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Source note

Retention and stay interviews

Most companies learn why someone left in an exit interview, after the decision is already made. A stay interview asks the same question while there is still time to act on the answer. This note covers what the research says about how much turnover is preventable, the conversation gap that stay interviews close, and how to run one without making it worse.

The short answer

A meaningful share of voluntary turnover is preventable. Gallup finds that around 42% of voluntary leavers say their departure could have been prevented, and other research puts the figure higher. The more telling number is that roughly 45% of leavers report that in the three months before they left, little was done by a manager to discuss their future. A stay interview is a structured conversation that closes that gap by asking what keeps an employee and what might make them leave, while there is still time to respond. Its value depends entirely on acting on what it surfaces.

~42%
of voluntary leavers say their exit could have been prevented, per Gallup, with other research putting it higher.
~45%
report little was done by a manager to discuss their future in the three months before they left, per Gallup.
Reviewed to the TrueStep HR standard Last verified 24 June 2026 Every figure cites a primary source
The premise

Much of the turnover you see was avoidable

The starting fact behind stay interviews is that a large share of the people who quit did not have to. Estimates vary by source and method. Gallup's most recent work finds that about 42% of voluntary leavers say their departure could have been prevented, while the Work Institute, drawing on a large body of exit interviews, has put the preventable share higher, at roughly three in four. Whichever figure is closer for a given workforce, the conclusion is the same: a substantial portion of turnover responds to action, and the cost of that turnover is steep. SHRM estimates the cost of replacing an employee at six to nine months of their salary.

The gap is not that companies cannot fix the problems, it is that they never learn about them in time. Gallup finds that roughly 45% of voluntary leavers report that in the three months before they left, little was done by a manager to proactively discuss their role or their future. By the time the issue surfaces, in an exit interview, the person has already decided, and has usually spent weeks rehearsing answers that will not burn bridges. The information arrives too late to act on.

The difference that matters

A stay interview is not an exit interview moved earlier

The two conversations look similar and do opposite jobs. An exit interview is a post-mortem: it captures data from someone who has already emotionally detached and is leaving regardless. A stay interview is preventive care: it surfaces the same drivers while the person is still on the team and intervention is still possible. The timing changes everything, because a concern raised in a stay interview can still be addressed, and a concern raised in an exit interview can only be filed.

Exit interview against stay interview
When
After the decision against before it. An exit interview happens once the person is leaving. A stay interview happens while they are still choosing to stay, which is the only point where the answer can change the outcome.
Candor
Rehearsed against real. A departing employee softens their answers to protect the reference. A current employee in a trusted conversation will often name the real issue, because they want it fixed rather than forgotten.
Use
A record against a lever. Exit data tells you why people left after the fact. Stay data tells you what to change now, for someone you still have, while it still matters.
How to run one

The questions are simple, the follow-through is not

A stay interview turns on a small set of open questions. What do you enjoy most about the work. What would make you consider leaving. If you could change one thing about your role or team, what would it be. What would make this job harder to leave. The questions are deliberately forward-looking, because the goal is to find the levers that are still in reach, not to relitigate the past. Run them with employees you most want to keep, and with high performers at the one-to-three-year mark as a preventive measure, before flight risk shows up.

What separates a useful stay interview from a harmful one
Follow-up
The most important part by far. A stay interview with no follow-up is worse than none. Every honest answer becomes an implicit promise to respond, and silence after the fact erodes trust faster than never asking would have.
Honesty
Be clear about what you cannot change. If a budget freeze or a company-wide policy blocks an action, say so. A transparent no keeps more trust than a vague maybe that never arrives.
Coverage
Pair it with anonymous signals. Some concerns an employee will never raise face-to-face with their own manager. A pulse survey catches what the conversation misses, and the two together read more of the picture.

The discipline is the same one that runs through retention generally: asking is cheap, and acting is what counts. A 30-minute conversation costs a manager's attention. Losing the person costs six to nine months of their salary to replace. The math favors the conversation, but only if something happens after it.

Sources

Where these figures come from

Primary sources

  1. Gallup, on preventable turnover. The source for around 42% of voluntary leavers saying their exit could have been prevented and roughly 45% reporting little manager action in the three months before leaving, from surveys conducted in late 2023 and 2024. gallup.comChecked 24 June 2026
  2. Work Institute, Retention Reports. The source for the higher preventable-turnover estimate, drawn from a large body of exit interviews, and for the framing that employees stay for different reasons than they leave. workinstitute.comChecked 24 June 2026
  3. SHRM, on the cost of replacing an employee. The source for the estimate that replacing an employee costs six to nine months of their salary, the cost asymmetry that makes a stay interview a low-cost retention lever. shrm.orgChecked 24 June 2026

The preventable-turnover figure varies by source and method, which is why both the lower and higher estimates are shown rather than a single number. The right stay-interview cadence and the questions that fit depend on your roles, your tenure mix, and the trust between managers and their teams. This note is general information to support retention practice, not a prescription.

Put it to work

Tools that turn the conversation into retention

Run the conversation, then size what turnover is costing you

Kit

Retention and Stay Interview Action Kit

The direct answer to this note: a flight-risk scorer, stay-interview scripts, and a retention action plan, so the conversation leads to a tracked change rather than a filed note.

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Toolkit

Technician Pay and Retention Toolkit

For skilled-trade and technician roles, where pay position and a clear path do most of the retention work, with the levers that keep hard-to-replace people from walking.

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Pack

Turnover and Absence Cost Pack

Puts a real number on what departures and unplanned absence cost, so the case for a retention program is a figure a budget holder can weigh against the spend.

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Questions

Common questions

A stay interview is a structured conversation between a manager and an employee who is still with the company, designed to surface what keeps them and what might make them leave. Unlike an exit interview, which happens after the decision to leave, a stay interview happens while there is still time to act on the answer. It is sometimes called a retention interview.

Estimates vary by source. Gallup's most recent work finds about 42% of voluntary leavers say their departure could have been prevented, while the Work Institute, drawing on a large body of exit interviews, puts the figure closer to three in four. Both point to the same conclusion: a substantial share of turnover responds to action, if the issues surface in time.

A few open, forward-looking questions: what do you enjoy most about the work, what would make you consider leaving, if you could change one thing about your role or team what would it be, and what would make this job harder to leave. The aim is to find levers still in reach. Run them with people you most want to keep and with high performers at the one-to-three-year mark.

They work only if you act on what they surface. A stay interview with no follow-up is worse than none, because every honest answer becomes an implicit promise and silence erodes trust. Used well, with visible follow-through and paired with anonymous pulse signals to catch what employees will not say face-to-face, they are one of the most cost-effective retention tools available, since the conversation is far cheaper than replacing the person.

This note is general information to support planning, not legal or financial advice. Benchmarks are starting points, not rules. Confirm the figures and how they apply to your situation before acting on them.

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