Stay Interviews & Surveys
Stay Interviews Are
One-on-one conversations
Designed to learn what motivates the employee to stay engaged
About asking questions and listening
Proactively discussed and scheduled in advance
Typically facilitated by supervisors, but can also be conducted by human resources employees
Structured and focused, lasting ideally 20–30 minutes
Do you know what keeps your people coming back year after year?
Are you aware of the pain points that might drive them away? Stay interviews are a high-impact retention strategy that foster an open and communicative environment, improve supervisor-employee relationships, and build trust.
Stay Interviews Defined
A stay interview is an informal conversation typically between a supervisor and an employee about the employee’s level of job satisfaction and specific ways the supervisor can maintain or improve it.
When considering whether to conduct stay interviews, keep in mind that other options, such as administering a survey, can be used to gather information. While both methods lead to employee feedback, their purposes, benefits, and limitations are different.
Adapted from The Stay Interview Kick Start Guide: 5 Simple Steps to Dramatically Improve Engagement & Retention, HRsoft High Impact Talent Management
Stay Interviews Are Not
Conversations at a team meeting
Exit interviews that focus on employee motivations for leaving
About training, coaching, or job performance
Reactive and conducted only when there is a problem
A long rant session
Adapted from The Stay Interview Kick Start Guide: 5 Simple Steps to Dramatically Improve Engagement & Retention, HRsoft High Impact Talent Management
Stay Interviews vs. Stay Surveys
When considering whether to conduct stay interviews, keep in mind that other options, such as administering a survey, can be used to gather information. While both methods lead to employee feedback, their purposes, benefits and limitations are different. Click to explore the differences.
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Supervisor or HR partner directly hears what motivates the employee to stay.
Leads to action plans tailored to individuals.
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Typically, responses are anonymous, and the data reflect average thinking.
Lead to plans of action or programs for groups of employees.
Step 1: Determine an approach that fits your culture.
Create a shared understanding of why you are conducting stay interviews. Key messaging should include how much employee feedback and input is valued in your organization.
Culture: Is the current culture one in which there is trust between supervisors and employees? If some level of distrust exists, consider who would be best suited to facilitate the interviews.
Participation: While stay interviews are intended for employees you wish to retain, would the involvement of a subset of employees create “othering” or a feeling of exclusion for those not involved? If so, can multiple strategies be used to ensure all employees have a means of providing feedback?
Terminology: How will you reference the interviews? Using the formal term “stay interview” is not essential and may cause confusion to employees. Ultimately, you are meeting with employees to learn what you can do to make this a great place for them to work.
Step 2: Establish measures of success.
Set a goal such as an increased retention rate or employee engagement.
Collect relevant baseline data and determine method of monitoring results.
To calculate return on investment (ROI), track the time and expenses spent conducting stay interviews and analyzing the responses. Compare your expenses to the savings/benefits obtained from the stay interviews (e.g. reduced recruitment, hiring, and onboarding expenses).
Step 3: Identify interviewees & interviewers.
Interviewees should be employees you want to retain. Consider:
Who are the most effective, influential, or high-potential staff members?
Which high-performers are a flight risk to leave?
Are there employee populations that are historically difficult to recruit or retain?
Interviewers should be someone the employee trusts and who can elicit authentic feedback. Usually this is their supervisor, but it could also be another leader or someone from Human Resources.
Step 4: Select stay interview questions.
Choose up to 5 questions along with related probing questions to help spark the interviewee’s thinking. Sample questions are provided in the resource linked below.
Realize that the employee will set the agenda for the interview and the supervisor is simply the facilitator with a guided plan.
If you want to be able to identify trends, you will need to stay consistent with the interview questions asked across interviewees.
Step 5: Prepare the interviewers.
Develop a shared understanding and consistent approach among interviewers by creating a stay interview template. As part of the template provide:
A script for beginning the conversation that explains the purpose of the interviews and how the information will be used.
The list of stay survey questions.
A notetaking document to capture employee responses.
A script to conclude the conversation, share next steps, and thank the employee for their time.
Walk through the interview questions and probing questions. Reinforce the importance of consistency in the questions asked to employees, and the importance of the probing questions to uncover authentic, emotional reasons.
If stay interviews are a new concept for the supervisors, consider a cascade approach from the top down to allow for supervisors to be interviewed prior to interviewing others.
Practice with scenarios and/or role play to ensure supervisors actively listen, avoid being defensive during interviews, and anticipate difficult topics that may be brought up. Provide guidance and sample responses to help the interviewers respond appropriately and keep the conversation flowing:
“Can you give me an example?” or “Can you tell me more about…?”
“Let me tell you what I am hearing you say and see if I got it right.”
“I’m sorry that was your experience. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
“I need to do some homework and investigate that more. Let’s schedule a follow-up on the topic.”
Identify a comfortable location for conducting interviews, such as:
A common meeting room or other quiet space.
The employee’s office or classroom.
If the supervisor’s office is the best option, the supervisor should avoid sitting behind their desk or similar set-ups that elicit a power dynamic.
Step 6: Schedule & Conduct Interviews
Decide when the interviews will take place. Wait until the end of the first quarter or long enough into the school year to develop relationships, while still ensuring there is enough time in the school year to implement changes that address employees’ feedback.
Draft and send invitations to applicable employees. Focus on the purpose for the conversation and briefly address the format so they know what to expect.
Note: Do not send questions to employees ahead of time as the goal is to elicit authentic feedback directly from a face-to-face conversation.
If conducting multiple interviews in the same day, allow enough time in between each interview in case they extend past their allotted time, and to allow time to complete notetaking.
Stay on schedule and avoid interruptions during interviews. Unplug from other activities and take notes throughout so the employee knows they have your complete focus.
Step 7: Take Action
While stay interviews provide an opportunity for meaningful discussion, commit to action and continue the conversations throughout the year to avoid a “one and done” process.
Next Steps for Interviewer
Follow up individually with each interviewed employee.
Express gratitude for their time and candor. Share your plans for next steps and further communication. If interviews uncovered a lack of awareness of existing resources or benefits, reference such information within a follow up email to applicable employees.
After completing all interviews, analyze responses to inform next steps.
Consider:
What themes surfaced that need addressed?
What suggestions are actionable this year? Or in the long term?
Are there immediate interventions needed for individuals?
Develop action plans.
Build them collaboratively by continuing to involve employees for input.
Customize strategies for each employee based on what you learned from the stay interviews.
Create themes to group various action items. Examples of themes:
Organizational culture and leadership
Processes and efficiencies
Compensation and benefits
Professional growth and advancement opportunities
Organize a short list of action items that both the supervisor and the employee will work on together to address the ideas discussed. It’s suggested that the Stay Plan be a shared document (i.e. Google Doc) that accompanies the follow-up communication from the supervisor to the individual employee. The action plan should include initiatives, supervisor and employee actions, and timeframes.