The stay interview should be informal and conversational. Workers will only share how they feel about work honestly if they feel a sense of psychological safety, or that they can speak freely without fear of retaliation and knowing their feedback will be fully accepted.That requires managers to be vulnerable. You’ll want to know from your employee what they enjoy about work, but also what could be better — including some areas where you as a manager can improve.It should also be more of a two-way dialogue rather than an interview.

Stay interviews are informal conversations

Stay interviews should focus on how your employee feels about the work they do every day, the value of their contributions and how they feel within the organization.Send workers a few starter questions to prepare for the conversation ahead of time.Some common questions are:<ul><li>What excites you to come into work?</li><li>Do you feel good about the impact of your work?</li><li>What do you want to do more of at work? Less?</li><li>Do you see a future for yourself at the company? How are things the same or different?</li><li>If you were manager for a day, what would you do differently?</li></ul>

What to ask in a stay interview

Perhaps most importantly during the Great Resignation, managers should ask their employees what it would take for them to leave the company.As a supervisor, it’s your job to bring this feedback to the larger organization to see how you can provide the tools, resources or opportunities your employee isn’t currently getting, such as a clear sense of purpose, stretch assignments, fair wages or greater flexibility.Don’t be surprised if your employee initiates a stay interview conversation if you’re not proactively doing so.

Ask what would make your employee leave

Having a stay interview doesn’t mean anything if you don’t act on the feedback you get from your employee.Follow a few simple steps to close a stay interview on a strong note: Thank the employee for their time, summarize the feedback you’ve heard, relay what your next steps will be and provide a clear sense of what the employee can expect will be different following the discussion.

How managers can stay accountable

Think of it as the opposite of an exit interview: Instead of asking why an employee is quitting, a stay interview focuses on what motivates the employee to stick around, what could be better about their work experience and how they envision the next stage of their career within the organization.Stay interviews aren’t new but are coming up more often as employers dial up retention efforts during record turnover.

The stay interview

Get clear about what will help your best employees stay, and what could make them quit.

Stay interviews are informal conversations

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