I read this blog from Andy Warren on a Stay Interview instead of an Exit Interview and found it fascinating. The idea of actually holding an interview on a regular basis and finding out if there are issues with an employee before they actually go find a job seems like something that every company would want to do.
At least every company that views employees as more than just an interchangeable resource.
I've never had a stay interview of any sort, though I have had regular reviews in almost every job. Usually they were annually, but I have had quarterly or semi-annual reviews as well, and sometimes they include questions like those mentioned in the Stay Interview link from Andy's blog. For this Friday, I thought I'd ask the rest of the DBA world what they thought and take a poll.
Would you like a regular stay interview every six months?
Would you like someone, not necessarily your manager, to conduct a periodic review of your job and see if you're happy? Does it make sense to have someone at work to talk to about what you don't like and what you do like, what improvements would make you happy.
I have mixed feelings on the idea. On one hand, if it could possibly effect a change, then it would make sense. I have had poor working relationships with managers in the past and being able to express this to an independent person would help. However I worry that it wouldn't be easy to express issues and effect change in a way that wouldn't bring about repercussions. I would worry that my next assignment, request for training, or even bonus might be affected by negative comments. It seems that too often I have found managers that are petty, vindictive , and unwilling to accept criticism. Not a good combination in a person that you have a complaint about.
Perhaps there's a way for HR people, or some third party, to conduct interviews, anonymize the data, even summarize it for management to view and then talk about what they can change. However my feeling is that good managers are probably doing this on a regular basis, and bad ones don't care. So what's the point.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
The podcast feeds are available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com. You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter:
or now on iTunes!
- Windows Media Podcast - 28.5MB WMV
- iPod Video Podcast - 20.4MB MP4
- MP3 Audio Podcast - 4.6MB MP3
Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.
I really appreciate and value feedback on the podcasts. Let us know what you like, don't like, or even send in ideas for the show. If you'd like to comment, post something here. The boss will be sure to read it.