1. Welcome To The Webinar…
Retention: How To Conduct
Provider Stay Interviews
February 22, 2012 | 10-11 am
In order to hear the presentation please call 1.646.558.2124, access code
225.475.920, followed by the audio PIN you received when you joined the
webinar
All Participant Phone Lines are Muted at This Time

2. Kimberly Benjamin, PHR,CERP
Workforce Development Specialist, Michigan
Primary Care Association
Encourage and facilitate Community Health Center
participation in national and statewide recruitment and
retention programs
Design and implement strategies to assist Community
Health Centers in developing an effective recruitment
and retention plan that will include plan evaluation and
assessment tools
Develop a Workforce Planning Center to assist
Community Health Centers in recruiting and retaining a
quality health workforce
Assist Community Health Centers in marketing
employment opportunities using a variety of media.

3. Our Main Learning Objectives
•Learn skills and a process for conducting Stay
Interviews with our Providers and Team Members in
order to learn and leverage the most important
reasons they stay.
•Learn how to develop and carry out individual stay
plans with each of your employees in order to retain
them.

4. Today’s Agenda
 What is a stay interview?
 Why conduct stay interviews?
 How do stay interviews differ from exit interviews and
opinion surveys?
 How do we conduct stay interviews?
 Group Interaction: Poll Question Activities
 Supervisors Impact on Retention
 Retention Success Stories
 Learn about the Certified Employee Retention Program
 Q/A

5. Dick Finnegan, CEO
C-Suite Analytics
407.694.3390
www.c-suiteanalytics.com
5

6. Finnegan Background
• “Recovering HR director” who has solved turnover and across 6
continents including Siberian banks, African gold mines and the CIA
• Author of “Rethinking Retention in Good Times and Bad”,
endorsed by Business Week as offers “fresh thinking for solving the
turnover problem in any economy”
• Author of “The Power of Stay Interviews for Engagement and
Retention”, to be published by SHRM in Q3, 2011
• Noted as employee retention expert by SHRM, Business Week, Chief
Executive Magazine, Consulting Magazine, and HR Excellence Center
of China
6

7. Research-Driven, Process-Based
7

8. Why Exit Surveys Fail
• Employees don’t tell • “More money” is what
the truth you got, not why you
looked
• Interviewers accept
soft answers • “Better opportunity”
means
“I blew you off ”
• “Absences” and
“Attendance” don’t
offer solutions • NOTHING CHANGES!
Managers see as
“autopsies” who lack
credibility
8

9. 8 Ways to Improve Exit Survey Results
1. Find out why the employee is leaving, period
3. Do not promise confidentiality
5. Use skilled interviewers
7. Gather data ASAP
9. Ask what steps they took to resolve their issues
11.End on a high
13.Distribute results to those who can make improvements
15.Track improvements your company makes
9

10. Poll Question #1
Do you have a Retention Plan
currently in place?

11. Stay Interview Training Section

12. What is a Stay Interview?
 A Stay Interview is a one-on-one meeting each manager
and supervisor has with each direct report in order to
learn why that employee stays with your organization.
 Each manager and supervisor then acts on the stay
reasons in order to increase the likelihood the
employee will stay longer and be more productive.
 Each manager and supervisor also records the stay
reasons for their combined team and forwards this
information upward so their organization can take
actions based on common stay reasons.
 The Stay Interviews will be conducted tops-down,
meaning each manager and supervisor will participate
in a Stay Interview as an employee before conducting
one as a manager or supervisor.

13. How do Stay Interviews Work?
 Executives, managers, and supervisors attend stay
interview training.
 Conduct interviews cascading, beginning with
executives.
 Record data and build stay plans for each employee.
 Review stay plans with their manager.
 Implement stay plans and retain their teams.

14. Why Conduct Stay Interviews?
 Supervisors learn first-hand the unique reasons why
each employee stays.
 Employees hear directly from their supervisors that
they care and want them to stay and grow with the
company.
 Supervisors further accept retention within their sphere
of responsibility.
 Employees are most likely to accept responsibility for
staying.

15. Are Exit Surveys Better?
Exit Interviews:
 Leavers won’t burn bridges and hide real reason.
Stay Interviews:
 Focuses on current employees we want to keep.
 Removes the “middle man” so supervisors hear
directly how to keep employees.
 Employees hear “we want you to stay”.
 Next steps are in supervisors’ hands versus
program.

16. Are Opinion Surveys Better?
 Opinion Surveys:
b. Are anonymous so don’t review specific employee’s
input.
c. Usually ask for opinions, but not importance.
d. Focuses on topics beyond supervisors’ control.
 Stay Interviews:
g. Supervisors' hears specifically why each employee
stays/would leave.
h. Employees ‘ priorities are clearly expressed and
understood.
i. Designed to learn what employees need each day from
supervisor and team.

17. Poll Question #2
How Many People Left Your
Organization last year?
(since Jan 1, 2011 to Present)

18. Stay Interview Tips

19. How We (MPCA) Implemented the
Stay Interview Process
r Enrolled in The Retention Institute Certified Employee
Retention Program (CERP)
m Conducted Stay Interview Train-The-Trainer Session
with all managers/top leaders
s CEO/Executive Directors conducted stay interviews
with managers
r Managers conducted stay interviews with supervisors
e Supervisors conducted stay interviews with team
members
u Note: Each manager and supervisor should schedule a
meeting with their next-level-up manager to discuss
completed “Stay Interview”, this meeting should be
completed within 30 days after you’ve completed your
interviews.

