-day operations of the company and are not able to realize what’s happening on the production floor unless employees tell them. A stay interview can be a very effective way to solicit this kind of feedback.
- What do you look forward to when you come to work each day?
- What do you like most or least about working here?
- What keeps you working here?
- If you could change something about your job, what would that be?
- What would make your job more satisfying?
- How do you like to be recognized?
The 5 Most Effective Stay Interview Questions | C-Suite Analytics
Within the Past Year, What Was a Day That Caused You Anxiety or Frustrations?
Answers to this question will help identify standout and serious problems for your team members. Then, ask if the employee can explain the source of their frustration within the situation. Once they’ve explained the cause, ask them about the solution: Can you pinpoint what eventually occurred to help alleviate your stress? This series of questions will target what might make employees want to leave and what keeps them around.
Is it more important to you that your job is challenging or that you can excel in your position?
In order to get the most out of staff, an employer needs to know what motivates an employee. When answering, be sure to acknowledge the value of excelling beyond your comfort level while emphasizing what you are more comfortable with.
Example: “I enjoy being in a position where my skills and experience allow me to flourish and provide the high standard of performance that I hold myself to. I think it should be everyones goal in their job to first master their current role. Once you are excelling, it is also important to phase in additional responsibilities or roles that allow you to grow and expand your skills.”
How Would You Rate Our Work-Life Balance? How Could It Be Improved?
In addition to employee recognition, work-life balance is a huge retention factor. When companies provide their employees with a healthy work-life balance, they’re 25 percent more likely to retain their employees. If employee’s typically come in early, stay late and work into the wee hours of the night, work-life balance must be improved. Consider implementing a work-from-home policy to offer employees more flexibility.
