Stay Interview Questions to Retain Talent

What is a stay interview?

If you want a stay interview to be a useful source of information, you need to ask the right kinds of questions. To assist you in retaining your top personnel, we have compiled a list of 29 essential questions to ask during a stay interview.

How does a stay interview work?

Organizations can learn a lot about the reasons high-performing workers choose to remain with their company by conducting stay interviews. The manager or HR representative has a casual chat with the employee, asking them a series of questions aimed at gathering information about their time working for the organization.

Despite what the name would imply, the primary goal of a “stay interview” is not to discourage employees from leaving. It’s more about getting good feedback from workers and making their happiness and engagement a constant priority.

There are a number of ways in which exit interviews differ from stay interviews. The timing of the interview is the most noticeable variation. When an employee leaves, it’s called an exit interview; when they’re still on the job, it’s called a stay interview.

The offboarding process, which includes the leaving interview, is the last phase of an employee’s life cycle. Therefore, it seeks to influence the lasting perceptions that employees will have of the organization, as well as the image that they will project to others.

Organizations are increasingly relying on the stay interview as a crucial tool to hold on to their best employees.

Is there a recommended duration for a stay interview?

It is recommended that a stay interview not exceed one hour in duration, but no less than thirty to forty-five minutes. This length allows for in-depth discussions regarding the employee’s background, issues, and goals, while still being concise enough to avoid wasting the employee’s time.

What are the benefits of conducting stay interviews?

We have already touched on a few of the advantages of doing stay interviews on a regular basis. Additional benefits of holding them include the following:

Raising the rate of staff retention

If you know what to ask in a stay interview, you can learn a lot about the pros and cons of working for your company.

Consider the following scenario: 70% of those who participated in the survey believe they are underappreciated. To address this issue, increase employee engagement, and thus, boost your employee retention rate, it may be necessary to implement a basic employee and/or peer recognition program.

These variables are particularly important now, when as many as 40% of the world’s employees are contemplating quitting their jobs this year.

Getting helpful comments from staff members 

In the absence of evidence, you are merely another opinionated voice, goes the old adage. And with good reason; it’s applicable to a wide range of situations, including the one you’re in with your employees.

Maybe you think you have a firm grasp on the reasons your employees love working for your organization. It could be the stimulating work environment, the interesting challenges they face, or even a combination of these factors.

In fact, though, your workers are eager to remain because of the leeway they have in making decisions, the respect they receive from management, and the chances they have to advance in their careers.

Truthfully, you have no idea unless you ask. Therefore, it is wise to do a stay interview to get people’s opinions before you commit fully to something you believe they want.

Increasing contentment and involvement among workers 

Stay interviews are a great way to get people involved. Before they become grounds for people to start looking for other opportunities, they help you uncover problems and ways to improve.

The “stay interview engagement method” can only be effective under two circumstances:

• Team members are more likely to be open and honest about what isn’t working for them if they have a trustworthy relationship with their management.
• You must make changes based on the input you receive from the stay interviews. People will become disconnected instead of engaged if you don’t do this.

Asking the right stay interview questions

If you want to have fruitful conversations with your employees, use stay interview questions that are relevant to the job. We’ve compiled a list of 29 questions about employee retention and provided brief justifications for their inclusion in the interview process.

We have separated the questions into five manageable groups to help you navigate the list:

• Employee-related questions
• The position
• The culture of the organization
• The office environment
• Using technology

Some questions for a stay interview might fit into more than one group, while others might not be important to your company or this particular stay interview.

That is to say, you are free to combine different components as needed. Alright, let’s get started!

Employee-related interview questions

1. When you get to work each day, what do you most look forward to?

Here, opinions can differ greatly. While some may find great satisfaction in collaborating with coworkers, others will find that the projects themselves are the most enjoyable aspect.

But, as you accumulate further data, you may eventually be able to see patterns here.

For example, you can use this information to your advantage in employer branding if you discover that, in fact, your corporate culture is what most employees appreciate.

2. On a daily basis, what is it about your job that you find most unpleasant?

Regarding this question, the same holds true, but in reverse. If you see a pattern here, you should probably do something about it.

3. How long has it been since you considered quitting your job?

An employee who had second thoughts about leaving the organization a year ago may not require as much urgent attention as a high performer who considered leaving yesterday.

