A stay interview is a discussion with an employee to learn why the employee continues to work for the employer and what could trigger the employee to consider leaving. These planned conversations help leaders better understand what motivates and interests their team members.
Seven Reasons to Implement Stay Interviews in Your Organization
How Managers Can Use Stay Interviews to Improve Retention
Sample: Stay Interview Questions
SHRM
More Sample Questions
The following articles contain suggestions for stay interview questions.
Deploy the six questions and listen carefully to the answers, whether you're the stay interviewer yourself or a coach to the managers who interview their reports.
Expert Advice on Implementing Stay Interviews
SHRM
Everyone thinks about leaving sometimes, so a directly-worded question brings a much-needed conversation into the light. When an employee last thought about leaving tells us the urgency, and what prompted it tells us why.
How to Conduct Stay Interviews: 5 Key Questions
SHRM
You’ll want to ask open-ended questions that encourage detailed responses, rather than simple 'yes' or 'no' answers. This approach fosters a deeper conversation and provides more insights.
Stay Interviews: Complete Guide With Example Questions
People Managing People
You can tailor your questions and conversation starters based on the information you want to know. If you already have areas of concern, you might include those topics.
Conducting Stay Interviews to Improve Employee Retention
Indeed
Open with an introduction of purpose. Share your desire to simply check in and see how the employee is doing, support them as a leader, and understand any questions or concerns they may have.
Stay Interviews: Best Practices to Apply, Questions to Ask, Sample Template to Follow
The Grossman Group
To make the list less overwhelming, we've divided the stay interview questions into 5 bite-sized categories
21 Best Stay Interview Questions to Ask
AIHR
6 stay interview questions that top employers ask
Insperity
Additional Resources
Effective stay interviews allow companies to identify and address problems before they become thorny. They’re a preemptive opportunity for companies to change policies, practices or related aspects that aren’t serving team members well.
The Benefits Stay Interviews Can Bring to Your Company
Business.com | Jan 2025
Give employees your full attention during these interviews. Make eye contact and take notes, which you can use to follow up on issues. You’ll also have this info to refer to the next time you sit down to find out how they’re doing and what you can do to help them want to stay.
How To Replace Exit Interviews With ‘Stay Interviews’ And Increase Employee Retention
Forbes | Feb 2024
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