Employees unfortunately don’t often share what they think about their job, the workplace, or the work they do with their supervisors.   I suspect this is the case due to fear; fear of revealing their true feelings. They more likely will share their thoughts with co-workers before sharing with a supervisor or owner.

So as not to be blindsided by unexpected losses of key employees, I recommend conducting semi-annual stay interviews.  Unless you engage an HR consultant to conduct them as an objective third party, it is a no-cost retention tool that you can implement yourself.  One caveat however, is that you must be willing to act on the issues employees raise during the stay Interview process.  The purpose of the stay interview is to gauge employee sentiment.  But is can also be to learn about process improvement, cost reduction, coordination and other operational improvement opportunities.  As many employees have a bevy of great ideas and thoughts about how things might work better, yet they never share it with the manager.

Given today’s candidate market and the “Great Resignation”, I would rather know what employees are thinking so I can respond, before a resignation from my top team members presents itself.

Managing today is all about being proactive, responsive and even anticipatory, as opposed to being reactive.

Twice a year, I recommend conducting stay interviews with your current employees.  You can do this yourself as there are many stay interview formats and models available.  Stay interviews provide you with real time information, while exit interviews provide you with information which is after the fact and unfortunately often not helpful to avoid the loss of a quality staff member.

The information gleaned from stay interviews has proven to be extraordinarily valuable with my clients and has helped in retaining key staff.   All it takes is the time to conduct them, analyze the results, and respond to the issues and concerns raised by employees.    It would be easier if employees shared their inner thoughts readily, but we know that doesn’t always happen.  Because there are so many options for candidates today, they don’t have to share their thoughts and feelings.  They can simply get another job elsewhere fairly easy.

Like any new initiative though, employee adoption of the stay interview will take time.  Initially it will be a foreign process for employees.  After a few rounds of participating, they will become more forthcoming with information, particularly if they begin seeing positive changes implemented following the stay interviews.  Over time, the stay interview, which takes only time and commitment on your part to conduct, will become part of the culture, and a positive aspect of the culture.

Employees today have the power of social media behind them.  What they think about their work environment is important, as often ends up on Glassdoor, Indeed or social media reviews.  We want to make sure we take the initiative to always know what is on their minds of our employees in a more formal and systematic way.  We want employees to see that there is an internal company process in place for improvement which considers their input.

I can’t say enough about the value of conducting stay interviews, and would rather any client of mine fully implement the stay interviews before an exit interview process!   Consider this no cost retention tool for your company.


Culture is nurtured, not manufactured.

Debra J. Parent, PHR, SHRM-CP, CHHR helps outline how the seed is planted and cultivated.Debra J. Parent, PHR, SHRM-CP, CHHR has 34 years of HR Management experience, an MBA, three national HR certifications, a certified coach, is currently teaching the capstone senior Strategic Management course at UMASS Dartmouth, former adjunct business professor at Bristol Community College, and Supervisory and Leadership Skills Grant Trainer for Bristol Community College.

She is an active member of the UMASS Dartmouth Charlton College of Business Advisor Board, ProVisors, and successful business owner of an HR recruitment and consulting firm with clients throughout New England.

Debra assists companies develop and implement effective recruitment and retention strategies, fill key hard to recruit positions, design a well-thought out HR program, smart HR policies, and provide workable HR solutions to respond to workforce challenges. She leads with integrity, balancing company and employee interests, and has a forward-thinking approach.

For more information, contact Debra J. Parent, PHR, SHRM-CP, CHHR at
rightfitrecruiting@comcast.net,
(508) 884-6798.
Or connect with Deb via LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-parent-11941b163/