Building 'Stay Interviews' into Routine Check-ins: A Proactive Strategy to Improve Employee Retention in Healthcare
Retaining top talent in healthcare has never been more challenging. Issues like burnout, heavy workloads, and a competitive market for skilled professionals are driving turnover rates higher. But there’s one proactive strategy that many organizations overlook: the stay interview. Unlike exit interviews, which happen after an employee decides to leave, stay interviews allow healthcare leaders to identify and address challenges before they drive employees away.
In this article, we’ll cover:
What a stay interview is
The differences between stay interviews and exit interviews
Why stay interviews are beneficial for healthcare organizations
How to effectively conduct stay interviews to improve employee retention
Stay interviews are powerful tools in healthcare, where improving morale and retaining skilled employees directly impact patient care. By the end, you’ll see why stay interviews are an essential strategy for retaining talent and how The Lind Group has helped healthcare organizations successfully implement them, achieving dramatic reductions in turnover.
What Is a Stay Interview?
A stay interview is a one-on-one conversation between a leader and an employee, aimed at uncovering what the employee values about their role and what could be improved to enhance their experience. Unlike performance reviews, which focus on achievements and growth, or exit interviews, which analyze why an employee is leaving, stay interviews center on gathering insights into what’s working well and what adjustments could improve the employee's experience. It’s a preventative retention strategy, allowing leaders to understand what keeps their employees engaged and identify opportunities for improvement.
The Difference Between Stay Interviews and Exit Interviews
Both stay interviews and exit interviews are essential to a healthcare organization’s talent management strategy, but they serve distinct purposes:
Exit interviews provide valuable insights after an employee has decided to leave, helping leadership understand what factors contributed to their decision.
Stay interviews, on the other hand, are forward-looking. They proactively uncover potential issues and opportunities for improvement, helping leaders retain valued team members.
In short: exit interviews analyze the past, while stay interviews invest in the future.
Are Stay Interviews a Good Idea? The Benefits for Healthcare Leaders
Stay interviews are not just beneficial—they’re transformative for employee retention. Here’s why stay interviews are so valuable, particularly in the demanding healthcare industry:
Early Problem Detection: Stay interviews enable leaders to identify small issues before they become larger, retention-threatening problems.
Increased Employee Engagement: Stay interviews show employees that leadership genuinely cares about their experiences, boosting engagement and satisfaction.
Personalized Retention Strategies: Tailored to each individual, stay interviews provide specific insights, allowing leaders to design strategies that retain talent effectively.
Leveraging Stay Interviews as a Retention Strategy in Healthcare
Stay interviews have shown remarkable success in healthcare, where even minor improvements in employee morale and engagement can lead to significantly better patient care and reduced turnover rates. At The Lind Group, we’ve helped top healthcare organizations save six figures within a 90-day period by making simple but effective changes like implementing stay interviews.
Here are ways healthcare leaders can leverage stay interviews to improve retention and morale:
Frequent, Casual Check-Ins: Conduct regular check-ins to maintain an open dialogue and make stay interviews feel conversational. Monthly or quarterly check-ins are effective without overwhelming leaders or employees.
Focused Questions on Job Satisfaction: Ask meaningful questions to gain insights into job satisfaction. Effective stay interview questions include:
“What do you enjoy most about your work here?”
“What would make your experience here better?”
“Do you feel supported by your team and leadership?”
Action on Feedback: To make stay interviews impactful, leaders must act on the feedback received. Showing employees that their input leads to real changes builds trust and strengthens their commitment to the organization.
Conducting Stay Interviews to Improve Employee Retention: A Step-by-Step Guide
To make the most of stay interviews, healthcare leaders should approach them strategically. Here’s a structured process for conducting effective stay interviews:
Preparation: Identify key focus areas such as workload, professional development, and team dynamics.
Open-Ended Questions: Use open-ended questions that encourage honest responses. Active listening without judgment is key.
Consistency: Conduct stay interviews at regular intervals to track progress and address new challenges.
Act on Feedback: Acting on insights gained is critical. Implement changes wherever possible, and communicate these adjustments to show employees their feedback matters.
Real-Life Impact: How The Lind Group Helped a Major Healthcare Client Decrease Turnover with Stay Interviews
One of our most successful implementations of stay interviews was with a nationwide healthcare organization struggling with high turnover. Their turnover issues were affecting patient care, continuity, and operational costs, creating an urgent need for a solution.
The Lind Group collaborated with their leadership to integrate stay interviews into their employee engagement strategy. We worked with managers to conduct focused, empathetic conversations with team members, enabling the organization to uncover and address key issues early on.
The results? Within just three months, the organization saw a 20% reduction in turnover, saving them an estimated six figures in recruitment, training, and lost productivity costs. This success story highlights the incredible impact of a proactive, human-centered approach to retaining healthcare talent and improving team morale.
Ready to Transform Your Retention Strategy?
At The Lind Group, we specialize in helping healthcare organizations retain top talent through innovative, actionable strategies. If you're looking to see similar results in turnover reduction and cost savings, click here to book a call and let us help you transform your organization with a retention plan tailored to your needs.