New Retention Tool: Stay Interviews

What if one hour each year with your best employees could keep them from walking out the door? That’s the power of a stay interview. Done well, they’re one of the easiest ways to strengthen retention and build a happier, more engaged team.

What Is a Stay Interview?

A stay interview is a one-on-one conversation between a high-performing employee and their direct manager (or an HR leader). It’s a proactive retention tool to understand someone’s motivations for staying and potential reasons for leaving.

This is different from a performance review, where the purpose is to evaluate an employee’s past performance and set future goals. Typically, a manager will talk more in a performance review. In contrast, a manager will usually listen more in a stay interview.

When Should You Conduct One?

Hold stay interviews at least once a year during slower seasons so you have the time and space to listen and follow up. Quarter-end and year‑end close are good examples of when not to have them.

5 Stay Interview Question Ideas

There are an endless number of questions you could ask, but we couldn’t include them all. Instead, we highlighted 5 key questions leaders have shared with us that they use.

1. What Are You Learning Here? And What Do You Want To Learn?

Explanation: This question gets people talking about what they’ve picked up on the job (skills, knowledge, or experiences) and where they’d like to grow next.

Follow‑up prompts could include:

What do you want to learn in the next 6-12 months?

What skills do you want to develop (whether or not they’re tied to your current role)?

Is there something about your job you’d change to help you grow?

Their answers can reveal where to invest in training, projects, or stretch opportunities. If they’re feeling stuck or bored, this is your chance to spark something new.

2. What Responsibilities Do You Feel Let Your Strengths Shine?

Explanation: Every job has parts that light us up and parts that don’t. This question uncovers what tasks or responsibilities bring out someone’s best. It could be telling a story with data, building relationships, or something else.

Their answer might confirm what you already see or reveal a strength you didn’t know they had. Either way, it gives you a chance to make sure they’re spending more time on the work where they have the most impact. And if they’re not getting to use those strengths enough right now, you’ll know exactly where to start making changes.

3. Is There Anything You Would Want off Your Plate?

Explanation: This question gets down to the nitty‑gritty of someone’s workload, so you can uncover tasks that don’t play to their strengths, slow them down unnecessarily, or could be done more efficiently. It also shows you what tasks do not excite them, which can be an insight into their happiness if this portion of their job is (or becomes) too big.

Note- this question is not a promise by you to take something off their plate. Maybe there are some things you can’t delegate or eliminate. Maybe there are some things you can. You won’t know until you ask and listen.

4. How Does the In-Office Policy Affect Your Work‑Life Balance?

Explanation: Sometimes it’s not the work itself that wears people down, but how the work fits (or doesn’t fit) into the rest of their life. This question shows you care about how policies actually play out in day‑to‑day life and gives you feedback to share with leadership.

You might learn that some days are harder for them to be in the office, or that the commute takes a bigger toll than you realized. No, you can’t move their house closer to work, but you can find small ways to make the balance better — like shifting start times to dodge rush hour or letting parents duck out early for school/daycare pick‑up if they make up the time later.

5. What Can I Do To Make Your Job Better for You?

Explanation: An employee’s first instinct might be to say, “Nothing, I’m good.” You should not be satisfied with that answer. Keep probing by asking:

Do you feel like you get enough recognition and praise for your contributions?

What could I do more of in terms of feedback, coaching, or growth opportunities?

You may have to pull the answer out with a few follow‑up questions. Sometimes, sharing examples from your own career can help them think about what’s possible.

You Collected the Feedback, Now What?

Gathering feedback is the easy part. Following through is what sets great managers apart.

After each stay interview, take a moment to reflect on what you heard. Then look for patterns. One comment might just be a personal quirk, but if you hear it from a few people, it could be worth taking action on. Focus on changes that will make the biggest difference for the most employees, and be realistic about what you can address now versus later.

Next, close the loop. Let your team know you heard them by sharing a few high‑level takeaways (without naming names) and outlining what you plan to do next. Even if you can’t tackle everything right away, showing that you’re listening — and taking action — builds trust.

Final Thoughts

Stay interviews are insurance for your team’s future. They give you the chance to solve problems before they push your best people out the door, and they arm you with insights you can take straight to leadership.

If one hour a year can help you keep your best people, strengthen your culture, and save you from the cost of replacing talent — why wouldn’t you make the time?