What are stay interviews?
- Barbara Giesing
- Aug 11
- 2 min read
Most managers have heard of exit interviews, but what are stay interviews and can they be helpful?
Stay interviews are conducted with current employees, seeking information as to why they remain with an organization. If done well, stay interviews can provide valuable insight!
Many have experienced the departure of a valuable employee. Sometimes it’s a surprise but often not. We’ve maybe sensed they were unhappy or anxious to move up, but we didn’t want to rock the boat by asking. Then again, there are times when an employee resignation catches us completely off guard. We may try to convince them to stay and sometimes this works, but it can leave a bad taste in the mouth.
Employees ask: If the company really wanted me, why didn’t they act that way before I resigned? Why did I have to force their hand if I meant something to the organization?
As managers, it’s easy to delude ourselves into thinking everyone’s happy. Of course our employees love what they do and enjoy working with us! Well, maybe not.
Stay interviews provide employees an opportunity to share their likes and dislikes, potentially providing a heads up if there’s an issue or issues we need to resolve. The key in conducting stay interviews is being open to listen to the employees’ thoughts and being willing to take action on the concerns they note. This is not the time to undermine or disregard their ideas or you won’t receive honest feedback and shouldn’t even bother with the interview.
Stay interviews can be face to face or electronic or other surveys, and either identified or anonymous. My preference is face to face depending on the organization, as long as you have someone neutral who can conduct the interview honestly. Handle the interview in the way you believe will garner the most truthful and useful data.
Some questions to ask: What do you like most about your job? What would you like to change? Why would you leave the company? How do you think we compare to our competition? Do you trust your manager and/or management and what makes you feel that way? Do you feel heard and how can we improve on that? How do you feel about the feedback you receive on your performance?
The questions you ask should directly reflect the priorities within your organization. Don’t be afraid to ask the difficult questions if you really want to improve. And let staff know what you discover so they can tell you heard them and recognize that you appreciate their honest feedback.
