Conduct a retention interview with employees who are willing to transfer

If warning signs indicate that a key employee wants to quit, his or her boss or supervisor should have a stay-put conversation with him or her. Such a discussion has three goals:

• explore whether the assumption is correct. If so,
• find out how far the employee has already distanced himself mentally from the company. and whether he can still be "retuned". And again, if so,
• motivate him to stay.

Invite to a lead conversation

Never casually extend the invitation for a lead interview. If possible, when alone, ask him to talk to you in person. If he asks, do not state the occasion. Instead, say, for example, "Nothing bad, but I'd like to talk about it with you in private." Make an appointment for this - also so that you can prepare yourself. Ask yourself before the conversation, for example:

• What could be possible reasons for the employee's intention to change? And:
• As a leader, what might I have contributed to this?

For example, if you have (unconsciously) promoted the intention to change through your behavior, this will influence the atmosphere in the conversation.

Conduct the lead interview in a place that guarantees peace and confidentiality. And take your time, because such conversations often take an unexpected course. For example, if the employee tells you things that you did not know before.

Enter the conversation with I-messages

At the beginning of the conversation, briefly share your thoughts and fears with the employee. After all, he or she does not yet know what the conversation is about. Avoid long introductions and get straight to the point. Start the conversation with a first-person statement, for example:

• "I have had the impression recently that you are withdrawing. That's why I'm afraid you're mentally saying goodbye to us." Or:
• "Our company is currently in a state of transition. Therefore, I'm concerned that you may feel your job is insecure and look for an alternative job."

Afterwards, express your regret if your fears were true: "I would find that a pity, because I value you very much as a person and employee and would therefore like to keep you." Then wait for the employee to respond. Listen patiently to what he or she has to tell you. Ask questions of understanding at most.

The possible employee reactions

There are four possible employee responses to your push.

• Reaction 1: The employee credibly assures you that your fears are unfounded. Then the conversation is actually over. Nevertheless, you should take the opportunity to put your employee relationship on an even firmer footing. For example, by saying: "I'm pleased about that. Nevertheless, I would ask you to talk to me in the future if something is bothering you. Because as I said before, you are important to me as an employee."
• Reaction 2: The employee emphasizes that your fears are unfounded. But you don't believe him - for example, because of his body language. This is often the case, because employees who are willing to change are usually reluctant to talk to their boss about their intention until they have an alternative job. Even then, you should emphasize that you are pleased about this because the employee is important to you. Afterwards, you should continue the conversation like a normal appraisal interview, for example by saying: "Irrespective of this, I would be interested to know how satisfied you are with your work - after all, things have been quite turbulent at our company recently (for example, due to Corona or as a result of the Ukraine war or due to digitization or thin staffing levels)." The goal here: to explore the potential reasons why the employee might be considering a change of employer, and then possibly resolve them.
• Reaction 3: The employee says he is considering changing employers. Then you should first thank him for his openness and express that you consider this a sign of trust and will handle the information accordingly. After that, you should inquire in detail about the motives for the contemplated change before asking him, "What can I or the company do to make you stay? Because as I said before, you are a valuable employee."
  As the employee's boss or supervisor, you can record the employee's wish list and comment carefully if one aspect is impossible to fulfill. Practice shows that a lack of appreciation, a poor working atmosphere and a lack of satisfaction at work are usually bigger problems than the salary when it comes to retaining highly qualified employees in particular.
• Reaction 4: The employee says he is determined to change employers. Even then, you should first thank the employee for his or her openness and explore his or her motives for the change. Sometimes there are personal reasons: For example, an employee has fallen in love and therefore wants to move to another city. In that case, you can really only wish him all the best. It's different when an employee says, for example, that a family member has become a caregiver, which is why he can no longer do his challenging job or no longer wants to. In that case, the only alternative is usually to let him move or to explore with him what alternative work arrangements or job alternatives are available in his own organization.

The situation is different again if the planned change is due to the current work situation. For example, the poor working atmosphere, the high workload, the poor pay or the low promotion prospects. Then, when an employee openly says "I'm leaving" even though he or she does not yet have a new job, a lot of frustration has usually already built up in the employee. It is correspondingly difficult to persuade the employee to stay. Nevertheless, you should try it with valuable employees - even if you then have to reckon with massive criticism of your management style and behavior, because dissatisfaction with the supervisor is a frequent reason for changing employers.

Exploring the conditions for rethinking

Listen to the complaints calmly, and then say, for example, "I notice you have a lot of resentment built up." The employee will probably reply "yes." You can then reply, for example, "I'm sorry that I didn't register this earlier and talk to you about it. Because you are a valuable employee to me, and I would therefore like to continue working with you. Under what conditions could you imagine reconsidering your decision?"

So after the employee has let off steam, try to steer the conversation into calmer waters - among other things by signaling your appreciation to your counterpart. Then you should try to work out with the employee under what conditions he or she could imagine remaining loyal to the company and to what extent these conditions can be met.

Arrange a follow-up appointment

It is often not possible to reach an agreement on this in a meeting - either because you still have to discuss with colleagues or superiors the extent to which certain wishes can be fulfilled. Or because the employee does not yet know the answer to your question about the conditions under which he or she could imagine staying. Then, toward the end of the conversation, you should first record as a positive result: "Fine, we are both still willing to talk." After that, they should jointly define in a results protocol who will do what by when and with what goal, and agree on a date when they will sit down together again.

It is not uncommon for employees who are willing to change employers to be persuaded to do so and also to become emotionally attached to the company again - especially if they sense genuine appreciation on the part of their employer or supervisor during the stay interview and a genuine effort to fulfill their personal wishes as far as possible. After all, they know that there are always risks associated with a change of employer. That is why such an attempt is worthwhile, because every unplanned termination results in high follow-up costs for a company - and not only because of the then necessary search for a new employee and his or her induction. The so-called "chaos costs" are often much more serious, because a (key) position is usually vacant for a longer period of time.

The notice of termination is already on the table

You can still hold a retention meeting with employees even if their resignation is already on the table. In this case, however, you usually have to offer the employee significantly more than if he or she has not yet found a new job, so that he or she will reconsider his or her decision. Rightly so, because then you have not recognized the change signals in advance. Otherwise, the termination would not be unexpectedly on the table.

Authors:
Klaus Doll is the owner of Klaus Doll Organisationsberatung, Neustadt an der Weinstraße (www.doll-beratung.de). His wife Nikola Doll works as a business coach, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. (www.doll-coaching.de).

Editor's note: The following shows how a company can prevent unwanted waves of layoffs this article.