Employee retention is essential to an organization’s success. High turnover not only hurts your bottom-line, but also damages morale among remaining employees. As the economy grows stronger and job creation continues to accelerate, workforce retention is becoming more and more important. The quit rate is quickly approaching levels not seen since before the economic recession. Thanks to renewed confidence in the labor market, employees are seeking new opportunities in order to advance their careers.
Today’s insurers must shift their efforts toward engaging and retaining their valued talent. Unfortunately, according to a 2015 LHH Talent Mobility Research Report, organizations continue to struggle with identifying and addressing employee needs and aspirations.
Healthy, happy and engaged employees are essential to a productive workforce. These individuals are providing positive contributions to your organization’s bottom-line, producing quality work and maintaining long tenures. But what happens when the spark fizzles out? Outside of wining and dining your employees, how can organizations continue to woo their top talent?
The key may be to address the problem before it starts. Incorporating a stay interview into your retention strategy is a great way to combat attrition challenges and help your employees “feel the love.” A stay interview is focused on asking the right questions at the right time—building retention and engagement before employees become dissatisfied and look for alternative opportunities.
Insurers must determine what makes outside career opportunities more appealing and incorporate those factors into their own organizations in order to retain valuable talent. Ask questions that delve into your employees’ motivations. What is important to you in your job? What would cause you to leave? What part of your job were you most excited about when you started? Has that changed? What made you choose to work for us?
Unlike annual reviews and other once-a-year touchpoints, stay interviews should be a constant practice. This will ensure you are fostering honest and open communication on a regular basis. In fact, your culture should be built around these continuous stay interviews. While the process may start out more structured, with practice, it should become an informal cultural company activity.
Devoting management efforts toward conducting stay interviews allows your organization to keep a pulse on what is happening with your employees and identify the factors that are creating potential turnover. Armed with these insights, your organization will be better prepared to engage and retain its valuable talent.