4. For what reasons did you consider quitting?

You can get information about individual employees by asking this question. If employees feel their job is no longer challenging, they may consider leaving. Some people will do this because they are underappreciated or feel like they don’t make enough money.

If you want to make your employees happy, you need to know what makes them want to quit.

5. Would you tell your friends who are looking for work about our company? Why wouldn’t you?

This question is important for building your company brand. Because they know what it’s like to work for your organization from the inside out, current employees are trusted advisors to job searchers.

To choose what to (dis)continue, look for questions that individuals repeatedly answer with the same yes or no.

6. Tell me what would make you want to quit your job.

There is a noticeable distinction between this question and question 4, despite the fact that they may feel similar.

The company’s culture, the position, a strong disapproval of the company’s current course of action, etc., are all examples of internal factors that could prompt an employee to consider quitting.

Temptations to quit can originate from sources outside the firm, such as an enticing job offer, a business opportunity, a partner’s employment abroad, etc.

Job-related interview questions

7. What do you like most about your position at work, and how can we make it even better for you?

A person’s preference for one part of their job over another is normal. Even here, though, you’ll notice that some answers keep cropping up.

Using this information, you can do two things: 1) highlight the exciting aspects of the job to job seekers and 2) provide workers more of what they love to do, which will increase their engagement and satisfaction.

8. If you could eliminate one aspect of your job right now, what would it be?

You will be able to spot new trends as you collect further data. By doing this, you can reduce the negative aspects of your current employees’ jobs.

9. Tell me which of your skills and abilities are going unused at work right now.

You can learn a lot about an employee’s career aspirations by asking them this question.

10. If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?

Improving upon existing practices is an ongoing endeavor. Asking this question can give you a head start, particularly if you keep seeing the same replies.

11. What kind of challenges and opportunities do you seek out in your position?

Gaining insight into employees’ preferred methods of being challenged can enable managers to offer growth opportunities that are energizing and satisfying.

12. Give me an instance when you were really pleased with the impact you had on the team or the organization.

To find out what your employees feel proud of, ask them to describe particular moments when they were able to put their work to good use. Your business and teams can use this information to improve project management and reward systems.

13. In your opinion, are you receiving well-defined targets?

This reveals a bit about the management style. You should give your managers praise if staff members frequently respond “yes.”

In any case, this requires fixing because workers are more likely to pitch in when they can see how their efforts contribute to the bigger picture.

14. In your opinion, what can your management do differently?

A manager’s actions greatly affect their employees’ perceptions of their work environment. Consequently, answering this question can yield extremely useful information for improving the working conditions of employees.

Workers may only respond honestly if they are psychologically safe and believe their criticism will be considered in a positive light, free from consequences.

15. How would you rate the learning and development opportunities that are available to you?

In order to retain employees over the long term, it is crucial to provide them with avenues for professional and career advancement. Asking this question will help you provide them with what they need.

Questions about organizational culture

16. Do you feel like you’re important and valued at work?

If your business excels at making employees feel appreciated and providing them with the recognition they merit, it will show in their level of engagement and output.

People may want to leave, though, if they don’t feel appreciated. That’s why you should ask this question in your job stay interviews.

17. In what way do you want your efforts to be acknowledged?

There is always room for improvement or customization in employee recognition programs, even if you already have one that is second to none.

18. When you get comments on your work, how do you like them delivered?

When it comes to receiving feedback, people’s preferences vary. If you want to create a feedback culture that helps your employees succeed, you need to know what their preferences are.

19. Tell me what you think our company should be doing more of right now.

By answering this question on a regular basis, you can help your business become an even better workplace for present and future workers.

20. Is our work environment beneficial to your emotional and psychological well-being?

With more and more people realizing the link between mental health and employee wellness, this question can help you gauge how supportive your corporate culture is according to your employees and identify areas that could use some adjustment.

Interview questions about the workplace environment

21. If you could change one thing about your workplace, what would it be?

If you want to boost morale and output on the job, one way to do it is to take a hard look at the working conditions of your staff and make some concrete changes that they can implement on a daily basis.

22. How do you feel about our present policy on working from home? Is there something you think we should do differently?

You may find out where your work-from-home policy needs some tweaking and make sure it promotes employee satisfaction, efficiency, and work-life balance by polling your staff on the matter.

