What is Stay Interview?

A stay interview is a structured one-on-one conversation between a manager and a current employee designed to understand what the employee values about their role, what might cause them to consider leaving, and what changes would strengthen their commitment to the organization. Unlike exit interviews that capture insights after the departure decision is already made, stay interviews are proactive — they surface retention risks and engagement drivers while there is still time to act.

Stay interviews typically cover a consistent set of questions: What do you look forward to at work? What are you learning here? Why do you stay? What would make your work experience better? Have you ever thought about leaving, and what prompted it? What can I do more of or less of as your manager? The conversational format allows for follow-up and deeper exploration, yielding richer insights than survey data alone.

The effectiveness of stay interviews depends entirely on what happens after them. If a manager learns that an employee is frustrated by limited growth opportunities but takes no action, the interview becomes counterproductive — highlighting the organization's unwillingness to address concerns. Successful stay interview programs train managers on how to conduct the conversations, provide them with authority and resources to act on findings, and track follow-through on commitments. They are most effective when conducted regularly (annually or biannually) and targeted at high-value employees whose retention is strategically important.

Exit interviews reveal why people left — information that comes too late to retain them. Stay interviews reveal why people stay and what might push them out — information that enables proactive intervention. Organizations that implement stay interview programs report significant reductions in voluntary turnover because they catch and address retention risks before departure decisions crystallize. For HR leaders, stay interviews are one of the simplest and most cost-effective retention tools available.