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Smallbiz CEOs do exit interviews. Sure, but how about Stay Interviews?

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Stay interviews

Read a really interesting article today in the Washington Post called Career Coach: Talk to employees before they leave.

The article spends a fair amount of time providing rationale about why exit interviews are something that should always be done but their value is suspect for a variety of reasons including:

  • Posing the right questions, or not.
  • Ill equipped interviewers.
  • Fear of burning bridges by the exiting employee.
  • Fear of a confidentiality breach; where does the info go and how is it used.

So they advocate the idea of doing exit-like interviews with employees while they are still at the business. They call them Stay Interviews and the whole idea is improve retention and overall employee performance by asking key employee satisfaction questions way before someone is thinking of leaving or actually leaves. By then it’s too late to react.

How to Structure Stay Interviews at a Small Business

The concept of small business owners having one-on-one sessions with employees is hardly new. But translating those sessions into something structured that is specifically intended to improve retention is another matter. It doesn’t have to be complex, just planned and well executed.

Here’s how to implement such a plan:

1. Commit to a Process: Lots of smallbiz CEOs hate the word process because they equate it to bureaucracy. But I do suggest telling people that you’re going to start this two way communication and put some structure/expectations around it so folks know that you’re serious.

2. CEO conducts 1-2 sessions per month: Having the CEO do the feedback sessions is key. The feedback loop starts and stops right where it should, at the top. Frequency: Anything less than 1-2 times per month and you might as well not do it at all. Anything more frequent and they risk becoming rushed and discounted by all involved.

3. Interviews should be casual but consistent: This means that the CEO should have an established list of questions to ask or topics to discuss but the session should be conducted in a non-threatening, conversational manner.

4. Confidentiality: At some point, the CEO will share the aggregated information with the company. But individual employee feedback should only be shared with the consent of the employee. Importantly, leakage of any information gleaned in the sessions could completely undermine or even destroy the program objectives.

5. Communicate expectations: It’s super important that the CEO NOT attempt to address every single employee concern or suggestion. The idea is to aggregate feedback into common themes and address them holistically where appropriate.

6. But do communicate: I recommend that at the monthly company wide meetings, a consistent item on the agenda is the feedback that the CEO has garnered from his/her “stay” sessions. Side note: If  a smallbiz CEO is NOT conducting monthly company meetings, then there are much more fundamental issues to deal with at that company.

7. Address what make sense, but not everything: Lastly, the CEO and management need to carefully consider all suggestion and feedback and not necessarily react to every one. Some ideas will be great, others not so great and a bunch in between. For consistency and transparency, consideration of all ideas needs to be evaluated relative to company mission and objectives. Note: If a smallbiz doesn’t have a mission and objectives that are shared with employees, then there are much more fundamental issues to deal with at that company.

This suggested approach is not complicated and needn’t take up a lot of time for a CEO. Some initial thought and planning is key and then its all about executing on a consistent regular basis. This whole thing can badly backfire without consistent implementation and communication.

What have been your experiences with exit interviews or CEO one-on-one conversations? Please comment, I’d love to get your feedback.

Thanks!

Geoff Vincent

Image © endostock – Fotolia.com

About

Geoff Vincent, a former B2B corporate marketing wonk (worked at FedEx, Amex, CCH, D&B) with an ultra-pragmatic POV for small business about sales, marketing, leadership, people management and other management best practices.

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{ 12 Responses }

  1. Alice says:
    Thanks for the post. I'm really appreciate the contribution you put in to writing such an interesting article. It's more helpful the employers those who leaving the company. How to know where we lack in employee satisfaction and other problems of the organization and this would help the company for improvement. Employee Retention Program is a good for proper growth of the company. So keep it up.
  2. shawn says:
    Well Geoff, I must appreciate the efforts you put in to writing such an interesting post. It is one of the areas which many employers of today give in some time to get feedback from employees who are leaving the company. Actually it is a good practice to know where we lack in employee satisfaction and other issues of the organization and this would help the company in correcting itself in many areas. Employee retention program is a good idea for proper growth of the company and this will eventually lead to professional environment in the company. Mutual understanding is the key to success.
  3. Azam says:
    I think because of this type of interview a complete working environment can be established.Professional mistakes can be cured by the management.
    • Geoff Vincent says:
      Mistakes are always made at every level of an organization. The rubber hits the road when leaders show HOW they owe up to their mistakes. Geoff
  4. Bishwajeet says:
    Surely, will try this stuff when I fully launch my ecommerce startup in May this year :)
    • Geoff Vincent says:
      Very best wishes with the start up! Geoff
  5. doug_eike says:
    Some interesting things take place before, during, after, and because of exit interviews. I know of one instance where a director who was worried about an employee's criticizing him in the exit interview decided to send that employee on a trumped-up business trip to a desireable location during the two-week notice period. The ploy worked, but it demoralized the remaining employees and made a joke of the exit-interview process. Such things happen, by the way, only in the presence of a weak CEO. Thanks for raising an interesting and important topic.
    • Geoff Vincent says:
      Doug, what a crazy story. Some "leaders" have no common sense and its shocking how common these stories are once you start to ask around. Thanks for dropping by. Geoff
  6. Daniel Roach says:
    This is a really good plan, Geoff. I know that the biggest reason I left employeehood and started my own business was because I got tired of being directed by people who didn't understand my job half as well as I did. The feedback loop was broken and it made everyone's life miserable. Then again, I'm glad my former employers never implimented something that this, I might never have gotten where I am :) -Daniel
    • Geoff Vincent says:
      Daniel, I'm with you. After 25+ years working for others, I'm happy to be on my own. Thanks for your comment. Geoff
  7. Geoff Vincent says:
    Hi Jacko, thank for the comment. You're 100% right on re: lip service. Implementing a program like this and then only paying lip service to it is worse than doing nothing at all. GV.
  8. Jacko says:
    Very good post. What will make the difference in the end is change. What will the company seriously change? Most of the time people leave after complaining for months or even years and then as they realize that changes will not be made they secretly make plans in the background to leave. This approach would work but it has to be more than lip service by the companies. PS #famousbloggers is in the semis of the #IBCT vote now