Do Now! Stay Interviews
Right now there’s a lot of hubbub about employees quiet quitting. As the linked article from Psychology Today indicates, quiet quitting refers to employees who “put no more effort into their jobs than absolutely necessary.” They fulfill their primary (and usually documented via a job description) responsibilities while being less willing to volunteer to do more or extra work, stay late, or attend non-mandatory meetings.
One way HR and People professionals can help identify, address, and/or minimize this phenomenon in their organizations is by completing Stay Interviews. A Stay Interview is conducted by an HR professional or a People Manager to better understand why an employee stays – and perhaps what conditions need to be present to push them to leave. SHRM has a helpful article on what this might look like, but let’s discuss some general tips.
While these can be conducted by either HR/People or the direct supervisor, the preference is for the supervisor to do it. This is the relationship we want to most foster in the workplace because it can be the key to retaining talent. However, when the team or organization culture is toxic or lacks psychological safety, the necessary relationship may not exist between an employee and a direct supervisor for this activity to be effective. Be honest about what’s happening in the workplace to decide who would be more appropriate.
When performed by the supervisor, it is helpful to share with the employee what aspects or feelings you personally have in common. This is meant to help build the relationship. Conversely, when performed by HR/People, it’s helpful to remind or revisit core values, operational principles, or organizational policies that support what the employee is observing or feeling.
As with any interview, listen to what the employee is saying. Sometimes a response will take you away from the intended slate of questions and that is ok. An employee should feel like this is a real opportunity for the interviewer to learn and understand them, not a perfunctory task to check a box.
