Template · Performance and development
Stay interview questions template
In short
A stay interview is a planned one-to-one conversation with a current employee about why they stay, what might make them leave and what would make the job better. This template gives a 30-minute stay conversation guide, the core stay interview questions, a retention risk rating and an action plan so the manager actually follows up.
Stay Interview Guide and Record template
Stay Interview Guide and Record
The employee's manager runs the conversation. Tell the employee in advance that it is about what keeps them here and what could be better, not about performance. Ask the core questions in order, use follow-ups as needed, and complete the action plan within one week.
Interview details
- Employee name
- Job title
- Team / location
- Hire date
- Manager conducting interview
- Interview date
Opening (read or say in your own words)
Thanks for making time. This isn't a performance review and nothing is wrong. I want to understand what keeps you here, what makes the job harder than it should be, and what I can change. I'll take a few notes so I can follow up, and I'll come back to you within a week with what I can do.
Core questions
- 1. What do you look forward to most when you come to work?
- 2. What are you learning here, and what do you want to learn?
- 3. Why do you stay here? (Follow up: what would you miss most if you left?)
- 4. When was the last time you thought about leaving, and what prompted it?
- 5. What could make your job more satisfying?
- 6. What is one thing that frustrates you or slows you down that I could fix?
- 7. How do you like to be recognized, and do you feel recognized now?
- 8. How well does your schedule, location or way of working fit your life right now?
- 9. What do you want to be doing in a year or two, and how can I help?
- 10. What can I do more of, or less of, as your manager?
Optional follow-up questions
- If a friend asked whether they should apply here, what would you tell them?
- If you could change one thing about your role tomorrow, what would it be?
- Is there something about your pay or benefits you would like me to look into?
- Who on the team makes your work easier? Who makes it harder?
- What talents of yours are we not using?
- Has anyone tried to recruit you recently? What did they offer that interested you?
Manager summary (complete after the conversation)
- Main reasons the employee stays
- Main risks or frustrations raised
- Retention risk (manager judgment)
- LowMediumHigh
- Topics that need HR or another leader (pay, schedule, transfer, conduct concern)
Action plan
- Action 1 (what, who, by when)
- Action 2 (what, who, by when)
- Action 3 (what, who, by when)
- Things I cannot change, and how I explained that
- Date I will report back to the employee
- Follow-up check-in date
How to use this template
- Schedule 30 minutes, separate from any performance conversation, and tell the employee the purpose in the invitation.
- Run the conversation yourself as the direct manager; HR can coach and track, but the relationship is the point.
- Ask the core questions in order and use the follow-ups to get specifics; listen more than you speak.
- Do not promise anything on the spot, especially on pay or promotion; say you will look into it and give a date.
- Write the summary and up to three actions within a day, and route pay, schedule or conduct issues to HR.
- Report back to the employee within a week, including what you cannot change and why.
- Repeat once or twice a year, and earlier for new hires and anyone in a high-turnover role.
Why stay interviews beat exit interviews for retention
An exit interview tells you why someone left after the decision is made. A stay interview asks the same questions while you can still act. It is also more honest than you might expect, if the manager has a reasonable relationship with the employee and follows up on what they hear.
Engagement surveys and stay interviews do different jobs. An employee engagement survey shows patterns across hundreds of people; a stay interview tells one manager what will keep one person. Use the survey to decide where to focus and the stay interview to act at the individual level. For the definition and history of the practice, see the glossary entry on stay interviews.
Who to interview and when
Start where turnover costs you the most. That usually means three groups: employees in their first 6 to 12 months, when early attrition peaks; people in hard-to-fill or high-impact roles; and strong performers who have been in the same role for two years or more without a move.
For new hires, stay interviews pick up where a new hire check-in at 30 or 60 days leaves off. A natural timing is around month four to six. For everyone else, once or twice a year is enough, timed away from performance reviews and pay decisions so the conversation does not feel like negotiation. Avoid running them during a reorganization or layoff, when people will not speak openly.
How to run the conversation
The manager does most of the listening. A good ratio is 80% employee, 20% manager. Ask each question, wait, and follow up with "Tell me more" or "What would that look like?" before moving on. The question about the last time they thought about leaving feels risky, but it is the most useful one on the list. Most people have thought about it, and the trigger they name (a schedule change, a conflict, a recruiter's message) is often fixable.
Do not defend or explain while the employee is talking. If they raise a complaint about pay, a colleague or a policy, write it down and say when you will come back to them. If they raise harassment, discrimination or a safety issue, the conversation changes: tell them you need to bring in HR, and do so the same day. For a wider bank of questions by theme, see the stay interview questions guide.
Following up is the whole point
A stay interview with no follow-up does more harm than no interview at all, because it confirms that speaking up changes nothing. Limit the action plan to three items, give each one an owner and a date, and report back within a week. Be honest about what you cannot do. "I can't change the pay band this year, but I've asked HR to review where you sit in it, and I'll have an answer by the 20th" keeps trust. Silence does not.
HR should collect the summaries, without personal detail, to look for themes. If five managers hear that the weekend shift rotation is the reason people think about leaving, that is a policy decision, not five individual conversations.
Stay interviews in high-volume operations
In a contact center or warehouse where annual attrition can run 40% to 100%, a team lead cannot hold a 30-minute stay interview with 18 people every quarter. Prioritize: tenure between three and nine months, top quartile on quality or productivity, and anyone whose attendance has recently changed. A 15-minute version using questions 3, 4, 6 and 8 works well and can run during scheduled off-phone time.
Schedule fit comes up more than anything else in hourly roles. Shift times, rotation patterns, overtime and commute often matter more than pay differences of a dollar an hour. If a team lead can move someone to a different start time, that may keep a trained agent who would otherwise cost thousands of dollars to replace.
Fairness and record-keeping
Offer stay interviews on consistent criteria, not only to people the manager likes. If high-potential employees in one group get stay conversations and another group does not, that shows up in who gets the schedule changes, projects and pay reviews that follow. Keep notes factual and store them with other manager development records. Do not ask about health, pregnancy, family plans, religion or other protected characteristics, and if the employee raises them, do not record more than they need you to act on. Rules on employee records vary by state and country.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best stay interview questions?
The core set: what do you look forward to at work, what are you learning, why do you stay, when did you last think about leaving and why, what would make the job more satisfying, what frustrates you, and what can your manager do differently.
Who should conduct a stay interview?
The employee's direct manager, because the manager controls most of what the employee will raise and the conversation builds that relationship. HR should train managers, provide the template and track themes, and step in if the employee raises a complaint.
How long should a stay interview take?
Thirty minutes is typical. A shorter 15-minute version with four or five questions works for frontline teams. Keep it separate from performance reviews and pay discussions.
What is the difference between a stay interview and an exit interview?
A stay interview happens while the employee is still committed and asks what would keep them; an exit interview happens after they have resigned and asks why they left. Stay interviews give you a chance to act; exit interviews help you spot patterns afterward.
What should managers avoid in retention interview questions?
Avoid making promises on the spot, defending policies while the employee is talking, asking about protected characteristics or personal plans like pregnancy or retirement, and failing to follow up. Never use what the employee shares against them.
How often should stay interviews be done?
Once or twice a year for most employees, and around four to six months after hire for new employees. Prioritize roles and groups with the highest turnover or the highest cost of losing someone.