Why the 'stay interview' is the next big trend of the Great Resignation

Stay interviews should focus on how your employee feels about the work they do every day, the value of their contributions and how they feel within the organization.

Send workers a few starter questions to prepare for the conversation ahead of time.

Some common questions are:

• What excites you to come into work?
• Do you feel good about the impact of your work?
• What do you want to do more of at work? Less?
• Do you see a future for yourself at the company? How are things the same or different?
• If you were manager for a day, what would you do differently?

Perhaps most importantly during the Great Resignation, managers should ask their employees what it would take for them to leave the company.

As a supervisor, it’s your job to bring this feedback to the larger organization to see how you can provide the tools, resources or opportunities your employee isn’t currently getting, such as a clear sense of purpose, stretch assignments, fair wages or greater flexibility.

Don’t be surprised if your employee initiates a stay interview conversation if you’re not proactively doing so.

Having a stay interview doesn’t mean anything if you don’t act on the feedback you get from your employee.

Follow a few simple steps to close a stay interview on a strong note: Thank the employee for their time, summarize the feedback you’ve heard, relay what your next steps will be and provide a clear sense of what the employee can expect will be different following the discussion.