Retaining Good Employees Interview Questions And Answers

The best way to find out what your employees want and how to retain them is to ask them.Ask questions to gauge how you're meeting your employees' expectations. Not just "How's it going?", but specific questions to get specific answers. Some questions to ask: How are things going? What makes you stay? What would make you stay longer? How can I help you with your professional goals? Are there new things you'd like to try? Are there things I can do better, as your manager? Are there things you aren't getting out of this job that you'd like to get out of the job? What do you love doing? What would you like to be doing more of?By the way, the only way this works is if you're committed not only to asking the questions but also to listening to the answers and responding to them with more than words. If you can't do that, it's probably better to skip the stay interviews.

Let employees know what's realistic, and think about the next steps together. Appropriate expectation setting is critical to retention. Develop a plan, which should be more than a discussion. You don't need to create the plan, but you should participate in shaping it.

If an employee is getting married, having a baby, or sending a kid to college, you should know about it. I'm not advocating becoming friends with the people you manage. But you should be interested in their lives and know what's going on. I loved managers who were interested in me. Also, what better way to appreciate your top performers than by knowing about their lives and finding opportunities (if you're lucky) to contribute to them?

It's worth having a stay interview quarterly or twice a year if you can. Why not see if you can substitute stay interviews today for an exit interview down the line?

The most undervalued tool in determining why employees leave is the exit interview. When someone leaves, who is the best person to conduct this interview? If the immediate manager is responsible, the interview will not likely result in honest answers. The interview needs to be conducted by a neutral party, usually someone from human resources.

There are certain questions to ask, such as, "Why are you leaving?" While on the surface it seems like a simple question with a simple answer, nothing could be further from the truth.
Think of it this way: When in a department store and the sales associate asks, "Can I help you?", our pre-programmed response is always, "No, I am just looking."
Well, the same is true for "Why are you leaving?" The pre-programmed response is "for more money." What is the underlying question? Is money the reason the employee went looking in the first place; that answer is usually no.

Begin with this question: "What is the reason you have chosen to leave our organization?" Avoid asking "why" in the opening statement because it sets off the defense mechanism immediately.

The first reason may very well be more money. If so, proceed by thanking the person and asking if he/she feels as though they were underpaid in the current position. Regardless of the answer, ask how important money is to the person. This will feel uncomfortable, but the interviewer will begin to uncover whether money is actually the No. 1 motivator for leaving.

This could result in many answers - shorter commute, nicer office, etc. Regardless, the next question must be, "Why is this important to you?" Finally, the most important question gauges overall importance: "Which is more important, money or a shorter commute, nicer office, etc.

Whether it's the first response or not, money is always a factor in leaving a job, and often with good reason. Are employers paying their employees fair market value in today's market? If so, money is a scapegoat answer because it's likely the person will not make significantly more in a new position. As an employer, resources can relay accurate and appropriate information. Managers must re-valuate their employee's salaries on a regular basis to stay competitive.

Behavioral or personality conflicts with co-workers or supervisors are also common factors in leaving a job. Conflict with projects can be healthy, yet conflict between people styles can be deadly. Too often, people try to get their point across without understanding the other person's point of view. Thus, conflict arises on a regular basis. This can be addressed with training on how to adapt to different behavior styles.

A big reason why employees leave ultimately boils down to poor people skills in management. An employer must ask, "Are my front-line leaders good with people?" Many managers were promoted to their position because they did their first job well, but that doesn't mean they know how to lead others in the position. When employees are asked for the top three favorable traits in their best boss, 90 percent are people-based skills.

Determining the underlying causes for an employee's departure is vital to the success and evolution of every company, large or small. The exit interview is the most underrated yet efficient method in gathering this information, and it needs to be continued time and time again to build statistical information on an organization. Each organization is different than the one across the parking lot. Therefore, the more information gathered, the more informed senior management will be about strategic decisions down the road.

One night I was at an event with a number of other CEO founders. One CEO told me the story of how he lost a top up-and-coming engineer, who was making a five-figure salary, to a real boring company that doubled her salary. That boring company had to. How else can a boring company steal a star engineer from a hot startup? The answer is: lots of money.
My point here is this seasoned engineer should not have had a five-figure salary, even if it made sense in a historical context (she had joined as a very junior person, consistent with prior salary). Pay market, or above, as soon as you can. It's a sign of respect. And most of the best ones won't ask. They'll just eventually get frustrated and leave.

You have to find a growth path for the great ones. The great ones will join your company to grow, to learn, to do new things. If they can't grow, they die a little every day. It's your job to understand the career path for all your key employees. And do whatever you can, within the boundaries of reality, to help them achieve it.

You have to get compensation right, as best you can, all the time. These days, anyone good is going to get a raise to move and may be a signing bonus on top of that.
The thing is--you can't counter. It's too late by that point. Once they tell you they have another offer they're already out the door. A raise won't do it at this point, at least not for the good ones.

Try to balance giving your team members the authority, the tools and the space they need to do their jobs empowering them and staying checked-in as they execute their responsibilities. Be accessible for and open to, problem solving whether it is brainstorming next steps or fighting fires. And, be accessible personally taking a genuine interest in employees as individuals, as people.

Establish well defined metrics for evaluating an employee's contribution to achieving business goals. Expect and demand good work. Review performance versus those metrics on a regular basis. Acknowledge good work when it is delivered. Discuss work that missed the mark and jointly determine how to avoid a repeat performance in the next round.

As your company grows and matures and more infrastructure is formalized, performance reviews can be opportunities to discuss employee's career goals and obtain input for creating stretch opportunities for them both within their current roles and in new roles.

When hiring, look inside first. Make it a priority to scan the internal environment first to see if there are existing employees who could stretch into the new position…growing to the next level. Make sure employees are aware of internal openings and have a chance to apply for them if they are interested.

Beyond salary/bonus/equity, think about "rewarding" employees for truly superior performance, how about dinner on the company as a spot award? or recognizing employee's start-date anniversaries? or closing the office early before a holiday to allow the team to get a jump on the holiday? or awarding a personal day after completion of a 'hairy-scary' assignment?. At the end of the day words are just words. While feedback is important, people also need to feel appreciated in a tangible way. The return in terms of employee loyalty and commitment will far outweigh the financial cost of these "spot" awards over the long run.

The quality of the supervision an employee receives is critical to employee retention. People leave managers and supervisors more often than they leave companies or jobs. It is not enough that the manager is well-liked or a nice person. Sure, a nice, likeable manager earns you some points with your employees. A draconian, nasty or controlling manager takes points away from your organization. So will below market benefits and compensation but a manager or supervisor, who is a professional at employee retention, knows that the quality of the supervision is the key factor in employee retention.

Managers who retain staff start by communicating clear expectations to the employee. They share their picture of what constitutes success for the employee in both the expected deliverables from and the performance of their job. These managers provide frequent feedback and make the employee feel valued. When an employee completes an exchange with a manager who retains staff, he or she feels empowered, enabled and confident in their ability to get the job done.

Employee complaints about managers and supervisors center on these areas. Employees leave managers who fail to:
★ provide clarity about expectations.
★ provide clarity about career development and earning potential.
★ give regular feedback about performance.
★ hold scheduled meetings.
★ provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed.

Almost every manager can increase his/her ability to retain employees by developing his/her management skills. Teaching a manager about how to value people can be more challenging. Particularly if the manager does not already value people and their contributions in his/her mind and heart, it will be a leap for his/her to change his/her values.