The opening question, “When you travel to work each day”, encourages the employee to imagine their daily commute to capture their everyday images in the here and now. Then asking them what they look forward to drives them to their positive images, what they actually like.

“Learning” in the present tense sends the compelling message that we want you to grow, to prosper for both yourself and our organization. Employees when answering then hear their own lists so they know they are developing and not standing still.

When we train managers to conduct Stay Interviews, we teach them that all career discussions are built around the word “skills” so probes might include these:

“What skills would you like to build?” “What skills do you think are required for that position?”

The goal here is for the employee to dig deeply to identify and then announce why she stays. Her initial response might be superficial…”I have to pay the bills”…but trained managers respond by saying, “Me too, but why do you really stay?”

The manager’s next job is to refrain from giving hints, and instead say, “Take a few moments. I really want to learn why you stay”.

The employee’s contemplation and ultimate disclosure drive an important point…that few employees bother to consider why they stay. And they ultimately remember their reasons once they discover them within themselves and announce those reasons to their manager.

These types of exchanges such as this one drive up trust, improve employee output and engagement, and ultimately improve employee retention.

This question rises above all subtleties and gets to the core retention issues…and yes, everyone considers leaving at one time or another. The probes matter for all questions but particularly here:

“How important is that issue to you today?”

“What’s the single most important thing I can do to make it better?”

“Can I count on you to come directly to me if you ever feel that way again?”

“Whose shoddy work causes you to get so far behind? Tell me specifically.”

“How often has that happened since last April?”