Although organizations have been obsessing over the “war for talent” for two decades, it is surprising how often they will end up losing valuable employees for avoidable reasons, such as not knowing they are disengaged and open to other opportunities. A familiar outcome of this cycle has employers trying to match or improve their competitor’s offer to retain the employee, only to realize it is too little, too late. Current concerns about the Great Resignation have no doubt increased managers’ fear of losing valuable employees in a tight talent market.
A powerful, yet underutilized tool to avoid finding yourself in this situation is to conduct a “stay” interview. This is a brief, individual conversation with your employees aimed at knowing what makes them want to stay, and what may actually cause them to leave. Think about it as the reverse of the exit interview, in which the goal is to construct a post-mortem explanation of why someone left, and what you could have done to avoid it.
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