Your examples of "stay" interview materials?

[Jennifer Schulte]

I've been thinking recently about a targeted strategy for engagement - to make sure our identified future leader hi-potentials are being contacted and engaged in a very direct and purposeful way ... to try and encourage them to stay with the business! I've heard and seen a couple of ideas from companies who use a "stay" interview as one way of doing this. So the idea is - rather than wait for someone to leave and give an "exit" interview on what drove them out, you actually connect with them and have a conversation about what would make them stay.

Please share your examples if you have something similar!

[Jason Grieve]

Hi Jennifer,

Really interesting topic and the 1st topic I've responded to on this network.
I've put in place an "attrition plan" to ensure that colleagues in our business are managed effectively and have the opportunity to develop in the business. Included within this process are checkpoint meetings between colleagues and line managers to understand which will include career aspirations etc. Where the checkpoint is telling us that the colleague is considering moving on as classed as "at risk", we then move to a "please don't go" discussion - in name only!

The challenge, as you know, is being one step ahead in knowing colleagues are at risk of leaving before they actually do so. So yes it does need a strategy - we have one for new entrants which has various different tasks and activities from even before they join our business (eg visit the office one week prior to joining to meet colleagues) to meeting their team manager, senior manager on their first day through to development programmes and checkpoint meetings/development plan reviews. Very powerful for new entrants to understand what is planned for them.

For existing members of staff, the more challenging section, a simple assessment of the individual can bring them into the same process - is the individual (1) Not keeping pace (2) Keeping Pace or (3) Ahead of the pace? When they are considered to be ahead of the pace, they are classed as being able to step up to a higher role. Conversations then take place with the individual to (1) tell them we think they can move on (often missed out) and (2) to understand where they are with their career aspirations etc. It isn't always necessarily in line with performance management as someone who is "exceeding expectation in their current role" say in terms of outputs eg productivity/quality still may not be viewed as being ready for higher role.

Hope this helps - happy to discuss further

Cheers
Jason