by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting
Last week, I heard a real estate leader from one of the major national franchises estimate the cost of unwanted attrition.
It costs 10 times more to acquire a new producer than it does to retain the producer you already have on your team.
This doesn’t negate the need for recruiting (if new people are not joining your organization, you’ll stagnate), but it does shed more light on the importance of retention.
Dr. John Sullivan recently published a very informative article which includes more than a dozen actionable retention ideas. Here is the best idea on his list:
LinkedIn found that “tell me why you stay” interviews can result in a 38 percent reduction in turnover.
Stay interviews are proactive periodic one-on-one interviews between a targeted employee and their manager.
Key employees are asked, “why do you stay?” by identifying the precise “sticky factors” that tie this individual to the job and at the agency.
A manager can then act to reinforce each of those “sticky factors.”
These interviews should be held at least once a year and more often when an individual has a high risk of leaving.
For a hiring manager who wants to build a sustainable, high-producing office, the “stay interview” is just as important as the recruiting interview.