23. What are your thoughts on the topic of work-life balance, and do you think we can help one other achieve it?

Talking about work-life balance shows that you care about the employee’s health and happiness outside of work. The conversation can then move on to other measures that boost employee happiness and retention, such as flexible work arrangements.

24. Which regulation or policy, in your opinion, is out of date or superfluous, and how should it be updated?

By asking workers for their thoughts on company policy, you can find out where they stand and where you can put their needs first.

Interview questions about technology

25. Do you have all the tools and materials you need to do your job right? If this is not the case, what is lacking?

Employee satisfaction and performance are both affected by the degree to which they believe they have the resources necessary to carry out their duties.

Consequently, the responses you receive to this question will help you optimize the technologies that your staff utilize.

26. When you and your coworkers are working remotely, how happy are you with the methods you rely on to stay in touch? (Chat rooms, video calls, shared documents, etc.)

For your staff to be able to work together effectively, the means by which they communicate with one another (and with your clients) must be reliable.

27. Which specific piece of software or tool should we immediately stop using?

Everybody has that one method or tool they’d rather not use at all, and it’s usually something admin-related. You might be able to get away with saying “well, nobody is perfect” if this is something that doesn’t get used very often by staff.

However, you should definitely examine other options if this is a system that your employees must use on a (almost) daily basis; otherwise, it is bound to negatively affect their employee experience.

Interview questions to wrap up

28. Would you like to add anything or discuss anything else that we haven’t addressed today?

In order to make sure that employees feel heard and understood throughout the interview, this open-ended question provides them with one last chance to bring up any unanswered questions, concerns, or suggestions.

29. I appreciate you being so forthright and honest with me today. Is there anything we can do to ensure that future talks go more smoothly or that you feel more at ease?

An organization that appreciates its employees’ comfort and engagement will show its dedication to continuous development by showing appreciation for their participation and asking for comments on the stay interview process.

How to do a stay interview

Let’s examine the nuts and bolts for conducting a stay interview. Who ought to be in charge of it? How much time does it take? What time is best for an interview?

In this section, we will address all of these topics and more. Even though human resources is usually the one to start a stay interview program, it’s usually the manager who actually does the interviewing. This means that the following advice is coming from an HR standpoint.

• Take baby steps. Keep in mind that not all employees will need to undergo the same stay interview process. To start, give your whole attention to your high-potential, long-term, top performers.
• Establish a routine for conducting stay interviews. Companies may have varying definitions of “regular,” but we recommend doing a stay interview once a year, if not more often.
• Pick a time and day for the interview. Here are a couple of considerations. To begin with, it is not a good idea to do a stay interview with a new hire since they are still getting to know the company and their position in it. Additionally, the stay interview should be conducted independently of performance reviews. Finally, make an effort to fit all of the stay interviews within a limited time frame. This way, you can collect all the comments and, if needed, respond to them quickly rather than letting them pile up.
• Pick a leader for the stay interview. Managers should be the ones to conduct these interviews because they likely have a closer and more trustworthy relationship with their team members than HR does. Having said that, keep in mind that the manager in question may benefit from some brief instruction on how to carry out a stay interview.
• Give yourself plenty of time. On average, a stay interview will take thirty minutes to an hour.
• Give the interview a framework. Make sure all of your managers use the same format and ask the same questions by making a stay interview template.
• Ask about things that matter. This is the meat and potatoes of a good stay interview, as trite as it seems.
• Collect all of the responses in one spot. It will be necessary to assess the data collected from the stay interviews in order to take action at some point. If all of the relevant data is in one place and easy to find, like in your Talent Management System, this will be a breeze.
• Provide a concise summary. For the sake of clarity, before ending the interview, managers should restate the employee’s main arguments for staying or leaving (you may include this in your stay interview form for future reference).
• Try to identify trends and patterns. In your experience, have you noticed any patterns in the reasons why workers stay or leave? Make note of these. In doing so, you will be able to identify areas for improvement while simultaneously addressing the negative aspects.
• Take the initiative! This deserves an exclamation point. To keep your employees satisfied, loyal, and committed to the company, stay interviews are a great tool to use. The caveat is that this will only work if you pay attention to their suggestions and take appropriate action.

Final Thoughts

It is critical to evaluate employee engagement and happiness at this time when a large portion of the world’s workforce is considering quitting their current employer.

You can learn a lot about your employees’ motivations for staying and areas for growth by conducting a stay interview. The sooner you start using it, the better.