Leadership / 09.28.23
You’ve Done the Stay Interviews – Now You Need an Action Plan
Christine Payne
Retaining top talent is vital in the ever-evolving world of live event and entertainment ticketing. With that in mind, people leaders and employees alike will find value in stay interviews. Simply put, they are like exit interviews before an employee considers leaving.
“It’s the idea of identifying employees for potential flight risk, especially in key positions in the organization,” Matthias Spitzmuller, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business, said in an interview. “It’s having a proactive conversation with them about the experiences in their job that are positive and what experiences are challenging. How can we, as an organization, as a supervisor, as an HR department, address some of those challenges?”
In a recent INTIX Access article, we revealed how stay interviews have emerged as a valuable tool for organizations that want to better understand and proactively address the needs of their workers. The story discusses what they are, how to conduct them, timing, location, preparation, duration, handling requests, and more.
Now, we delve into the critical next step and explore the art of crafting a stay interview action plan. This plan can be the key to fostering a ticket office environment where talent stays and thrives. You can create plans for individual employees, a plan to address insights gained from stay interviews with multiple ticketing professionals, or both. Ultimately, the role of these plans is to ensure that action is taken.
“Stay interviews can be a frustrating experience for employees if some of their suggestions aren’t implemented,” Spitzmuller warns. He recommends that organizations “listen to employees, be ready to make changes and communicate clearly when that isn’t possible.”
Here are nine steps and recommendations:
1. Pinpoint the top priorities identified through the stay interview process. These could be individual to a specific worker or common themes and suggestions from numerous employees. This recommendation from Gonzaga University is an important first step in creating a stay interview action plan.
2. Draft a plan that includes key areas, action steps to address those top priorities, timelines, resources and responsibilities. Be sure to prioritize anything that needs more urgent attention. If you do not have a template to use as a starting point, check out examples from Gonzaga and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then modify them to meet your needs.
3. Communicate the plan and get buy-in for your ideas. People leaders can create trust by involving ticketing professionals in their plans. Ask for feedback. For example, is there anything key that has been missed from your recent discussion(s)? How do employees feel about the steps you are proposing to take? How can ticketing professionals be involved? Transparency is essential and demonstrates your commitment to addressing any concerns.
4. Do what you say you are going to do. “It is important to act on what you learn in a stay interview because your job as the manager is to cultivate trust with the employees,” Allison Arnott, founder and Chief Happiness Officer of the Happiness Department, says. “Nothing good happens if the employees have a manager who they don't trust, don't [trust to] do what they say they're going to do and who is not trying to make their employee experience optimal.”
5. Set a timeframe to follow up. This shows team members that you are serious about their happiness and ensuring they have what they need in your ticket office environment. And who doesn’t like to have a coffee and a positive conversation to look forward to in their calendar!
6. Update the plan. It is always important to iterate and adjust plans as needed. There could be new concerns raised or evolving needs. When you make updates, let your ticketing pros know that the changes result from their suggestions and feedback.
7. Identify patterns and discuss them as a team. Now that you have stay interview action plans created for individual ticketing professionals, are there any more significant trends that emerged that you can address with the group?
“A really committed and courageous manager could compile what they learned from the stay interviews and then come back to a staff meeting and say, ‘Okay, all of you said that I am often late for my meetings with you. I take that to heart and I own it. You are going to see an improvement there,’” says Arnott.
Identifying patterns and addressing issues collectively with your staff has its benefits, says Arnott. “You've now opened the door to have a group discussion where everybody can be transparent with each other and say, ‘I was thinking about it after we spoke and … here's something I didn't tell you or here's something I appreciate.’ You could start with stay interviews with your team and then have a bigger discussion about it with everybody. Then not only are you filling the cup of value, respect and growth, but you are also filling the cup of meaningful connections with colleagues.”
8. Report any general themes of concern to your manager. Even the most senior leaders have someone who serves as their manager and mentor. If you have noticed a pattern that concerns you, raise it with someone who can help. This may help to unlock additional resources, including budget, time and personnel.
9. Repeat your stay interviews. As recommended in our part one article, this is not something that is “one and done.” Stay interviews should be conducted annually at a minimum. Don’t tie them to regular performance reviews. Conduct them with new hires once they are settled and familiar with your culture and work environment.
“If you have someone who has started and it becomes clear that they are a good fit and that … this is someone who you want in the organization, then that's a great time to do one,” Arnott says.
If something seems off with an employee, that is also a good time for a stay interview.
By following these steps, ticketing leaders can craft effective stay interview action plans that address individual employee suggestions and more general feedback while contributing to a positive ticket office environment and higher retention rates.
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Tags: Leadership