Stay Interviews Help to Increase Trust and Transparency

“I started doing stay interviews in 2018, so it has been five years! I have probably conducted around 40 or 50 of them myself. The idea was originally shared with my team by our HR Business Partner, and we all loved that it was a simple way to have transparent conversations, increase trust with our employees, and take action that could improve engagement and retention, so we began rolling them out consistently across our teams,” stated Susie Hume, Vice President, HR Strategic Business Partnerships.

You may have noticed that you have been hearing a lot about “stay interviews” lately and how they have become very popular with our leadership for several multi-faceted reasons.

Valuable Feedback

Stay interviews allows our leadership to gather valuable insights and feedback directly from our employees. By conducting these interviews, we can identify any issues or concerns that might be impacting employee satisfaction and engagement. Stay interviews also provide an opportunity for employees to express their thoughts, concerns, and aspirations directly to their managers or directors. This open and honest communication helps build trust and strengthens the employee-manager relationship.

“Sometimes these conversations open the need to have increased development or EDP conversations with employees, other times they have helped us get to the root of a challenge our employees are experiencing and then follow-up with actions to remove them, where possible. In one instance, I had an employee who was becoming increasingly disengaged and through our conversation I realized that the issue was a lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities. We held a facilitated session with another team to resolve this and the level of engagement and productivity increased considerably. These conversations should be happening organically, but sometimes they don’t unless we create the structure and invitation to share this feedback regularly,” Susie added.

Employee Benefit

Stay interviews really offer an avenue for employees to have their voices heard and their needs addressed within our organization. By participating in stay interviews, employees can help shape their work environment to better suit their needs and preferences. When leaders genuinely listen and act upon employee feedback, it goes a long way to create a positive and supportive work environment.

Stay interviews also offer a safe space for employees to address any challenges or concerns they may be facing. Whether it’s related to workload, workplace culture, or personal circumstances, discussing these issues can lead to finding solutions and improving the overall work experience.

Overall, stay interviews empower employees, foster better relationships with their leadership, provide growth opportunities, and contribute to a happier and more engaged workforce.