8 Stay Interview Questions to Ask to Improve Employee Retention

Getting your top employees to stay is a factor for long term success. However, most companies don’t worry about convincing top performers to stay until they have already submitted their letter of resignation.

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Why Stay Interviews Are Important

A stay interview is a protective strategy to help improve retention rates. It’s important to hold stay interviews with top performers as a way to check in with them. They give you a chance to have frank conversations with team members, identify issues, motivating factors, and the steps you need to take to ensure they intend to stay long term. It’s part of the ongoing recruiting process. Think of them in terms of performance reviews.

What Questions Should I Ask During Stay Interviews?

Asking the right questions can provide you with valuable insights into how you can improve retention rates. You can also learn a lot more about what motivates and drives individual employees. Here are some questions you can ask during stay interviews:

• Do you think you get adequate feedback about your job?
• What more would you like to know about your performance that you do not currently receive?
• What type of flexibility would be more beneficial to you in your job?
• Has your perception of the company changed in your time here?
• Do you feel as though your skills are being maximized?
• Why do you think people leave the company?
• What do you think needs to change to keep more people from leaving?
• Is there anything you would like to change about your job?

There are multiple levels of questioning you can use, depending on the employee or internal concerns you are having. The key is to make it an open conversation and take your employees’ input seriously. Use what you learn to make changes before more employees decide not to stay.

Ask Why They Stay

A stay interview is not just about uncovering the things that you may need to improve internally. It’s also important to learn about the reasons why employees choose to stay with the company. Ask employees about why they stay and let them elaborate. Let them lead the conversation so you can learn about the things that work well.

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