--- title: "Stay interview questions and a guide to run them | Spradley" description: "Stay interview questions in a ready-to-use 20-minute guide: who to interview and when, questions and probes, who should ask, and how to find themes." url: https://spradley.io/articles/stay-interview-questions --- # Stay interview questions and a guide to run them Stay interview questions in a ready-to-use 20-minute guide: who to interview and when, questions and probes, who should ask, and how to find themes. Magnus Størum Co-founder & CEO Sep 10, 2026 ![A woman reaching for her coat at the end of the day turns back to talk to her manager](https://spradley.io/media/blog/stay-interview-questions/hero.webp) Stay interviews ask current employees what keeps them in the job, what would make them leave and what would make the work better, while there is still time to act. This guide gives you the questions in seven short sections with follow-up probes, and takes about 20 minutes. Run stay interviews with people you would hate to lose, with people in their first year, and with teams where turnover is rising. Section Time What you learn 1\. Opening 2 min Trust, purpose 2\. Why you stay 4 min What to protect 3\. Good and bad days 4 min Daily friction 4\. Growth 3 min Learning, next step 5\. Thinking of leaving 4 min Triggers, pull factors 6\. What would help 2 min Specific fixes 7\. Close 1 min Anything missed ## What is a stay interview? A stay interview is a planned conversation with someone who is not leaving, about why they stay and what might change that. It is the exit interview held early. Where an engagement survey gives you a score per team, a stay interview tells you what sits behind it for real people, such as a rota published two days before the week starts or a promotion that went to an outside hire. SHRM published a [five-question stay interview](https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/employee-relations/how-to-conduct-stay-interviews-5-key-questions) by Richard Finnegan in 2023. His questions cover what people look forward to, what they are learning, why they stay, when they last thought about leaving and what the manager could do better. His advice to managers is short: “Listen 80 percent of the time.” The guide below builds on the same ground with more structure and probes. ## Who should you interview, and when? Start with three groups. People whose departure would hurt most, because of their skills or what they hold in their heads. People in their first six to twelve months, because early leavers often decide quietly. And teams where exits or sickness are rising, where you need the reason before the next resignation. Keep stay interviews away from pay reviews and appraisals, or every answer will be a negotiation. Once a year per person is enough for most roles. A one-off round across a whole department works well after a reorganisation or a drop in survey scores; our post on [why engagement scores dropped](https://spradley.io/articles/why-engagement-scores-dropped) covers that situation. ## Stay interview questions: the guide Ask about recent, specific moments. “What do you like about working here?” gets a polite list. “Tell me about a recent day that went well” gets the detail you can act on. ### 1\. Opening (2 minutes) 1. How long have you been in this role, and how has it changed since you started? Before this, explain the purpose: you want to understand what keeps good people here and what gets in their way. Say who will see the answers. ### 2\. Why you stay (4 minutes) 1. What are the main reasons you’re still here? 2. If you left, what would you miss most? Follow up with: - Has that always been the reason, or has it changed? - Who in particular would you miss working with? ### 3\. Good and bad days (4 minutes) 1. Tell me about a recent day at work that went well. What made it good? 2. Now a recent day that went badly. What happened? Follow up with: - How often is a week like that? - Was that in anyone’s control to change? ### 4\. Growth (3 minutes) 1. What have you learned in the last six months? 2. Where would you like to be in two years, here or elsewhere? Follow up with: - Does anyone here know that’s what you want? ### 5\. Thinking of leaving (4 minutes) 1. When did you last think about leaving? What prompted it? 2. If a recruiter called tomorrow, what would make you listen? Follow up with: - What happened after that moment? Did anything change? - Have colleagues who left mentioned the same thing? ### 6\. What would help (2 minutes) 1. What one change would make this job better for you in the next three months? Follow up with: - Who could make that happen? ### 7\. Close (1 minute) 1. Is there anything I should have asked and didn’t? ## Who should run stay interviews: the manager, HR or an AI interviewer? The line manager is the classic choice. The manager can act on the answer for that person, such as moving a shift pattern or arranging training, and the conversation itself builds the relationship. The drawback is candour. If the manager is the reason someone is thinking of leaving, section 5 will get a careful answer. Managers also need training, and stay interviews fall off their list in busy months. HR or a manager from another team gets more open answers about the line manager, but loses some of the ability to act on the spot. An AI interviewer reaches everyone in a department at once, and people tend to be franker about their manager when they answer in private and results are only shown for groups. Spradley runs one-on-one interviews by text or voice, with invitations by email or Slack, and asks a follow-up question on each answer. The trade-off is plain: you learn what keeps and loses people across a team, with the quotes behind each theme, but you do not learn which individual is at risk. Spradley never identifies individuals and never shows numbers or ratings for fewer than five people. Many organisations use both: an AI round to find the patterns, then managers holding stay conversations armed with what the round found. Our [employee engagement page](https://spradley.io/solutions/employee-engagement) describes how that fits with an existing survey, and our post on [alternatives to the annual engagement survey](https://spradley.io/articles/alternatives-to-annual-engagement-survey) compares stay interviews with other listening methods. ## How do you analyse stay interviews into themes? 