Improve Recruiting with Stay Interviews: the 5 questions I would ask

Issue #8 - published on April 5, 2023

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Hi there! Thanks for stopping by. I share expert, practical advice on recruiting and talent acquisition biweekly. If you're new to our community and would like to revolutionize your recruiting, click the "subscribe" button above.

In a recent poll I conducted on LinkedIn, 52% of my respondents indicated stay interviews do not concern recruiters and we should not be involved. Recruiters are not typically involved with stay interviews, but I believe recruiters should send stay interviews to the teams of the hiring managers they are recruiting for. Why?

First of all, to get more stories and marketing content so we can sell our companies and roles better. By surveying the hiring manager's team in a stay interview kind of format, we can learn what makes people stay and gain stories from the people in the very departments we are recruiting for. Our current staff is a treasure trove of information and we only have to ask.

But what to ask? Here are the 5 questions I would ask and why:

1. How likely is it that you would recommend working here to a friend or colleague? (0 - 10 range)
2. What would it take to change your answer to a 10?
3. Have you ever thought about leaving but decided to stay??What kept you here?
4. If a highly regarded peer in your profession that you would love to work with reached out to you and asked "why should I work in your department/for your manager" - what would you say?
5. What does it really take to succeed here? And why?

Question one will help us determine the employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) for the department of the hiring manager. NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from promoters. Detractors are any score of 0 through 6. Promoters are those who give a 9 or 10. So if 50% of the responses are 9s or 10s, 40% of the responses are 6s or 7s, and the last 10% of responses are 0 through 6, then the NPS is 50-10 or a score of 40. The eNPS will give you an idea of your employee satisfaction and loyalty in the department and hiring manager you are recruiting for.

Question two is interesting in that you will be given the low down of what could be improved within the department by those currently working within the department. They may say more autonomy, flexibility, work-from-home, or any number of things. You may see patterns in the answers that will let you know what challenges may be waiting for any new hires you are recruiting. You may want to share (anonymously) the patterns and trends you see with the manager to act as a consultant or partner to improve any shortfalls that may be leading to attrition and turnover. These patterns will also help you determine a candidate's fit in the role; whether they would be happy and thrive or not.

Question three is the first attempt to get potential selling points for future phone conversations with candidates. You may see patterns in the answers and they will identify the assets of the department or greater company. These are the things that may not be seen often in other companies. These are the things that set the department or greater company apart from other competing companies. These may be things that can't be easily found elsewhere and could be part of the Employer Value Proposition (EVP).

Question four is a second attempt to get potential selling points. The responses may be elevator pitches or the essence of a message the current employee would use to try to convince someone to work for their department or manager. While question three may get department-specific answers, many answers could be for the entire company; and question four is about the EVP for the department and manager specifically. This question will probably give you the most department/hiring manager-specific selling points to use when recruiting talent for that department.

Question five will help you find out the departmental culture aspects and environmental aspects that are needed for a potential employee to succeed. This will help give you more clarity on what is really needed to work in that department and find talent that would thrive in that department. This may shed light on "soft skills" that are needed to do well in this department or job. I added "and why" to this to help get context. Someone could say that good communication skills are needed to really succeed, but what does this really mean? To say good communication because you are presenting in front of the C-suite would be different from good communication because you are on the phone a lot.

If the people you are surveying know there are only 5 questions, I think it is more likely they will take the time to fill out the survey. By asking current employees for information like this, we could discover things about the role and department that simply were not mentioned during an intake meeting with the hiring manager. Sometimes managers are too removed from the work and learning straight from the ones doing the work what it is like is of great value.

Do you already survey or do "stay interviews" with current employees for the purposes of recruiting? If not, do you think you would give it a try as an experiment? Share your thoughts and feedback by leaving a comment. To see more of my posts and articles, follow me on?LinkedIn?and on?Twitter.

What they didn't say, but could have

I just like the juxtaposition of light and dark for this combo.

Fun with ChatGPT

What is a recruiter or talent acquisition specialist in the style of Dr. Seuss.

A talent acquisition specialist is like the Cat in the Hat,

With a big old stack of resumes, they read and chat.

They look for folks with skills that fit the bill,

And schedule interviews to give them a thrill.

They talk to managers and teams, to gauge and assess,

If the candidate would be a good fit, like a puzzle piece.

They search high and low, near and far,

For the perfect fit, like a shining star.

And when the perfect match is found, like a needle in hay,

They'll make the hire, and everybody will say "Yay!"

So if you're looking for a job, don't be a sour kraut,

A talent acquisition specialist's the one you should tout!

Talent Acquisition Quotes

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do."

~ Steve Jobs

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