In an era of dynamic workforce shifts, where employee loyalty is more fragile than ever, organizations face a critical challenge: how do you proactively retain top talent and address disengagement before it leads to unwanted turnover?
The traditional annual performance review often falls short, providing a backward-looking perspective that fails to capture the real-time pulse of employee sentiment.
In response, a growing number of leaders are championing a more forward-looking, conversational approach: the stay interview.
This practice is designed not just to assess performance, but to understand what motivates employees to stay, what challenges they face, and how their individual career goals align with the organization’s future.
This HR Spotlight article compiles invaluable insights from business executives and HR professionals, revealing their strategies for conducting effective stay interviews, the crucial questions they ask, and the tangible benefits of using this practice to build a culture of trust and proactive engagement.
Read on!
Rebecca Martin
EVP, Culture & Talent, Beehive Strategic Communication
Stay Interviews Build Trust, Engagement
Beehive started implementing stay interviews in 2023, in the wake of The Great Resignation.
We wanted to better understand the reasons employees stay and what might cause them to leave. The input we gather in stay interviews provides us with valuable information on what is working well and where we can proactively make changes to improve engagement and satisfaction.
Supervisors facilitate employee-led stay interviews six months after an employee’s annual review.
Questions are provided in advance, so employees have time to consider what they’d like to discuss and prepare to share their experience, input, suggestions, ideas and feedback.
Doing stay interviews, however, doesn’t mean anything if organizations don’t act on the feedback provided.
Beehive leaders review stay interview input and always follow up – both when changes are implemented and when they can’t be, including context and rationale for the decision.
When done well, stay interviews can build trust and engagement.
Tetiana Hnatiuk
Head of HR, Skylum
Quarterly Stay Interviews Boost Talent Engagement
We conduct stay interviews quarterly at Skylum to identify what keeps our talent engaged and address concerns before they become exit reasons.
Our team leads run these conversations with direct reports, asking what they enjoy about their role, what challenges they face, and how we can better support their growth.
We’ve found this approach particularly valuable during our recent product launches, as it helped us adjust workloads and recognize team achievements appropriately.
These conversations give us practical insights we couldn’t get from annual surveys alone. For example, we discovered our designers needed more cross-team collaboration opportunities, which we’ve since implemented with great results.
Leila Rao
Agile Coach, Author, & Business Strategist, Cultural Cartography
Daily Standups Foster Engagement, Open Dialogue
Keeping top talent engaged during uncertain times means understanding what they value beyond salary and benefits. Instead of formal stay interviews, I prioritize ongoing conversations.
One practice we’ve adopted is daily standups. Our team uses these 15-20 minutes to check in, catch up, discuss roadblocks, and share progress.
These brief touchpoints create space for open, honest dialogue, and help me gauge morale, engagement, and where my staff might be thriving or struggling. They also provide insight into which projects are energizing, and which are causing potential burnout. If we need to make a shift in any direction, these conversations are the first step.
Now more than ever, engaged, talented staff is my most valued asset. Ensuring they know the lines of communication are always open is essential to my company’s survival and success.
Marcus Denning
Senior Lawyer, MK Law
Stay Interviews Proactively Boost Talent Retention
In my experience of leading teams, I’ve found that stay interviews can be a game-changer in retaining top talent. Our organization has seen firsthand how this practice can prevent unnecessary turnover and boost employee morale.
The plain fact is that keeping talent is far less expensive than bringing in new talent, yet stay interviews are usually neglected.
Do you want to wait until an employee resigns or tackle possible problems before it’s too late? We do stay interviews every six months, hoping to catch any early warning signs of disengagement and enhance retention. Core questions are about career growth, job satisfaction, and team relationships.
As Gallup reports, when organizations use stay interviews, they have 14% improved retention, and our own statistics support that as well, indicating a significant drop in turnover after we implemented them.
Steve Faulkner
Founder & Chief Recruiter, Spencer James Group
Stay Interviews Enhance Retention, Engagement
We do conduct stay interviews at Spencer James Group, and have done so for roughly the last 8-9 years.
We started to conduct stay interviews in response to a sudden spike in turnover.
