An Easy Way to Improve Retention
My reticular activating system (you should look that up) has been getting all kinds of signals lately about the importance of listening. As Fast Company recently put it, "The most successful leaders not only listen to employees but take the feedback and implement powerful changes and improvements."
This is especially critical because only 1 in 4 employees strongly agree that their opinions count. If that number doubled, organizations could realize a 22% reduction in turnover. (Gallup)
An emerging tactic that is gaining momentum during the Great Resignation is the concept of "stay interviews." Fast Company and Harvard Business Review have recently covered this trend, and it's worth the quick read.
The opposite of exit interviews, this approach is more proactive and tries to capture feedback that uncovers what entices employees to stay. Some of the suggested questions that I like include:
What do you want to learn that will excite you and help you grow?
What barriers can I remove for you to help you do your job better?
What part of your day-to-day drains you and how could we work to make it better?
What would you like to see happen at our next team event?
One natural objection you might have about stay interviews is that they would be time consuming to accomplish on a one-to-one basis ... not to mention, it would be hard to action-plan with so many individualized responses.
This is where an investment in POPin really pays off. You can use the tool to host organization-wide or department-wide stay interviews. By asking the team these questions, you will efficiently identify themes that can create massive impact.
Try running stay interviews on a quarterly basis. And keep in mind: what you do with the feedback matters most. Be sure to quickly acknowledge with the team that you heard them. It's as simple as saying, "Based on the team's feedback, we will [insert your plan here]..."
That's it. Simple. Effective.
Chris Laping is the best-selling author of People Before Things. He is also the CEO of Change Needs Leaders, Inc. (proud makers of POPin). Kickstart honest, real-time conversations with your team by starting a 14-day trial today!
