Why wait until an employee is leaving to get their feedback? While there is value in the exit interview, the stay interview may help employers to keep more of their employees in the first place. Here is an introduction to this valuable feedback tool, and why they’re so important.

What Is a Stay Interview?

A stay interview is a conversation with a valued employee that explores their feelings and opinions around the company—what it’s doing right, what it could do better, and where they envision the next steps in their career. 

It’s a bit like a performance review, but for the company instead of the employee.

Why Are Stay Interviews Important?

As the Great Resignation continues and large numbers of employees seek new jobs, employers can use the stay interview to get valuable feedback that can be used to improve employee happiness.

Instead of waiting until the employee has already put in their notice to get their feedback, the stay interview is a proactive tool that employers can use to find out what is important to their top performers. Then they can make any necessary changes to keep employees enthusiastic about their work—and hopefully, keep them with the organization longer.

Supervisors who conduct this kind of interview show their employees that they care about their feedback and want them to grow within the company. 

How to Conduct a Stay Interview

To get honest feedback in a stay interview, the employee must feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. This means an informal conversation with their manager. And the interviewee must understand that they are safe from possible retaliation! If they think honesty will lead to consequences, the stay interview will lose its effectiveness.

It’s also important to guard against turning the tables in a stay interview. The purpose of the stay interview is not to provide suggestions for improvement or feedback to the employee. It is to hear their thoughts. Save the performance review for another time!

These interviews don’t have to be long—20 to 30 minutes should be sufficient, although they may go on for up to an hour if the conversation is flowing. It may be helpful to have an interview structure that all managers across the organization follow, so each employee has the opportunity to answer the same questions. 

After the interview, the data should be gathered in one place for analysis. If several employees have similar feedback, then it’s a safe assumption that others may feel the same way and a change is in order! 

Possible Stay Interview Questions

When building out your company’s stay interview protocol, you can add questions about the individual, their work, the company culture, or company policies. Here are some questions to get started: 

• What do you enjoy about coming in to work?
• What do you dislike about your work?
• How do you feel about the impact of your work?
• What do you want to do more/less?
• If you were in charge, what would you change in the organization?
• Do you feel recognized for the work you do? How would you like to be recognized?
• When is the last time you considered leaving for another position?
• What would it take for you to leave? 
• Would you recommend working here to a friend?
• What tools would make your job easier?
• What tools that we currently use are making your job harder?

If there are specific challenges the company is facing, you may want to add questions to that effect as well. For example, a hotel that’s recently changed its reservation system could ask for employee feedback about the new software.

After the Interview

Don’t let the stay interview process end when the interview is over. Where are the patterns? While it may be tempting to brush off an individual’s complaints, consistent feedback could be indicative of an organizational problem. And if another business in town has openings to fill, that could lead to a mass exodus of your best people.

So if half of your event venue staff is frustrated by communication problems, it is well worth investing in a solution!