1. Separate reasons to stay (section 2) from reasons to go (section 5). They are often different lists. Pay may not keep people but a pay gap can still pull them away. 2. Group each list into themes: manager, workload and rota, growth, pay, colleagues, the work itself. 3. Mark each theme by who can fix it: the manager, the department or the organisation. 4. Compare teams and tenure bands. A theme in the first-year group may be about onboarding. 5. Pick two or three quotes per theme and take the top three themes to the people who can act. Tell people what you heard and what you will change. If nothing visible happens, the next round of stay interviews will be shorter and more polite. ## Adapt it - For frontline shift workers, run sections 2, 3, 5 and 6 in ten minutes, and ask about rotas and breaks in section 3. - For new starters, replace section 4 with “What has been different from what you expected when you joined?” - After a merger, add to section 5: “What have you heard about the deal that makes you more or less likely to stay?” - For managers holding the conversation one-to-one, keep a note of the one change agreed in section 6 and follow up within a month. ## Frequently asked questions ### What are the best stay interview questions? Ask why the person stays, what a good and a bad recent day looked like, what they are learning, when they last thought about leaving and what one change would help. Follow each with a probe for a specific example. ### How long should a stay interview take? About 20 minutes. A ten-minute version with four sections works for frontline staff on shifts. ### What is the difference between a stay interview and an exit interview? A stay interview asks current employees why they stay and what might make them leave, while there is still time to act. An exit interview asks after they have decided to go. ### Who should conduct stay interviews? Usually the line manager, who can act on the answers. HR or an AI interviewer gets more candid answers about the manager, at the cost of not knowing which individual said what. ### How often should you run stay interviews? Once a year per person is enough for most roles, plus a one-off round after a reorganisation, a merger or a rise in turnover. ## Key terms Stay interview A planned conversation with a current employee about why they stay, what might make them leave and what would improve their work. Exit interview A conversation with someone who has already resigned, about why they are leaving. Regrettable turnover Departures of people the organisation wanted to keep, as opposed to all leavers. Probe A follow-up question that asks for a specific example when a first answer is general. Minimum group size The smallest number of people a result can be shown for, so no individual can be identified. Five is a common floor. ## More articles [Explore all resources](https://spradley.io/articles) [ ![A man carrying a box of desk belongings stops by the lift to talk with a colleague](https://spradley.io/media/blog/exit-interview-questions/hero.webp) Interview guide ### Exit interview questions and a guide to run them Exit interview questions in a ready-to-run 25-minute guide: probes, who should ask, when to hold it, and how to sort answers into preventable turnover. ](https://spradley.io/articles/exit-interview-questions)[ ![A tired nurse resting on a staff-room sofa while a colleague leans in to talk](https://spradley.io/media/blog/burnout-check-in-questions/hero.webp) Interview guide ### Burnout check-in questions for managers Burnout check-in questions for managers, built on WHO’s definition and HSE’s six stress factors, plus early team signs to watch and where to refer. ](https://spradley.io/articles/burnout-check-in-questions)[ ![An older worker showing a new starter in stiff overalls to his locker](https://spradley.io/media/blog/onboarding-check-in-questions-30-60-90-days/hero.webp) Interview guide ### 30, 60, 90 day check-in questions for new hires Day 30, 60 and 90 check-in questions for new hires, with probes, who should ask each one, and how to read the answers across a whole hiring cohort. ](https://spradley.io/articles/onboarding-check-in-questions-30-60-90-days)[ ![A manager in a suit listening to two warehouse staff across a canteen table](https://spradley.io/media/blog/skip-level-meeting-questions/hero.webp) Interview guide ### Skip-level meeting questions and how to run them Skip-level meeting questions in a 30-minute guide with probes, how to avoid undermining the manager, group or one-to-one, and what to do next. ](https://spradley.io/articles/skip-level-meeting-questions)[ ![Office workers carrying chairs and boxes past a pinboard where blank cards are being rearranged](https://spradley.io/media/blog/post-reorganisation-interview-guide/hero.webp) Interview guide ### Questions to ask employees after a reorganisation A 25-minute interview guide for 4 to 12 weeks after a restructure: role clarity, reporting lines, decision rights, workload, lost knowledge and trust. ](https://spradley.io/articles/post-reorganisation-interview-guide)[ ![A worker in overalls carries a box of belongings from an old locker to a new one](https://spradley.io/media/blog/change-impact-interview-guide/hero.webp) Interview guide ### Change impact interview guide: before and after go-live A two-part change impact interview guide: 20 minutes before go-live, 15 minutes after. Who to interview, questions and probes, and how to analyse them. ](https://spradley.io/articles/change-impact-interview-guide)