The 3 Stay Conversations: The best way to improve employee retention

We all want to improve <a href="https://knowyourteam.com/blog/2021/08/19/how-to-retain-employees/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">employee retention</a>. The question is how? Our knee-jerk answers to this question can feel opaque. Pay, perks, and promotion opportunities could matter… but to what degree? Employee recognition programs or more social activities could be helpful aspects… or will those efforts feel superficial? <a href="https://knowyourteam.com/m/global_manager_learning_path/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=cta" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Training for new managers</a> could also be beneficial… but who needs to be trained, and on what skillset areas? The fog begins to lift when we have a conversation with our team members themselves. We must talk one-on-one with our team members to best understand what their current experience of work is like, and how it can be better. Sure, a survey or two can be helpful for giving data points of general sentiments — but when we sit down in-person or in front of a video call, face-to-face with our team members, we capture the nuance for what is encouraging that specific person to stay. Rather than broad generalizations of our own projected assumptions, a conversation shines a light on what we can do for each particular person we want to stay. Only then can we understand exactly what steps to take. What conversations should you be having to improve employee retention? I’ve identified 3 conversations in particular that you as a leader can be having with your direct reports to improve the likelihood of employee retention. I call them “The Three Stay Conversations” as they focus on identifying the aspects of the work itself that encourage someone to <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/how-to-use-stay-conversations-to-keep-employees-engaged.aspx" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">stay</a>.