What is a stay interview?
A stay interview is a planned one-on-one conversation with a current employee. It asks what keeps them in the job and what could make them leave. Some companies call it a retention interview or a stay conversation.
An exit interview asks why someone left, after it is too late to change their mind. A stay interview asks the same things while you can still act. The goal is simple: find the one or two things that would make each person more likely to stay, and fix them before they resign.
It is not a performance review. Nobody is rated, and pay raises are not decided in the room. The employee does most of the talking.
Why do stay interviews?
Many people who quit were never asked what would keep them. In a Gallup survey of 717 US employees who quit a job in the past year, 42% said their manager or company could have done something to keep them. 45% said no manager or other leader had talked with them about their job satisfaction, their performance or their future there in the three months before they left.
Few companies ask. In a 2022 Paychex survey of 604 employees at small and mid-size businesses, only 29% had ever had a stay interview.
The five core stay interview questions
Most stay interview guides start from five questions by Richard Finnegan, which SHRM published with his advice to listen 80% of the time. They work because each one asks about a real moment instead of a feeling.
1. "What do you look forward to each day when you commute to work?" It asks what is going well, in their own words. The answer is the thing you must not take away.
2. "What are you learning here, and what do you want to learn?" People who stop learning start looking. The second half gives you a training or growth step you can offer.
3. "Why do you stay here?" Ask it plainly and wait. The first answer is often polite. Follow up with "What else?" to get the real one.
4. "When is the last time you thought about leaving us, and what prompted it?" This is the most useful question in the interview. It assumes the person has thought about it, which most people have, so it is easier to answer honestly. The event they name is your problem to fix.
5. "What can I do to make your job better for you?" End with something they can ask for. Write it down, and say when you will come back with an answer.
More stay interview questions by topic
Pick two or three from the topics that matter for your team. Asking all of them turns the talk into a survey.
- The work: Which part of your job would you keep if you could only keep one? Which part would you happily give away?
- Your manager: What does your manager do that helps you most? What would you like them to do more of, or less of?
- Growth: Where would you like to be in a year? Do you see a way to get there here?
- Schedule and workload: Do your hours and schedule still work for your life? When did the workload last feel like too much?
- Pay and benefits: Does your pay feel fair for the work you do? Is there a benefit you would value more than one you have now?
- Recognition: When did you last feel your work was noticed? Who noticed it?
- Team: Who here makes your day easier? Is there anything about the team that makes it harder?
- Leaving risk: If a friend offered you a job tomorrow, what would make you say yes?
Stay interview questions for new employees
New hires are often the quickest to leave. For people in their first 90 days, swap a few of the core questions for these:
- Is the job what you were told it would be when you were hired?
- Who has helped you most since you started?
- What do you still not know how to do?
- Has anything surprised you here, good or bad?
- If a friend asked what it is like to work here, what would you tell them?
Questions to avoid in a stay interview
"Are you happy here?" It is a yes-or-no question, and almost everyone says yes. Ask what they look forward to instead.
"Would you stay if we paid you more?" It sounds like an offer. If you cannot follow through, you have made things worse. Ask what they would value more instead.
"Are you looking for another job?" People hear it as a threat and will not answer honestly. Ask when they last thought about leaving, which is easier to answer.
"Rate your manager from 1 to 5." Numbers in a one-on-one feel like a test. Ask what the manager does that helps most.
Stay interview format: how to run one
Plan for about 30 minutes, in private, with no laptop between you. Here is the format most HR teams use.
- Who asks: usually the direct manager, because the manager can fix most of what comes up. If the manager may be the problem, have their manager or someone from HR ask instead.
- Book it as its own meeting. Do not tack it onto a performance review or a team meeting. Tell the person ahead of time what it is for.
- Open with why: "I want to know what keeps you here and what I can do better. This is not a review, and nothing you say will be held against you."
- Ask, then listen. Ask the five core questions and one or two follow-ups. Take notes in their words. Do not explain or defend.
- Close with one action. Agree on one thing you will look into, and a date when you will come back with an answer.
- Follow up. Come back on that date, even if the answer is no. If nobody comes back, people stop answering honestly next time.
How often should you do stay interviews?
Once or twice a year for each employee is the usual rhythm. The University of Wisconsin–Madison medical school’s stay interview toolkit suggests at least once a year, outside performance review season, so pay and ratings do not get mixed in.
New hires need them sooner. Ask around day 30 and again around day 90, because many early quits happen in the first few months. Our guide to 30-60-90 day check-ins covers that timing.
Also hold one after a big change: a new manager, a move to another shift or site, a missed promotion, or a team reorganization. Those are the moments people start to look.
A stay interview template you can copy
Use this script in order. Everything after the opening is a question. Leave room under each one for notes in the person’s own words.
- Opening: Thanks for making time. I want to know what keeps you here and what I can do better. This is not a review.
- 1. What do you look forward to each day when you commute to work?
- 2. What are you learning here, and what do you want to learn?
- 3. Why do you stay here? What else?
- 4. When is the last time you thought about leaving us, and what prompted it?
- 5. What can I do to make your job better for you?
- Optional: one or two questions from the topics above.
