Onboarding and playbooks
Stay interview playbook
A stay interview a year in: their manager asks what keeps them and what might make them leave, with an anonymous check-in and a follow-up.
New playbook. Opens a new playbook with these steps and timings. Each person’s steps wait for your approval before they send.
A stay interview asks the questions of an exit interview while there is still time to act on the answers.
This playbook starts when someone reaches a year. Their manager holds the conversation, an anonymous check-in follows, and the manager reports back on what changed.
Shuffl · HR by the numbers
Ask before they leave
Ask before they leave. 76.3% of US exits in 2024 were preventable (Work Institute, 2025) (Work Institute, 2025). 42% of US employees who quit say their employer could have kept them (Gallup, 2024) (Gallup, July 9, 2024 (updated February 16, 2026)). 45% of US employees who quit say no leader discussed their future with them (Gallup, 2024) (Gallup, July 9, 2024 (updated February 16, 2026)).
A year with us, person
To the person, on the day they join.
**A year with us, {{hire}}**
Thank you for your first year. {{manager}} will ask you for 30 minutes this week, not to review your work, but to hear what keeps you here and what would make it better.Hold a stay interview with person
To their manager, on the day they join.
**Hold a stay interview with {{hire}}**
Worth asking: what do you look forward to at work? What would tempt you to leave? What should I keep doing, and stop doing? Listen more than you talk.
- [ ] Hold the conversation
- [ ] Write down what they asked forYour first year, anonymously
To the person, 7 days after the day they join.
**Your first year, anonymously** Answered anonymously: - I see myself working here in a year. - I can grow in my career here. - What one change would make you more likely to stay?
Follow up on what person asked for
To their manager, 30 days after the day they join.
**Follow up on what {{hire}} asked for**
- [ ] Tell them what changed, or why it could notHow to adapt it
- Shuffl fills in {{hire}} and {{manager}} for each person. Replace them by hand if you send the message yourself.
- Keep it separate from performance reviews, so people answer honestly.
- Always follow up, even when the answer is no.
What the research says
Most people leave for reasons an employer could have done something about. In Work Institute’s 2025 Retention Report, preventable departures made up 76.3% of exits in 2024, led by career, work-life balance and management.1
Few people are asked. In Gallup’s study of people who quit, 42% said their manager or organization could have prevented it, and 45% said no manager or other leader had proactively discussed their job satisfaction, performance or future with them.2
SHRM recommends asking the same few questions every time, with the manager listening for most of the conversation.3
Common mistakes
- Holding it during a review, so people give safe answers.
- Asking and never following up. Report back, even when the answer is no.
- Letting the manager talk more than they listen.
- Waiting until someone resigns to ask what would have kept them.
Common questions
- What is a stay interview?
- A planned conversation with someone who works for you about what keeps them, what might make them leave and what would make the job better. It asks the questions of an exit interview while there is still time to act.
- Who should hold a stay interview?
- Usually their manager, who can act on the answers. Some organizations use someone from outside the team, which can make career concerns easier to raise.
- How is it different from a performance review?
- A review is about the work. A stay interview is about the job from the person’s side, so keep it separate and never tie it to a rating.
Sources
Read on . Numbers change as new studies come out, so check the source before you quote it.
- Work Institute, 2025 Retention Report: Employee Retention Truths in Today’s Workplace, 2025. Based on 123,297 exit interviews Work Institute conducted from 2019 to 2024 with employees of more than 175 companies, over 90% collected after the employee left and by Work Institute as a third party.
- Gallup, 42% of Employee Turnover Is Preventable but Often Ignored, July 9, 2024 (updated February 16, 2026). By Corey Tatel and Ben Wigert. Nationally representative study of 717 U.S. employees who voluntarily left an employer in the past 12 months, fielded Nov. 8-20, 2023, margin of error ±5 points.
- SHRM, How to Conduct Stay Interviews: 5 Key Questions, November 2023. Article by Richard P. Finnegan, excerpted from his book The Power of Stay Interviews for Engagement and Retention, second edition (2018). Practitioner guidance, not a survey.