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What Is Stay Interview?

A stay interview is a proactive conversation to understand why a valued employee stays and what might make them leave.

An educational definition from the HR glossary. Explore related terms below, or jump into the resource center to go deeper.

Definition

A stay interview is a proactive conversation to understand why a valued employee stays and what might make them leave.

Why it matters

It surfaces retention drivers while there is still time to act.

Examples

Illustrative example. Asking what would strengthen someone’s reasons to stay is a stay interview.

For the practical detail behind this term, follow the related metric, template and resources below.

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For informational purposes only. This is an educational, plain-language definition — not legal, tax, financial or compliance advice and not an official definition. Terms and obligations vary by organisation and jurisdiction. Numeric examples are simple, placeholder-based illustrations, not data. Confirm specifics with qualified professionals.
Related concepts

Related glossary terms

Keep exploring the HR vocabulary.

Glossary

Exit Interview

An exit interview is a conversation with a departing employee to learn why they are leaving and what could improve.

Open Glossary

Employee Retention

Employee retention is how well an organisation keeps the people it wants to keep over time.

Open Glossary

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is how connected, motivated and committed people feel to their work and organisation.

Open
Measure it

Related metrics & calculators

HR metric

Employee Retention Rate

Employee retention rate measures how much of a starting group of employees you keep over a period.

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HR calculators

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Open Hub

HR metrics hub

How HR measures are defined and read.

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Put it into practice

Related templates

Template

Stay Interview Template

A stay interview asks valued employees what keeps them.

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Go deeper

Related resources

The clusters that put this concept into practice.

Lifecycle

Employee lifecycle

The full employee journey, stage by stage.

Open Operations

Employer operations

Run the workforce as a repeatable system.

Open Planning

Workforce planning

Strategy and organizational design.

Open Compliance

HR compliance

Documentation, records, data and policy.

Open Templates

HR templates

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Open Playbooks

HR playbooks

Step-by-step plays for people processes.

Open Technology

HR technology

Automation, analytics and systems.

Open Funnel

Recruitment funnel

Sourcing through to accepted offer.

Open Reporting

HR reporting & dashboards

Turn people data into clear views.

Open AI for HR

AI for HR

Where AI assists HR, responsibly.

Open Resource center

HR resource center

The central map of every cluster.

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is Stay Interview?

A stay interview is a proactive conversation to understand why a valued employee stays and what might make them leave.

Why does Stay Interview matter?

It surfaces retention drivers while there is still time to act.

How is Stay Interview measured?

It connects to the HR metric linked on this page, where you can find the formula and how to read it. This glossary entry is an educational definition, not a data source.