What Is The Key To Retaining Employees?

To gain a better understanding of the negative aspects of a business and develop effective solutions, exit interviews are often conducted with departing employees.

However, these interviews occur at the end of the employee’s tenure and may be too late to address their specific concerns. Instead, businesses may benefit from understanding what motivates current employees to remain with the company.

Why Do Employees Leave A Job?

More than likely, you’ll hear departing employees cite one or more of the following reasons for leaving their job:

• Inadequate salary (a salary boost is often the main reason they are seeking a new job.)
• The perks or benefits of the job are not competitive/not right for their needs.
• Feeling overworked or unsupported
• Limited career advancement
• A need for better work-life balance
• Lack of recognition
• Boredom
• Unhappiness with management
• Concerns about the company’s direction or financial health
• Dissatisfaction with the company culture
• The desire to make a change
• More compelling job opportunities at other companies

It’s also likely that the employee may not have had plans to stay with the company for a prolonged period of time.

Conducting “stay interviews” can provide valuable insights into what’s working for employees and help to address retention issues preemptively. By asking questions that typically arise in exit interviews, businesses can proactively adopt intentional practices that uplift their employees’ satisfaction and retention.

Questions To Ask

What’s Your Frame Of Mind Today?

Your staff should feel comfortable expressing their feelings about their working situation with you. No matter what they share with you, don’t attempt to solve the problem outright or negate their experience. Rather, normalise their experience by relating it with your own acknowledgements of struggle.

Are You Feeling Connected At Work?

A research link between being friendly with fellow coworkers and employee engagement exists. Explore what you can do to help them deepen those connections so they don’t feel socially disconnected. Plus, work relationships can help extend your employees’ stay with your business, as they may be reluctant to leave their friends.

What Are The Barriers We Can Remove For You?

To truly recognize and support your employees, it’s not enough to simply offer praise and rewards. It’s important to also acknowledge the obstacles and difficulties they may encounter while working towards their goals. Engage in a collaborative brainstorming session with your employees to identify potential solutions and strategies for reducing the impact of these barriers.

Afterwards, communicate the agreed-upon actions and ensure that they are implemented as promised. Consistently following through on these actions demonstrates a true commitment to supporting your employees and helping them succeed.

What Do You Want To Learn To Help You Grow?

This doesn’t need to be about how they can grow to benefit the company. Rather, ask them what they would like to do for themselves so that you can help them to foster their development or achieve their dreams and aspirations.

You should be asking your employees these questions on a somewhat regular basis for maximum effectiveness. These can be asked during your usual one-on-one staff meetings, or you can organise regular stay interviews with your team. This may lead to an increase in employee morale and retention (or at least let you know how they are sitting within the company).