Don't wait for the exit interview to give employees a chance to tell you how they feel.
Nearly 32% of employers struggle to find candidates who stay, regularly losing high-performing employees for totally avoidable reasons. But with the rising risk of employee turnover, you can’t afford to surrender your top talent to the competition.
That’s where the retention interview (a.k.a. ‘stay interview’) can help. These structured employee retention interviews can help you collect valuable feedback, slash your recruitment costs, and identify issues before employees submit their two weeks.
Read on to learn how to conduct a stay interview that keeps your top performers close.
What is a stay interview?
Stay interviews are one-on-one meetings designed to help managers get insight into what employees enjoy about their role, what they want to change, and what you, as the employer, can do to retain them.
These critical meetings can be conducted at any point in the employee journey. And while you should always give new employees time to find their footing first, beware of the “too little too late” trap.
"The whole point of a stay interview is to reach the employee before they have made the decision to leave," John Morgan, president of talent acquisition firm LHH tells SHRM. "Don't wait to get input from employees. The earlier and more often you initiate the conversation, the better."
While an exit interview means game over, stay interviews are all about keeping employees around.
Here’s a snapshot comparison of the two:
Benefits of a retention interview: happier employees, lower recruitment costs
Stay interviews fix little problems before they snowball into big issues.
This doesn’t just lower recruitment costs, it can also help you:
- Improve employee retention
- Collect valuable employee feedback
- Boost employee satisfaction and engagement
- Reinforce face-to-face communication
- Provide a framework for communication and relationship-building
The 15 best stay interview questions to ask
Stay interviews are about the employee’s needs – not the organization's. That’s why direct, open-ended questions are always best.
If you're in a pinch, you can take the start/keep/stop formula, or SKS format. But if you have the bandwidth, move beyond SKS and dig into the deeper issues with these categories.
General questions
- What do you enjoy most about working here?
- What keeps you from switching jobs?
- What can we do better or differently to support you?
Questions about development
- What skills would you like to develop?
- How would you like to be challenged in your role?
- What skills are not being utilized in your current role?
Questions about leadership
- What can management do to better support you?
- What kind of feedback do you want that you aren’t currently receiving?
- Can you tell me about a time you've felt frustrated by leadership this year?
Questions about company culture
- Would you recommend this company to friends looking for jobs? Why or why not?
- Do you feel the company’s policies and practices reflect our values?
- Do you feel like you have a healthy work-life balance? If not, how can we improve?
Questions about job satisfaction
- If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?
- How do you prefer to receive recognition?
- Do you feel like you have enough opportunities for professional growth?
6 steps for an effective stay interview
To reignite employee loyalty, you need to structure your interview thoughtfully. The following best practices will help you nail it.
1. Know who will conduct it
More often than not, managers are the ones who conduct stay interviews. They have a pre-existing relationship with the employee, knowledge of their day-to-day tasks, and are familiar with their unique work style.
But let’s face it: not everyone has a good relationship with their manager.
“The hardest part is if the person is not engaged with their manager [who] might not have the emotional intelligence to deal with it, is too aggressive, or the employee doesn’t feel able to be honest,” explains Annette Reavis, Chief People Officer at Envoy. “After all, the principal reason an employee might leave could be a poor relationship with their manager.
If you pick up on any tension between a manager and their direct report, try a skip-level stay interview instead.
Skip-level interviews are between an employee and their boss’s boss, allowing employees to be fully honest about management issues, without fear of retaliation. According to Brian Kropp, HR research chief at Gartner, skip-level interviews encourage interviewers to focus on each employee’s whole personhood, rather than just their output.
But regardless of who conducts the interview, the goal is to understand what’s working for your employees – and what isn’t.
Get the most out of your stay interviews with the following tips:
- Utilize all employee feedback – even if workers decide to leave. Stay interviews collect valuable intel, improving managers’ understanding of their team’s likes and dislikes. This knowledge can help retain other workers down the line, especially when they’re approached by competitors.
- Never outsource stay interviews to human resources. Stay interviews should be in-person conversations between an employee and a team leader – not HR.
- Avoid scheduling stay interviews before a break or holiday. Whether it’s a college reunion or the holidays, avoid scheduling stay interviews before events where employees might ruminate or compare themselves to others.
2. Know who will receive it
Some employers focus their efforts on high-performers. Others target disgruntled employees. But perhaps the best tactic is baking it into your existing performance management cycle.
“[Stay interviews] should be conducted with all team members, in order to avoid the perception that managers care only about certain employees, and that not being interviewed means not being valued,” says Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Chief Innovation Officer at ManpowerGroup.
Whether you focus on top talent or flight risks first, make sure to communicate the purpose of the interviews so no one feels left out.
Here are a few other planning tips for a successful stay campaign:
- Concentrate initial efforts on irreplaceables that you can’t afford to lose.
- Make sure the meetings are private one-on-ones to encourage employees to speak openly.
- Forestall employee concerns. If employees haven’t participated in a stay interview before, they might feel like their commitment or loyalty is under question. Make sure they understand that stay interviews are simply a forum for discussion.
3. Lead by example
Imagine pouring your heart out to a friend who just nods and changes the subject – awkward, right? Creating a safe, reciprocal space for sharing is crucial to the success of your stay interview.
