Real tabs and pages from the kit files. Example names and details are illustrative.
Retention and Stay Interview Action Kit
Keep the people you would hate to lose, on purpose. Score who is most at risk and most costly to lose, sit down with them while there is still time to act, and turn what you hear into commitments with an owner and a date. Built for the manager, owner, or HR team of one who keeps learning what was wrong from the exit interview.
One-time purchase, no subscription. Instant download.
Built by expert HR practitioners and leaders
- The Retention and Stay Interview Field Guide (14 pages): why keeping a good person beats replacing one in real numbers, the turnover worth fighting and the turnover to let go, how to run a stay interview people answer candidly, the five core questions with the probes behind them, and the moments a conversation needs more than a plan
- Stay interview templates and scripts in Word: a manager prep checklist, the interview guide and worksheet with an opening and a close to say in your own words, a retention action plan, a thirty-day follow-up, and a bank of fifteen optional questions for going deeper
- A Flight-Risk Scorer that ranks who to talk to first: rate each person on five signals and on how much their loss would hurt, and the workbook returns a flight-risk level and a retention priority, so your attention goes where it matters most
- A Stay Interview Tracker and a Retention Action Log: one row per conversation with the themes and the commitment, and one row per action with an owner, a due date, and a status, so what you promised gets done instead of quietly fading
- A worked example and plain-language definitions: the workbook ships with a small sample team already scored and logged, so nothing starts as a blank page, plus a definitions tab that runs from regrettable turnover to protected activity
The kit gives you the conversation, the priorities, and the follow-through. It does not make pay or promotion decisions for you, and it tells you plainly when a conversation has turned into a complaint that needs the right process rather than a retention plan.
A field guide, editable templates, and a workbook for keeping the people you want to keep, and practical business and HR guidance, not legal or tax advice. A complaint about harassment, discrimination, retaliation, pay, or safety moves to the right process rather than staying inside a retention chat; employees have a protected right to discuss pay and working conditions with each other; and counteroffers, retention raises, and promotions carry tax and fairness consequences, so run them through your normal process with qualified help.
Last reviewed June 2026
Four files that run the whole loop
Read the Field Guide once for the shape of it, then work the loop: score who to talk to, run the conversation from the templates, and keep the workbook current as commitments land. Each file stands on its own, so start where your team is today.
Start Here
A one-page map: read the Field Guide first, score who to talk to in the Workbook, run the conversation with the script in the Templates, commit to one to three real actions with an owner and a date, then follow up and re-score. It also states the rule the whole kit rests on: promise only what you will deliver, then deliver it, and switch modes if a conversation surfaces something heavier.
The Retention and Stay Interview Field Guide (14 pages)
The case for retention in real numbers, the four kinds of turnover and which one to fight, what moves people to stay or leave, what a stay interview is and how to run one people answer candidly, the five core questions with their probes, turning what you hear into a plan, the moment a chat becomes a complaint, the bigger system retention sits inside, who to talk to and how often, and the moments worth a phone call.
Stay Interview Templates and Scripts
Five working tools you print or copy per conversation: a manager prep checklist, the interview guide and worksheet with an opening and a close to say in your own words, a retention action plan that sorts what you heard into act on now, escalate, and be honest about, a thirty-day follow-up, and a bank of fifteen optional questions. Shaded fields to type over, owner notes that flag the choices, and yours to rebrand.
The Retention and Stay Interview Workbook
Your running system: a Flight-Risk Scorer that rates each person on five signals plus impact and returns a flight-risk level and a retention priority, a Stay Interview Tracker with one row per conversation, a Retention Action Log with an owner, a due date, and a status on every commitment, and a definitions tab. It ships with a small sample team to follow and clear, and it works in Excel or Google Sheets.
The method in the order the loop runs
Aim your effort, score who to talk to, run the conversation, turn it into a few real commitments, and close the loop. The kit gives you the priorities, the words, and the follow-through; you hold the conversation, and the heavier moments go to the right process.
Read the Field Guide and aim your effort
Start with the guide so you fight the right turnover. A poor fit leaving is fine, and a retirement is a handover to plan; the kit is for the people whose loss would set you back. The guide makes the cost case in real numbers and shows you the difference, so retention effort lands where it pays.
Score who to talk to first
Open the Flight-Risk Scorer and list the people you most want to keep. Rate each one on five signals, growth and path, manager and recognition, pay fairness, workload and engagement, and any recent change, plus how much their loss would hurt, and the workbook ranks them by retention priority.
Run the conversation and mostly listen
Use the prep checklist, then the script. Say plainly that you value the person and want the real answers, work the five questions, and let silence do some of the work; the practice runs on listening about eighty percent of the time. Note what comes up, and do not promise anything on the spot.
Turn what you heard into one to three real actions
Fill the retention action plan: what you will act on now, what you will escalate, and what you cannot change and will be honest about. Log each committed action in the workbook with an owner and a due date. A few real actions beat a long list, and a straight answer beats a vague promise.
Follow up, close the loop, and re-score
Run the thirty-day follow-up, do what you said, and update the action log as things land. Re-score people as their situation changes, and run the next round on a rhythm. A stay interview with no follow-through does more harm than none, and the log is what keeps that from happening.
Ask before the resignation, not after
Most people do not quit in a moment. They drift for months while small frustrations pile up and nobody asks, and by the time the resignation lands, the exit interview only tells you what you could have known a year earlier. Gallup puts the cost of replacing someone at one-half to two times their annual salary, and 52 percent of people who left voluntarily say their employer could have done something to keep them. The fix is not a slogan on a wall. It is a planned conversation with the people you most want to keep, held while you can still act, with follow-through they can see.
Who it is built for
Who this kit fits, and where to go if your need is something else.
Built for
- An owner or manager in a small business who keeps losing good people to surprise resignations and wants a working system, who to talk to, what to say, and what to do after, rather than another reminder that retention matters.
- An HR leader or HR team of one putting a retention practice in place across several managers, with a shared script, a scored priority list, and one log of every commitment so follow-through is visible.
- A manager with one or two people they would hate to lose right now, who wants to run the conversation this week and handle it well, without over-promising on pay or promotion.
If you are looking for
- A complaint about harassment, discrimination, or retaliation that has already surfaced, rather than a retention plan. The Employee Relations and Workplace Investigations Kit is built for that moment, and this kit tells you to make the switch.
- People leaving in their first few months. That usually points at hiring and onboarding rather than retention, and the New Hire Onboarding 30-60-90 Kit works the problem at the source.
- A performance problem heading toward a formal step or an exit, rather than a person worth keeping. The Discipline and Termination Decision Kit handles that decision properly.
Before you buy
What format are the files and can I edit them?
Is this legal advice?
Who runs the stay interview and how often?
How is this different from an engagement survey or an exit interview?
How is this different from a free stay interview template?
What is the refund policy?
What happens after I buy?
Can I expense this purchase to my business?
Most customers buy TrueStep HR tools for business use, and a tool you use for work often qualifies as a deductible business expense. Whether it does for you depends on your situation, so confirm with your accountant or tax professional. Your receipt arrives by email at checkout and works as documentation.
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Keep your best people on purpose
Score who to talk to first, run a conversation people answer candidly, commit to one to three real actions with an owner and a date, and follow through where they can see it, with the kit telling you plainly when a conversation needs more than a plan.
A retention and stay interview system and editable templates, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed June 2026.