What is a stay interview?

In a stay interview, the employer sits down with the employee to find out what the employee values ​​about their job and what could be improved. A stay interview  is very similar to an exit interview  , but it's done with active employees rather than those about to leave.

The Importance of Stay Interview

 Ultimately, standing interviews can help increase employee  retention rates.

Stay interviews can uncover several key things to reach that ultimate goal. For example, they can allow employers to:

• Build trust between managers and their team members.
• Work with employees to show that their opinions are valued.
• Learn why employees want to continue working with the company and why they want to leave.
• Find out if any issues need to be resolved between the employee and their superiors or team members.
• Determine what challenges employees enjoy and what motivates them to work toward the organization's mission.
• Gain a better understanding of the employee's specific weaknesses and strengths.
• Gather actionable information about current and upcoming employee trends in the office.

Benefits of staying in the interview

Most employers find that stay interviews  are very effective in giving their employees good insight into their stance on specific issues and overall workplace satisfaction.  When possible, feedback, motivation, and assignments can be customized according to what works best for the employee. This leads to a happier employee who does a better job.

Stay interviews are often considered more effective and commendable than general employee satisfaction surveys. The interview setup allows for a two-way conversation and follow-up or clarification questions.

Interview Challenges

Stay interviews come with challenges. Here are some of the difficulties that can occur:

• The need to deal with an unpleasant truth (bad feelings about a specific manager, disinterested employee, etc.)
• Accepting responsibility for responding to issues that arise, including dealing with requests for pay increases or promotions
• Failure to act on feedback or suggestions

Despite these potential challenges, the insights gained from these interviews are incredibly valuable. The feedback you receive can help you effectively identify issues and eliminate them before they become bigger problems.

When to conduct a stay interview

Stay interviews are often conducted when new employees begin settling into their roles, usually within the first few months. Since new employees  are most vulnerable to turnover  , stay interviews can help employers head off any potential problems before they turn the employee away right away. You should also consider interviewing them a few more times during their first year of employment.

After the first year on the job, it's a good idea to conduct stay interviews every year to ensure that any new issues, motivations and trends that have gone on too long without being addressed are recorded and dealt with. These interviews can also provide insight into any time employees seem disengaged for a prolonged period of time.

Getting Started with a Stay Interview

Ideally, stay interviews should be conducted with everyone in the company to better understand what can be improved and what is working well. If this is not possible, carefully select people from different departments and seniority levels.

Once you identify the interviewers, send a calendar invite with high-level details about what you plan to discuss. This will help employees properly prepare for the interview so they can provide more detailed responses.

Conducting a successful immigration interview

The key to successful stay interviews is to keep them simple. Start the interview by thanking the employee for their time, explaining the purpose of the interview, and encouraging them to provide honest feedback. Then, ask questions to find out why they are staying, why they might leave, and what can be done to increase their job satisfaction.

Remember that you should listen more than you speak. Ask questions only after you understand their answers. And don't hesitate to ask additional questions. This shows that you are listening and care about their answers.

14 Stay Interview Question Examples

Here are some specific questions to get you started:

1. Do you feel your knowledge, skills and experience are being fully utilised?
2. What would make your job more satisfying?
3. How can you get better support?
4. How does it feel to be recognized for a job well done?
5. What are specific parts of your job responsibilities that you enjoy, and what would you like to change?
6. How is your relationship with your direct supervisor?
7. What do you think about the company culture? What do you like and what do you dislike about it?
8. What are your short-term and long-term business goals? How can we help you achieve them?
9. How would you describe your work-life balance?
10. What would you like to do within your role that you’re not currently doing?
11. Do you feel like you are appreciated at work? Why or why not?
12. What factors contribute to your best work?
13. Has any situation arisen recently that has made you consider resigning?
14. Are there any additional benefits you would like to see?

7 Bonus Tips for an Effective Stay Interview

To conduct effective interviews,  increase engagement  , and build trusting relationships, use these seven tips:

1. Conduct all necessary interviews within a few weeks of each other so you can gather the most up-to-date and accurate information.
2. Inform employees about their interview in advance, including the purpose of the interview and how they can prepare.
3. Keep the interview duration to around 25 to 45 minutes.
4. If the employee feels uncomfortable answering questions, try to build trust and show transparency. In the meantime, make it possible to conduct the interview anonymously.
5.  Do not include  performance reviews or mention the employee's performance during the stay interview . Doing so may discourage the employee from being honest in their feedback.
6. Express your gratitude to the employee and explain how much you value their work.
7. Put processes in place so that effective follow-up action can be taken promptly.

By keeping these tips in mind, you can conduct interviews more effectively. And when you take action based on the information you gather, you can help empower your employees. Remember, whenever employers and employees talk openly with each other, engagement and retention increase.