Utilizing Stay & Exit Interviews for Recruitment

Workers are dissatisfied with how frequently they receive feedback from their immediate management. Additionally, almost 30% of workers would like more peer feedback.

Giving employees feedback is crucial since it helps them feel like they’re a part of something bigger. Employees are more committed to the company’s vision and values when they feel like they are a part of it.

An essential aspect of encouraging this participation is providing and receiving feedback.

Effective communication strengthens bonds between people, keeps top talent on staff, grows and keeps customers, and improves your employer’s brand.

However, during formal interviews, supervisors or managers only hear more about the employee’s insights.

Often, all this feedback will come out during an exit interview—when it’s a little too late to persuade the employee to stay.

How can you utilize interviews?

As part of the departure checklist, many firms of all sizes urge employees to participate in exit interviews. There are several good and legal justifications for doing so.

These could include learning about training gaps, staff or managerial difficulties that weren’t previously reported to HR, and whether the other business offered higher pay, more career growth opportunities, or better promotion prospects.

The same reasoning should hold true for employees who are still working for your company.

Therefore, you must be interested in the opinions of your current employees regarding the company and their reasons for remaining, whether or why they would think about changing their profession or career in the near future.

The secret to success for both “stay” and exit interviews is providing a space where the employee feels secure to be open and honest with answers and guarantees the information will remain confidential.

It should be impossible to trace the statement’s origin back to the respondent. The interviewer must be someone the applicant is comfortable with.

Building rapport and trust will be considerably more difficult for an HR practitioner who never leaves the office to connect with the line staff.

Stories about employee engagement, or lack thereof, and how managers might recognize signs that an employee might be considering leaving the company pop up every few days on LinkedIn or other social networking platforms.

However, not enough businesses are utilizing “stay interviews” as a retention strategy or even a recruiting strategy.

It’s a terrific opportunity for you in talent acquisition to gauge employee engagement and retention and use that information to inform your hiring decisions.

What is an exit interview?

Before an individual departs a company, an exit interview is conducted to learn what the organization can do better to keep its best employees.

It’s a crucial step in the entire offboarding procedure, and HR normally handles it in some way.

Employees may be questioned about their reasons for leaving, their opinion of the business, and any suggestions they may have for improvement during an exit interview.

There is a strategic necessity even though there isn’t a legal one.

Exit interviews are a terrific opportunity for HR, in particular, to assess the state of the company, uphold a positive employer brand, and discover fresh approaches to increase retention rates while lowering attrition.

Undoubtedly, there is a strong temptation to allow an employee to quit without a fight. This is especially true when people are angry or disappointed, and their emotions run high.

But your organization needs to resist that inclination. Why? Considering that exit interviews are crucial in two ways:

Identifying structural and cultural problems

Employees leaving a firm are usually more likely to talk about issues. They are no longer concerned that their criticism may harm their careers.

Exit interview questions provide a chance to learn deeply about corporate and leadership culture, helping to spot any internal issues.

Maintaining a strong employer brand

Exit interviews are frequently the final opportunity to make a lasting impression.

A corporation may accept criticism, own up to mistakes, and show a willingness to change by having open communication.

They will remember you more favorably and perhaps even suggest you to others if you can listen intently to a departing employee and express your appreciation.

What happens in stay interviews?

Contrary to popular opinion, a stay interview doesn’t involve persuading a leaving employee to stay.

Instead, a stay interview is a face-to-face conversation with a long-term, high-performing employee in which you seek to understand what aspects of their job and your organization motivate them to come in each day.

It is also a way to determine what would cause a fantastic worker to leave.

A stay interview is equally as crucial as an exit interview, if not more so. Interviews last long enough to allow for problem identification and resolution. Exit interviews, on the other hand, occur as an employee leaves.

Stay interviews can significantly increase your employee retention rate when appropriately conducted. Utilizing the data you gather from stay interviews is crucial.

It will appear dishonest of you not to respond to your employees’ feedback and diminish the significance of stay interviews.

Since your team members took the time to offer their open feedback, it is up to you to make an effort to improve.

Why is getting employees’ insights and thoughts important in recruitment?

The drive for improvement is vital for all businesses, no matter how big or small. So how can you alter things for the better to improve the working environment and corporate culture?

Improving your applicant experience begins with realizing the value of candid candidate feedback. Then, find out how to create a hiring procedure that values candidates and provides you with the competitive edge you require.

If you do this well, you might surpass your rivals and increase the size of your prospective market. Your candidate experience is also a part of this effort to grow and improve.

In the same vein, improvement is also the primary goal of every stay or exit interview.

Again, by getting first-hand information from the people who worked for the company, you get actionable insights on your areas for improvement.

Of course, commit and do your part in improving and streamlining operations to ensure your interviews are helpful.

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