20. CERP Forms and Resources
2. Stay Interview Guide
3. Stay Interview Program Summary
4. Tally Sheet
5. Good Listening Activity
6. Probing Chart Activity
7. Stay Interview Team Results Form
8. Stay Interview Retention Plan

21. Tips on Conducting Stay Interviews
1. Always take notes
3. Be a Great Listener
5. Remember to Probe
7. Take Responsibility
9. Structure Interview Format
11. Explain Next Steps

22. Tips on Opening the Stay Interview
 Avoid making any kind of statement that could be taken
as a contract-real or implied. Instead of saying “I want
you to stay here a long time” say, “I hope we work
together for a long time”.
 Use your own words, communicate the following
objective very near the beginning of the meeting. “My
greatest interest for our time today is to learn what I
personally can do to make this a great place for you to
work”.
 Let them know your intent and the limits of your
authority up front.

23. Tips for During the Meeting
 Take good notes
 Be a great listener
 Probe
 Take Responsibility

24. Provider Stay Interview Questionnaire
 When you travel to work each day, what things do you
look forward to? Consider asking…
 What do you like most about working here?

25. Provider Stay Interview Questionnaire
 What are you learning here? Consider asking…
Tell me about your career aspirations: Do you feel
like you can advance your career here if you want to?

26. Provider Stay Interview Questionnaire
 How do you like working with other members of our
team? Consider asking…..
 Does any part of working with your co-workers
really frustrate you?

27. Provider Stay Interview Questionnaire
 And what about me? What can I do to influence you to
stay longer? Consider asking…..
 Anything that I do that you definitely want me to
continue to do or to do more often?

28. Provider Stay Interview Questionnaire
 Have you ever thought about leaving the team? What
prompted it? Consider asking…
 On a scale from 1 to 10, with ten being “very
serious-I’m actively seeking another job at this
time” and one being, “not very serious-I’ve no real
plans to leave, “how would you rate your intention
to leave?

29. Tips for Closing the Meeting
 Thank the team member for sharing.
 Use your notes to summarize and repeat back to the
team member the most important points discussed.
 Briefly describe what you plan to do as a result of this
meeting.
 Ask the team member if he/she has any questions.

30. How We (MPCA) Implemented the
Stay Interview Process
r Enrolled in The Retention Institute Certified Employee
Retention Program (CERP)
m Conducted Stay Interview Train-The-Trainer Session
with all managers/top leaders
s CEO/Executive Directors conducted stay interviews
with managers
r Managers conducted stay interviews with supervisors
e Supervisors conducted stay interviews with team
members
u Note: Each manager and supervisor should schedule a
meeting with their next-level-up manager to discuss
completed “Stay Interview”, this meeting should be
completed within 30 days after you’ve completed your
interviews.

31. Poll Question #3
Who do you hold accountable
for meeting employee retention
goals by impacting their bonus,
pay, or performance ratings?
31

32. Poll Question #4
What is the main reason why
people leave a company?

33. Supervisors’ Impact on Retention
“If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers”…Gallup
Primary reason for seeking a new job is disliking boss’s performance…
Yahoo
Employees stay for managers first and co-workers second…salary.com
Poor leadership causes over 60% of all employee turnover…
Saratoga Institute
Employees who stay primarily for their supervisors stay longer,
perform better, and are more satisfied with their pay…TalentKeepers
Given the high cost of turnover, it is clear that poor managers…
dramatically increase the cost of operations…Kenexa
33

34. The Real Power of Supervision
More importantly, a study by Kenexa confirms that employees’
satisfaction with pay, benefits, learning, development, and
advancement is “mediated” by their relationships with their
supervisors and concludes:
“Offering a higher salary or
developmental/advancement opportunities
may not be enough to retain employees”
So it appears that poor supervision overcomes the benefits of pay
and development…and leads to higher turnover!
34

35. 4 Thoughts to Ponder
1. Poor supervisors will trump good employee programs
good programs + good supervisors = retention
good programs + poor supervisors = turnover
2. Poor supervisors also trump good pay and development, and
drive higher turnover
3. “Supervisors” refers to anyone who supervises people including
executives and senior managers so all must have retention skills
4. If one or more of your supervisors fails to build effective
retention relationships, what other legitimate advantages do you
offer your employees that your competition for talent does not?
35

36. Manager Supervisor Exit
Interview
Require managers to conduct exit interviews with supervisors
after each exit…before new-hire requisition is approved
 Provides supervisory accountability for retention
 Enables supervisors to learn lessons, move ahead
 Encourages supervisors to build skills, improve
 Spotlights supervisors who continuously lose good
performers…and motivates managers to act
36

37. Manager Supervisor Sample Questions
1. As best you know, why is this employee leaving us?
3. Were you aware of this employee’s potential to leave for this
reason?
5. How was this employee’s overall job performance?
7. What were the main reasons you hired this employee?
9. What was this employee’s reaction to the realistic job preview?
11. Who trained this employee? Was the training effective?
13. Who provided great support for this employee? Who did not?
15. What lessons can you learn from this employee’s leaving?
17. How effectively are you meeting your employee retention
goals?
37

38. Retention Success Stories
• Global hotel call centers cut
turnover 50% in 4 months
How To Avoid This
• Major rural hospital cut
turnover 39% in 6 months
• Urban retirement community
cut nurse turnover 72% in 6
months
• Non-profit healthcare agency
cut turnover 38% in 2 months
38

39. Dick Finnegan, CEO
C-Suite Analytics
407.694.3390
www.c-suiteanalytics.com
39

40. More FREE Stuff!
For 5 Detailed Profiles of how
companies implemented Stay
Interviews & integrated them with
surveys
Dick Finnegan
The Retention Institute
C-Suite Analytics
407.694.3390
DFinnegan@C-SuiteAnalytics.com
www.c-suiteanalytics.com
40

41. More Information
Kimberly A Benjamin,PHR
517.827.0468
Kbenjamin@mpca.net