You may have to do more exit interviews than you’d like during times of high turnover, like the Great Resignation of 2021. This is a great reason to give the underused stay interview more attention and find out which questions work best for them.
When the number of people quitting goes up, talking to your best employees about staying may help you find solutions to your retention problems that you hadn’t thought of before. It might also help you learn more about the people who are staying with you, which could give you ideas about what to look for in new hires.
Yes, alongside exit interviews and employee surveys, stay interviews are a powerful employer-listening tool. Ideally, it should be a regular part of your HR strategy.
You can keep your best employees longer and check in with them through stay interviews, which can help you keep them from leaving. These interviews are meant to find out what makes them want to stay with you (and what might make them want to work for someone else).
In the same way that good hiring and performance reviews can help you figure out what to do about turnover, a stay interview strategy can help you do the same.
One of the best things about stay interviews is that you can only have them with employees you trust and respect.
Based on what you learn in the interviews, you can make a list of things you can do to boost morale, keep employees, and get them more involved in their work. And any improvements you may make to your organizational culture may help with recruiting and hiring new talent.
Next, if you have a list of great stay interview questions ready, you’ll get the most out of these talks and find new ways to keep employees.
Employee retention is crucial for any organization. High turnover can hurt productivity profitability, company culture and knowledge retention. That’s why conducting regular retention interviews to understand why employees stay is so important.
In this comprehensive guide, I will explain what retention interviews are, why they matter and share 19 of the most effective retention interview questions to ask employees.
What Are Retention Interviews?
Retention interviews, also known as stay interviews, are structured conversations between managers and their direct reports. They aim to uncover the factors that drive engagement and loyalty among top-performing employees.
Unlike exit interviews that happen after employees resign, retention interviews proactively gather feedback from current employees. The goal is to identify issues before they become reasons for employees to leave
Retention interviews allow managers to:
- Better understand employee motivations, goals and concerns
- Build trust and strengthen relationships
- Gather feedback on policies, processes and work environment
- Develop action plans to improve retention
Done right, these interviews can boost engagement, satisfaction and retention.
Why Retention Interviews Matter
With up to 40% of the global workforce considering leaving their employer this year, retention has become a crucial focus area.
The costs of replacing employees can be staggering. Experts estimate that turnover costs 1-2x an employee’s annual salary, accounting for recruiting, lost productivity and training new hires.
Retention interviews allow companies to:
- Identify issues driving turnover: By regularly checking in with employees, you can detect problems early and act before top talent leaves.
- Improve the employee experience: Gathering feedback empowers you to make changes that boost satisfaction and engagement.
- Support career growth: Understanding employee goals enables you to create development opportunities that drive retention.
- Strengthen employer brand: Engaged, fulfilled employees become brand advocates that attract talent.
In short, retention interviews provide data-driven insights to build a workplace that motivates employees to stay for the long haul.
19 Retention Interview Questions to Ask Employees
Asking the right questions is key to getting meaningful insights from retention interviews. Here are 19 leading questions to guide your conversations:
Questions About the Job Itself
- What parts of your role do you find most meaningful or enjoyable?
- What duties or responsibilities do you find least enjoyable?
- What talents or skills do you have that you feel aren’t being fully utilized?
- If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?
- Are there any roadblocks or bottlenecks that make your job more difficult?
Questions About Development Opportunities
- How well do you feel your strengths are being leveraged in your current role?
- What skills would you like to develop right now to grow in your career?
- What training or development opportunities would help you excel an be better prepared for future roles?
- What new projects or responsibilities would you like to take on to challenge yourself?
- How can I better support your career development and growth?
Questions About Work Culture and Environment
- What do you enjoy about working here?
- Do you feel recognized for your contributions? If not, what type of recognition would mean more to you?
- How well does our culture and your values align?
- Do you feel like you have strong social connections at work? If not, what could be improved?
- How effectively does communication flow between teams and leadership?
Questions About Flexibility, Lifestyle and Work-Life Balance
- What schedules or flexibility options best support your work-life balance?
- How manageable is your workload? Are there times you feel overburdened?
- Does your job provide sufficient flexibility to attend to personal needs or obligations?
- What changes could we make that would better accommodate your lifestyle needs?
Tips for Conducting Retention Interviews
Here are some best practices to optimize your retention interview strategy:
- Schedule them regularly: Annual or biannual interviews allow managers to spot trends.
- Designate uninterrupted time: Don’t squeeze them in between tasks. Give your full attention.
- Pick a private setting: Ensure confidentiality so employees open up.
- Actively listen: Let employees share without interrupting. Ask follow-up questions.
- Avoid yes/no questions: Ask open-ended questions that elicit detailed responses.
- Take notes: Document key insights and follow-ups.
- Share themes: Roll up feedback to develop company-wide improvements.
- Create action plans: Convert feedback into initiatives that positively impact retention.
The Bottom Line
Retaining top talent requires understanding what drives employee satisfaction and engagement. Annual retention interviews provide insights to continually improve the employee experience, boost productivity and reduce costly turnover.
By asking thoughtful, open-ended retention interview questions, managers can identify issues, strengthen workplace culture and support employees’ career aspirations. The result is an engaged, invested workforce that sticks around for the long haul.
“What kinds of flexibility would be helpful to you in balancing your work and home life?”
Work-life balance is important to many companies, so they let employees work from home, give them paid time off, and set their own hours. It’s a competitive market and lots of people are beginning to expect more flexibility.
Before asking this question, know what you are able to offer. Don’t promise or tease with things you can’t deliver. It’s possible that your company doesn’t give you a lot of freedom with your hours or vacation time. There may be good reasons for this.
If an employee says they’d love to be able to work from home once a week, don’t tell them it’s possible unless it really is.
“What opportunities for self-improvement would you like to have that go beyond your current role?”
If you’re able to offer them opportunities for self-improvement (e. g. , relevant online courses or access to industry conferences), this is a great question to ask. This is their chance to speak up and ask for more training or education related to their job with your company.
If this isn’t an area where you can spend money on your employees, look into training options that don’t cost anything or very little. You might be surprised how much you’re able to find that doesn’t require dipping into your budget.
For instance, HubSpot offers many free certification courses for sales and marketing professionals through its online academy. A number of other online learning sites, such as LinkedIn, also have free or low-cost courses for a wide range of jobs and industries.
At this point in your business, you may not be able to pay for your employees’ training and development, but you can show that you want to help them get what they need to be successful.
You might want to let your employees use work time to use the training resources you offer, so they don’t have to fit it in on their own time.
Bottom line: Don’t rule out self-improvement opportunities for your employees just because you don’t have a big budget. You’ll probably be able to find a lot of low-cost ways to train and develop your employees that will help your team grow.
