Most companies wait until an employee resigns to ask what went wrong. The exit interview becomes a reactive autopsy, trying to diagnose a problem after it's too late. By then, your valuable employee is gone, their knowledge is walking out the door, and you're left scrambling to fill a role and repair team morale. There is a better, more proactive way.

The "stay interview" is a powerful tool that flips the script. Instead of dissecting departures, you focus on understanding and nurturing success. At Sedona Staffing, we know that the best companies don't just find great talent; they intentionally build an environment where that talent is motivated to stay and thrive.

🔍 What is a Stay Interview? A stay interview is a structured, one-on-one conversation between a manager and an engaged employee designed to understand what is working well and what could be improved—before they ever become disengaged. It’s a proactive conversation focused on the present and future, not the past. It differs from other meetings in key ways:

• It is not an exit interview, which is reactive and happens after an employee has already decided to leave.
• It is not a performance review, which typically focuses on past performance and goal-setting.
• It is a retention tool, focused on gathering honest feedback to improve the employee’s experience and strengthen their commitment to the company.

🤝 Why Stay Interviews Are Your Secret Weapon for Retention Conducting regular stay interviews is one of the most effective, low-cost strategies a leader can implement. The benefits are immediate and substantial:

• Drastically Reduces Turnover: It allows you to identify and address potential issues long before they become reasons for an employee to start looking elsewhere.
• Increases Employee Engagement: The simple act of asking for an employee’s opinion and listening intently shows them they are valued, respected, and heard.
• Gathers Actionable, Real-Time Feedback: You get honest insights you can use to improve not just one person's role, but the work environment for your entire team.
• Builds Unbreakable Trust: These conversations strengthen the manager-employee relationship, fostering a culture of open communication and psychological safety.

✅ Five Steps to Conducting an Effective Stay Interview

1. Set a Positive and Informal Stage Schedule a dedicated, private meeting. Frame it positively and clearly, saying something like, “I’d love to check in with you. I truly value you as a member of our team and want to understand what your experience is like and how we can make it even better.”
2. Ask Powerful, Open-Ended Questions This isn’t an interrogation; it’s a conversation. Avoid simple yes/no questions. The goal is to get the employee talking. Some of the best questions include
3. "What do you look forward to when you come to work each day?”
4. "What skills do you feel are being underutilized in your current role?”
5. "What keeps you working here?”
6. "if you could change one thing about your job or our team, what would it be?”
7. “What would make you consider leaving for another opportunity?”
8. Listen More, Talk Less The manager’s primary role is to listen actively and without defensiveness. Let the employee speak without interruption. Use clarifying follow-up questions like, “Can you tell me more about that?” or “What would be an example of that?” The goal is to understand, not to rebut.
9. Take Notes and Identify Themes During the conversation, jot down key phrases and ideas. After conducting several stay interviews, review your notes to look for recurring themes. One person’s issue might be an anomaly; three people mentioning the same concern is a trend that needs to be addressed.
10. Create an Action Plan and Follow Through This is the most critical step. An interview without follow-up can actually damage trust. Thank the employee for their candor. While you may not be able to act on every piece of feedback, you can identify what is actionable. Communicate the changes you plan to make, and then, most importantly, do them.

🌟 How It Looks in Action 

Without Stay Interviews: ➡ A top project manager feels her work has become monotonous and that her ideas for process improvement are ignored. She quietly starts looking for a new job, accepts an offer, and gives her two weeks' notice. Her manager is completely blindsided and only learns about her frustrations during a tense exit interview.

With Stay Interviews: ➡ During a stay interview, the manager asks, “What part of your job energizes you the least?” The project manager shares her feeling of stagnation. The manager listens and asks, “What kind of challenge are you looking for?” Together, they create a plan for her to lead a new company-wide initiative, re-engaging her skills and passion.

🗣️ Q&A 

Q: How often should we conduct stay interviews? 

A: A good cadence is once or twice a year for your key employees, scheduled separately from their annual performance review to keep the focus purely on engagement and retention.

Q: Isn't this the same as a regular one-on-one meeting? 

A: While a good one-on-one might touch on these topics, a stay interview is more strategic and has a single, dedicated purpose: to understand what keeps an employee here and what might cause them to leave.

Q: What if an employee gives feedback I can't act on? 

A: Transparency is crucial. Thank them sincerely for the feedback, explain any real-world constraints that prevent you from acting on it, and then pivot to what is possible. The act of being heard is often as important as the outcome.

Q: Won't this just open the door for complaints? 

A: When framed positively, it opens the door for constructive feedback, not just complaints. It shows you trust your team to be candid and that you are committed to creating a better workplace.

📢 Final Takeaway Don't wait for the resignation letter to start understanding your employees' experience. The exit interview tells you why you lost a great person; the stay interview tells you how to keep them. It is one of the most powerful, low-cost retention tools any leader can use to shift from a reactive to a proactive culture, building a team that doesn't just work, but stays.

This article is for informational purposes only and job placement or employment is not guaranteed. This article was written by our team of staffing experts. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist with research and composition, and every piece is reviewed and edited by our team.