- Close: So the one thing I will look into is ___. I will come back to you by ___.
- After: Note the main reason they stay, the main risk, the action and the date. Share it with HR so the reasons add up across teams.
Stay interview vs exit interview vs engagement survey
All three ask about the same things. They differ in who answers, when, and whether you know who said it.
| Method | Who answers | When | Named or anonymous | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stay interview | Employees who are staying | Once or twice a year, and early for new hires | Named | Each person’s reasons to stay and leave, and one action to take |
| Exit interview | Employees who have resigned | During notice or just after the last day | Confidential, usually named | The reason people left, often too late to keep them |
| Engagement survey | Everyone, at once | Once a year, or short pulse surveys | Anonymous | Scores by team, with few reasons and no names |
| Check-in call | Employees at set milestones | Day 30, day 90, six months, or any day you pick | Named | A list of who might leave, with reasons in their own words |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Are stay interviews confidential?
No. A stay interview is named, because you cannot fix something for a person if you do not know who said it. Say this at the start, and say who will see the notes: usually the manager and HR.
Some employees worry a stay interview is a trap, a way to find out who is about to quit. It only becomes one if answers are used against people. Never let a stay interview lead to a bad review or a lost shift. If people see that, the next round will get only polite answers.
When the manager is the reason someone might leave, they will not say it to the manager. That is why many companies have HR, a skip-level manager or a neutral caller run some of them.
What tools can run stay interviews?
You can run stay interviews with a printed form and a good manager. If you want help, vendors fall into three groups: training for managers, services that interview your staff for you, and software that sends a stay survey or makes the calls. We checked each vendor’s own site on October 22, 2026. Lattice’s price was checked on October 15, 2026.
| Vendor | What it does | Best for | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodfit | An AI agent phones each employee at the times you choose, asks your stay questions with follow-ups, and lists who might leave with their reasons | Employers with many hourly or frontline staff who are hard to pull into a meeting | $5 per finished call. First 20 free. No contract. | goodfit.so/pricing |
| C-Suite Analytics | Richard Finnegan’s firm. Trains managers to run stay interviews and write a stay plan for each person. | Companies that want managers to run the talks themselves | Not published | c-suiteanalytics.com |
| Work Institute | Its own staff run stay interviews by web or live phone call | Mid-size and large employers that want the interviews done for them | Not published | workinstitute.com |
| HSD Metrics (StayRight) | Managed stay interview program by web, phone or mail | Large employers that want the whole program run for them | Not published. Priced by number of people. | hsdmetrics.com |
| People Element | Stay surveys and interview templates that flag people who may leave | Employers that want stay and exit surveys from one vendor | Not published | peopleelement.com |
| Leapsome | Stay interview templates inside its one-on-one meetings tool, plus surveys | Companies already using Leapsome for one-on-ones and reviews | Not published on its stay interview page | leapsome.com |
| Lattice | Stay interview guidance, with surveys in its Engagement product | Companies already using Lattice | Engagement is $4 per seat a month, with a $4,000 yearly minimum | lattice.com/pricing |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Running stay interviews for hundreds of hourly employees
Stay interviews are easy with a team of 10. They break down with 500 store, warehouse or call center staff on different shifts. Managers run out of time, the talks are uneven, and the notes never reach HR in a form that adds up.
Goodfit runs them as phone calls. You upload a list of employees and choose when each call goes out. Goodfit calls each person, asks your stay questions with follow-ups, and records the call and writes the transcript. Employees hear at the start that their answers go to HR with their name. You get a list of who might leave, with the reason in their own words, and why each person stays. Each finished call costs $5, and the first 20 are free. See how Goodfit check-in calls work.
If you have a small team and managers with time, hold stay interviews face to face. A good manager asking these five questions in person is hard to beat. For the people who still leave, use the exit interview questions to learn why.
Frequently asked questions
What are the 5 stay interview questions?
What do you look forward to each day when you commute to work? What are you learning here, and what do you want to learn? Why do you stay here? When is the last time you thought about leaving us, and what prompted it? What can I do to make your job better for you? They come from Richard Finnegan, and SHRM published them.
How long should a stay interview take?
About 30 minutes in person. That is enough for the five core questions and a few follow-ups. Most guides suggest 30 to 45 minutes. A phone call that sticks to the core questions can be shorter, often 5 to 10 minutes.
Who should conduct a stay interview?
Usually the direct manager, because they can act on most of what comes up. When the manager may be the reason someone would leave, have a skip-level manager, someone from HR or a neutral caller ask instead.
How often should stay interviews be done?
Once or twice a year for each employee, at a different time from performance reviews. For new hires, ask around day 30 and day 90. Also ask after a big change, such as a new manager or a new shift.
What is the difference between a stay interview and an exit interview?
A stay interview asks people who are still here what keeps them and what might make them leave, so you can act in time. An exit interview asks people who have resigned why they are going. An exit interview tells you why someone left. A stay interview gives you time to keep them.
Can stay interviews be done over the phone?
Yes. A phone call works well for hourly and frontline staff who are hard to pull off the floor for 30 minutes. Keep the same questions, tell the person who will hear their answers, and record the reasons in their own words so they add up across teams.