In my opinion, one of the most intriguing questions that can be asked in the process of Appreciative Inquiry is “What does a great day look like for you?” When it’s posed to coaches applying for a position in the athletic department, it can serve as a gauge for how relational their leadership style is for their players. When presented in the first few days of a semester to students, it offers a glimpse into their past classroom experiences and which types of learning environments engage their minds. When offered to a friend, it reveals a guide to how to plan an outing that has meaning for them.
In 2021, I had the privilege of presenting at a professional conference on the topic of Using Appreciative Inquiry to Foster Faculty Growth, and one of the outcomes of that presentation was intriguing dialogue with leaders on how to encourage the best employees to stay. Asking questions like the one above is a simple, yet extremely enlightening, method for learning what organizational members need to feel effective, successful, and purposeful in their contributions. And when these questions are posed in what is known as Stay Interviews, researchers, like Clint Pulver, the Undercover Millennial, are finding that consistent actions and attitudes that demonstrate leaders care is often the tipping point that allows members to say, “I Love it Here!”
According to Laura Tanner, a Stay Interview “is a staff retention tool to find out why staff may be thinking of leaving…[It] is similar to an exit interview—it is a fact finding mission. The real difference is during a Stay Interview is that the objective is to retain employees, rather than change to retain current employees after a high performer has already left…[It] helps affirm that you appreciate the staff for their hard work and loyalty. Their opinion is important to you and you want to take the time to make their voice heard to find out what you can do better…The reason that this feedback is so valuable is that you can target what your high performers think. If you are able to adjust to their needs, you may even get the added benefit of attracting more high performers through professional reputation and word of mouth.”
The idea of Stay Interviews highlights the importance of Appreciative Inquiry and continuous learning and not waiting until one of the star performers becomes frustrated, which often leads to complacency. Tanner offers the need to be proactive, staying tuned into your team, “The last place that you should address this is in the frustration phase, it should never get to complacency.” Pulver mirrors these concepts when he discusses how asking the right questions can help leaders develop a Dream Team, and with the changing workplace, it’s more important than ever to cultivate these Stay Interviews to gain necessary information for a Generational Remix.
Tanner, Comaford, and other human resource professionals, offer their perspective on essential Stay Interview questions including these: (1) Do you feel like you have adequate resources to do your job? (2) Do you have any skills that you feel are not being used in your current role? (3) What about your job makes you jump out of bed in the morning? (4) What can we do to make your job more satisfying? (5) How would you like to be recognized for a job well done? (6) What do you want to learn this year? How might you learn it? (7) What can leadership do more or less of? You can follow the link below to read the rationale for some of these questions, but the important take away from this research is that when team members feel seen, heard, and appreciated, they are more likely to stay and flourish at work. When these opportunities to share their insights are dismissed, team members are likely to become frustrated and it’s easy to take on the perspective that leadership does not care if the member chooses to Stay or Go.
Although the Stay Interview lingo may not have been used, has there been a time when leadership engaged in the act of Appreciative Inquiry, and you experienced a moment of being seen, heard, and appreciated. Would you consider sharing that experience in the comments below?
References:
Comaford, C. (2021, May 17). Love ‘em or lose ‘em: The ultimate stay interview guide. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecomaford/2021/05/17/love-em-or-lose-em-the-ultimate-stay-interview-guide/?sh=2a5fdba168dd
Tanner, L. (2020, May 7). Essential stay interview questions to retain staff. Middle Managed. Retrieved from https://middlemanaged.com/2020/05/07/essential-stay-interview-questions-to-retain-staff/
Flourishing @ Life 