Since Spencer James has a relatively small team, losing an employee can have a major impact on our operations and ability to serve our customers. Because of this, I knew it was crucial to get insights from our team about what issues they’re experiencing so they can be corrected to keep them with us.
It’s also an opportunity to talk with employees about their career aspirations and work environment, identifying unmet needs so that we can ensure everyone on the team is enabled to excel and continue growing with our team.
We conduct stay interviews twice a year, and they’ll typically be conducted either by myself or the employee’s direct manager. The core questions we ask are:
– What do you enjoy most about your job?
– What are the most common frustrations you experience in the workplace?
– How would you describe the work culture?
– Do you feel valued and appreciated in the workplace?
– How do you see your career growing with our company?
– What skills or knowledge areas would you like to develop further?
– Do you see any areas for improvement in our workplace culture or communication?
– How can leadership better support you in your role?
I may ask other questions specific to the individual, current projects, or recent changes we’ve implemented, but those ones above cover the basics for taking the pulse of the employee and our team as a whole.
Steve Nixon
Founder, Free Jazz Lessons
Informal Check-Ins Boost Team Engagement
Over the years, I’ve learned how important it is to keep the team happy and motivated, especially when you work closely with people in creative fields.
We don’t do traditional stay interviews, but we make sure we’re always having honest conversations with the team about how things are going.
Every few months, we have one-on-one check-ins with everyone. These aren’t formal meetings, and we don’t stick to a set list of questions.
The idea is to create a relaxed space where people feel comfortable talking about what’s working for them, what could be better, and where they want to go next. I like to think of it as a two-way conversation where we listen, ask questions, and take action based on what we hear. It’s a great way to catch small issues early and make sure everyone feels heard and valued.
These regular check-ins have really helped us keep the team engaged. People appreciate having a voice, and they feel like their feedback matters.
It’s not just about fixing problems, it’s about keeping things fresh and finding ways to help everyone grow. It’s a simple way to keep the momentum going, and it’s worked wonders for us.
Tracie Crites
Chief Marketing Officer, Equipment Appraisal
Stay Interviews Cut Turnover, Boost Morale
I’m Tracie Crites, Chief Marketing Officer at Heavy Equipment Appraisal. We believe that keeping a pulse on employee satisfaction is key to reducing turnover and improving company culture.
We conduct stay interviews quarterly, usually with team leads or HR managers, and aim to understand what’s working and what might need attention.
Core questions focus on job satisfaction, growth opportunities, and work-life balance. For example, “What would make you consider leaving?” and “Is there anything that’s preventing you from doing your best work?”
In the past year, we’ve seen a 16% decrease in voluntary turnover thanks to insights from these interviews. The feedback has helped us tweak benefits and streamline workflow, making a big difference in morale. Stay interviews help us ensure that we’re listening before issues escalate.
Honest Feedback Drives Trust, Improves Management
We don’t call them “stay interviews,” but open, honest feedback from our employees is an essential part of our approach to management.
The feedback we get from these conversations is incredibly valuable because it’s so specific; employees know exactly what they want to improve about the way they work. It’s also the kind of feedback that can help us get at personal failings and conflicts in a way that helps us overcome them.
The trick is building trust to the point where you can have these kinds of conversations.
Smart employees usually don’t want to rock the boat by criticizing their bosses or company policies too directly, but that’s exactly the kind of stuff we need to hear if we’re going to fix it.
Patty Pavia
People & Culture Manager, Biöm
Stay Interviews Boost Engagement, Retention
At biöm, we conduct stay interviews twice a year to understand what keeps our team engaged and what might improve their experience.
The goal is to proactively address concerns before they become reasons for leaving. These one-on-one conversations are led by department heads or HR and focus on questions like: What do you enjoy most about your role? What challenges do you face? How can we better support your career growth?
If we notice trends—like a need for more learning opportunities—we act on them quickly.
Stay interviews have helped us improve team morale and retention
The HR Spotlight team thanks these industry leaders for offering their expertise and experience and sharing these insights.
Do you wish to contribute to the next HR Spotlight article? Or is there an insight or idea you’d like to share with readers across the globe?
Write to us at connect@HRSpotlight.com, and our team will help you share your insights.
