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The Secret to Effective Stay Interviews: Six Must-Ask Questions
Marshall Goldsmith is a multiple-time New York Times bestselling author and widely considered the world's foremost executive coach. He is not, however, an HR professional.
Despite that, one of Goldsmith's groundbreaking innovations is the development of six questions that he uses when coaching executives to be better leaders. Essentially, the goal of the questions is to maximize a leader's relationship with direct reports.
After reflecting on these questions and the strong HR trend supporting the use of stay interviews, it strikes me that there's much potential synergy between the two.
A "stay interview" is an innovative tactic to prevent the often less-than-satisfactory "exit interview." Instead of waiting to query a departing employee about the reasons for leaving, the stay interview proactively explores what makes employees more or less likely to stay or leave and thereby gives company leadership and HR valuable retention information.
For employers and HR professionals interested in stay interviews, here are some ways to tie Goldsmith's six questions into the stay interview concept:
1. Where Is the Company Going?
This is a "big picture" conversation in which the leader shares perspective on what's most important in terms of goals, vision and priorities, and elicits the employee's thoughts on the same. This question creates an opportunity to point out similarities, clarify expectations, and support the employee's vision.
2. Where Are You Going?
This question focuses specifically on the work the employee is doing and invites a discussion about how well-aligned this work is with the vision, goals, and priorities just discussed.
"I remember obtaining my then-dream job as an HR director years ago. On my first day, the CEO took me to lunch and asked me what my next career goal was," said Senior HR executive Colleen McManus, SHRM-SCP. "I thought, 'Gee, I just got this job! Is there something you want to tell me?' He explained that he always wanted his key team members to have a career road map, and he wanted to know what that was so he could support us at every step of that journey. I loved that, as it felt like a true investment in my career."
3. What's Going Well?
This question reflects the importance of leaders giving positive recognition for actions and results worth repeating. Don't mince words — be specific and sincere. This way, the employee knows exactly what actions hit the mark and is likely to repeat that type of behavior in the future.
4. What Are Your Key Suggestions for Improvement?
The main word here is "key." This question is not intended to be a brainstorming exercise where the employee provides a laundry list of things that could be better. "Key" means keeping the focus on what's most important.
"I like what I call the 'one-thing question,' " McManus said. "If there was one thing I could do to better support you in your role, what would that be? The 'one-thing question' helps employees home in on the one or two things that will make a significant difference."
5. How Can I Help?
Goldsmith emphasizes that this question creates the opportunity for the leader to genuinely listen, hear what the report has to say, and look for ways to help the report be more successful. This question also creates an opportunity for the leader to commit to actions that will help the employee.
6. What Suggestions Do You Have for Me?
With this question, the leader is not asking for feedback, which could be construed as criticism and something a subordinate employee might be reluctant to give. Rather, the employee provides what Goldsmith calls feedforward — practical suggestions for future improvement. This approach enables the conversation to be constructive without being defensive. It's not what you did wrong in the past; it's what you could do more effectively in the future.
Based on Goldsmith's research, as well as his experience as a coach, asking these six questions and discussing the answers with employees will dramatically improve a manager's effectiveness, both in the manager's relationship with direct reports and in the organization's health and success. Goldsmith recommended that these conversations occur approximately quarterly. This way, he said, there will be a continual interaction, including action on suggestions.
"Otherwise, employees will wonder what's the point if nothing ever happens based on the input they give," he said.
Goldsmith also said leaders tend to assume employees will ask for help when they need it. "This is not necessarily so," he explained. "Our research shows employees are often reluctant to ask for help, yet will complain that they're not getting the help they need."
Deploy the six questions and listen carefully to the answers, whether you're the stay interviewer yourself or a coach to the managers who interview their reports.
"HR is uniquely positioned to promote a coaching environment versus a hierarchical boss/subordinate environment," Goldsmith said. "I encourage every CEO and other leader to empower HR to serve as a means to creating and maintaining a healthy, productive, coaching culture."
Jathan Janove is an HR executive, consultant and the author of "Hard-Won Wisdom: True Stories from the Management Trenches."
This article is courtesy of Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