“As with any conversation where an employee is expected to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions, be sure to establish trust and psychological safety. Communicate up front that their responses won’t be held against them and will either be kept confidential or shared anonymously with identifying personal details scrubbed,” advises Kevin Kruse, CEO of LEADx.
It’s also helpful to model constructive criticism based on your own self-reflection or evaluation – then back them up with steps to improve.
“Supervisors who ask, listen, act and communicate honestly strengthen trust with their employees, the absolute most important supervisory skill for increasing engagement and retention,” notes Dick Finnegan, CEO of C-Suite Analytics.
Rather than leading with criticism, follow these tips for successful stay interviews:
- Supplement stay interviews with daily recognition to build a foundation of trust.
- Ensure that employees can share their feelings without fear of retaliation. Emphasize that their honesty will not negatively affect their job status or relationships.
- Model vulnerability by discussing your own challenges and growth areas. This can encourage employees to open up about their own experiences.
4. Be ready for uncomfortable conversations
Stay interviews aren’t about quick fixes. The goal is to prompt reflection for both leaders and employees, so that both parties can do their jobs more effectively.
While these conversations can feel uncomfortable at times, it’s all in the name of growth.
“It is important to be present and welcome hard conversations,” Arnnon Geshuri, Chief People Officer at Teladoc tells Fast Company. “Many people avoid tough topics and either allow issues to fester or view the interaction itself as a source of stress. Rather, one should embrace issues even in the most challenging of situations.”
By leaning in and digging deeper, you can shift from simply managing tasks to actively supporting your employees.
Here are a few tips for creating a safe environment for tough conversations:
- Choose a setting outside the workplace to make the conversation less intimidating. Grab a coffee or go for a walk to create a casual environment free from office distractions.
- Practice active listening by restating employees’ answers back to them in your own words.
- Accept feedback gracefully. When receiving critical feedback, show appreciation for the employee's honesty and the courage it takes to speak up. This demonstrates that you’re also open to growth and improvement.
5. Decide when you'll conduct your stay interviews
If you’re going to implement stay interviews, commit to a consistent schedule – not a one-and-done solution.
Some companies host stay interviews at 30, 60, and 90 days into members’ employment, while others conduct them annually or on an as-needed basis.
“[I] suggest that the manager ask…these questions monthly in a one-on-one instead of doing it once a year. This way, you avoid hitting the employee on an exceptionally good—or bad—day that could skew their input, and the leader is able to demonstrate their consistent concern versus a conversation that comes only once or twice a year.” writes Anna Oakes, former Head of People at Quartz.
Though it might be tempting, it’s important to not tie stay interviews to annual reviews.
“Stay interviews should focus on identifying specific improvements that raise employees' levels of engagement and retention, and should not morph into telling employees ways they can perform better. This means that stay interviews should not be add-ons to performance-appraisal meetings, but should instead be separate meetings that are entirely focused on what leaders can do for their employees.” Dick Finnegan notes.
The University of Iowa’s supervisor training curriculum suggests scheduling these interviews on opposing half-years from when your performance reviews take place. That means that if performance reviews happen in January, consider scheduling stay interviews in early summer (or vice versa).
Here are a few other tips for stay interview success:
- Avoid busy seasons. Schedule stay interviews outside of peak work times to ensure that both managers and employees can engage in meaningful, unhurried conversations.
- Wait till new hires are settled in. Schedule stay interviews after new employees have had time to acclimate to the company, typically after the first 60-90 days.
- Communicate the schedule clearly. Inform employees about the stay interview schedule so they know what to expect and can prepare for these conversations.
6. Act on what you learn
The most important part of conducting a stay interview? Your response.
“Don’t waste time conducting a stay interview if you can’t take action afterwards,” cautions workplace culture strategist Jennifer Moss. “You don’t need to be able to respond to every employee’s requests, but you should try to do what’s in your power to make incremental improvements and to make people’s experience at work better over time.”
At the end of the day, whatever insights you glean are pointless unless you act on them.
The good news is, employee feedback from stay interviews can bring about quicker fixes than you might expect, like slight schedule tweaks or changes in workplace accommodations that make things exponentially better for your people.
“Leaders become afraid of gathering data because they assume it’s going to take a complete overhaul to get their corporate culture back on track. And yet, in many cases it’s the little issues that could be fixed before they snowball out of control,” Moss continues.
When your top performers see you taking real steps to make work a place where they can thrive, they’ll feel much more comfortable approaching you with their concerns before applying somewhere else.
Here’s how you can act on employee feedback to increase retention:
- Reinforce what works. Stay interviews aren’t just about preventing the bad stuff. Find out what employees enjoy about their jobs or work environment, and double down.
- Prioritize feedback from can’t-lose employees. Every voice matters, but if you truly can’t afford to lose an employee, try to meet their needs first. Chances are, addressing their issues could trickle down and solve problems for other employees too.
- Follow up on feedback. After making an effort to fix the issue, give the employee time to digest the changes, then check in to see how they’re feeling.
Give your people a reason to stay
When employees feel supported by their supervisors, they’re way less likely to head for the exit.
To boost employee experience and stay ahead in a tight labor market, take the time to conduct meaningful stay interviews.
Need more support? Check out Breezy’s ever-growing library of HR resources or try Breezy Perform for free to start sparking the right conversations before it's too late.
