6 Stay Interview Questions You Should Start Asking Today

How do you ensure that employees want to stay with your company? One effective way is to conduct stay interviews to evaluate their satisfaction levels. But have you prepared a list of stay interview questions to get the most out of those conversations?

Knowing what to ask will help you connect with your employees on a deeper level, uncover unsaid problems, and identify ways to improve your workplace. Start asking these 7 questions today and see how they work!

Stay Interview Tips

Before conducting a stay interview, you should keep in mind these tips:

• Schedule the stay interview beforehand with your employees, make sure they acknowledge the importance of the conversation.
• Give your employees some time to prepare their thoughts and think about the answers.
• Tell them the purpose of the meeting and what you’re going to talk about.
• Actively listen to your employees’ opinions.
• Pick a comfortable setting so that your employees feel relaxed. This is an easy way for them to open up their true feelings and opinions. You can conduct the conversations outside of the office, in the nearby coffee shop, or even while taking a walk.
• Keep the stay interview separate from the monthly review or evaluation.
• Consider using the information from stay interviews to craft career development plans for employees.

6 Stay Interview Questions You Should Ask

It’s necessary to prepare a list of stay interview questions beforehand. Start with easy, positive questions that make the beginning of the conversation more comfortable: 

• Can you describe your normal day at work?
• What do you like most about your job/our team?
• What is your overall satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 10 about your current work?

These icebreaker questions not only keep the atmosphere lighter and less stressful, but also partly reveal what motivates them to continue working.

Once the conversation develops, start diving deeper with more thorough questions that encourage your employees to share their personal viewpoints and feelings. Here are 7 stay interview questions that you should ask:

1. Do you feel you’re getting enough recognition for what you’ve done? 

This question enables your employee to vocalize their opinions about your business’ recognition program. People love kudos or acknowledgment when they do a good job, and acts of recognition can go a long way in keeping top talents.

Recognition will motivate your employees to strive for better results in the future. If employees feel that they aren’t properly recognized, ask them why and note down the reasons. Then you can make changes to your business policies and reward system.

2. Do you have the right resources to develop your abilities?

Sometimes, the lack of financial and intellectual resources provided by your business may make employees feel they can’t strengthen their skills and advance in their career path, and eventually decide to leave.

This stay interview question allows your employees to express the opportunities they want in the workplace. If employees say No to this question, you need some changes:

• conduct more training sessions,
• buy online courses,
• hire coaches,
• purchase necessary equipment,
• recommend books or learning software, etc.

If your employees think they have enough resources, don’t forget to ask them again at the next stay interviews.

3. When was a time that you felt anxious or frustrated at work?

This stay interview question will help you identify the problems that are troubling your employees at work. Ask them about the source of their anxiety or frustration and what they’ve done to alleviate them. By listening to their problems, you can also provide additional support for your employees.

4. How do you feel about your work-life balance?

This question is used to find out how employees’ job affects their personal lives, and their expectations towards time and flexibility at work.

The balance between work and personal life largely affects employee’s happiness and productivity. More and more people today demand jobs that allow them to work from home or have more flexibility in their schedules.

Before asking this question, make sure you know what you can offer. Don’t promise or tease about things you can’t fulfill. 

5. What are the tasks that best suit your talents or interests?

This question will help you adjust and assign tasks that suit each individual’s potential and interest. It’s necessary to assign interesting, yet challenging tasks for your staff sometimes as opportunities for growth.

6. What can I do to make your working experience better?

This stay interview question allows employees to voice their expectations towards their workplace. You can consider what you can do to improve their working experience. Even if only 1-2 opinions can be put into practice, it can retain your employees and enhance their motivation.

Takeaway

The stay interview lets you learn why employees are staying, what they like about their jobs, and what’s on their minds. It can help you diagnose problems with the work environment and correct them before low job satisfaction turns into high-risk turnover.

The purpose of the stay interview is not just to gather information, but also to create a win-win-win situation for your employees, your organization, and yourself.

Read more about how to get the most out of stay interview here.