#Stay February 17

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

In the last week I have had two conversations with two different leaders. They both revolved on an upcoming decision to STAY or leave a current job.

The first conversation was with a person who has decided to not STAY in their current job. Their supervisor has no idea that the die has been cast to for this talented individual to move on. The second conversation was with a leader who is worried that one of her best performers might leave. She is reluctant to have what she perceives as uncomfortable conversation with that team member.

I am convinced that most leaders know it is better to retain than to recruit. Retaining and getting top performers to STAY is not easy but it is worth it. The reason it is not easy is it requires a leader to be proactive not reactive.

Unless something changes both of the people I listened to this past week are headed to be involved on different ends of an exit interview. There is nothing unusual about an exit interview. Sometimes in those interactions there is often a last minute effort to retain the employee. I often wonder why more leaders don’t engage in proactive habit of conducting a STAY interview.

A STAY interview cannot occur when an employee has decided to accept another offer. It is a one on one conversation where the goal is to get to know your employee not to discuss performance. The goal of the STAY interview is to learn what you can do to keep them. A STAY interview will help you know what the employee is looking for. An exit interview will only assist in telling the leader why they are leaving.

If you lead a team you may want to read a Harvard Business Review article titled “How to Keep Top Talent”. Regardless of what type of team you lead your people are your greatest asset.

If you are interested in the in’s and out’s of STAY interview I came across a great blog post on STAY Interviews: A Powerful Employee Engagement and Retention Tool this is on a blog called Training Doyens

A STAY interview involves trust.

Coach4aday

My purpose in life is to coach. I am a former collegiate basketball coach, director of athletics, and chief of staff. I worked at four NCAA Division I & II universities during my career. At each campus I learned timeless lessons on teamwork and leadership. Today my passion is coaching others on what it takes to lead, serve, and succeed.

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