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. It covers the conversation gap that stay interviews close, and how to run one without making it worse.
How this note is governed
Applies to Managers and HR practitioners running retention conversations before an exit. Research synthesis, not a legal rule.
Short answer
~42%. Gallup finds about 42% of voluntary leavers say their exit could have been prevented. Roughly 45% report no manager conversation about their future in the three months before they left. A stay interview closes that gap.
Published Last verified
The Gallup preventable-turnover research was rechecked. The roughly 42% preventable and 45% no-conversation figures were unchanged.
- ~45%
- report little was done by a manager to discuss their future in the three months before they left, per Gallup.
- ~42%
- of voluntary leavers say their exit could have been prevented, per Gallup, with other research putting it higher.
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. 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 a gap 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. They have usually spent weeks rehearsing answers that will not burn bridges. The information arrives too late to act on.
The direct answer to this note. A flight-risk scorer, stay-interview scripts, and a retention action plan. The conversation leads to a tracked change rather than a filed note.
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. A concern raised in a stay interview can still be addressed. A concern raised in an exit interview can only be filed.
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. Run them with high performers at the one-to-three-year mark as a preventive measure, before flight risk shows up.
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.
Six red flags to check before you fire someone
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A five minute screen to run before you act, sent to your inbox as a print-ready PDF. Every figure in it traces to a reference note like this one.
Where these figures come from
3 citations checked, newest check 24 June 2026
- Gallup, on preventable turnover. The source for around 42% of voluntary leavers saying their exit could have been prevented. It also carries the roughly 45% reporting little manager action in the three months before leaving. The surveys were conducted in late 2023 and 2024. gallup.com gallup.com
- Work Institute, Retention Reports. The source for the higher preventable-turnover estimate, drawn from a large body of exit interviews. It also carries the framing that employees stay for different reasons than they leave. workinstitute.com workinstitute.com
- 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. That is the cost asymmetry that makes a stay interview a low-cost retention lever. shrm.org shrm.org
Common questions
What is a stay interview?
A stay interview is a structured conversation between a manager and an employee who is still with the company. It is 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.
How much turnover is preventable?
Estimates vary by source. Gallup’s most recent work finds about 42% of voluntary leavers say their departure could have been prevented. 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.
What questions should a stay interview ask?
A few open, forward-looking questions work best. Ask what they enjoy most about the work, and what would make them consider leaving. Ask what one thing about their role or team they would change. Ask 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.
Do stay interviews actually work?
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, they are one of the most cost-effective retention tools available. Pair them with anonymous pulse signals to catch what employees will not say face-to-face. The conversation is far cheaper than replacing the person.
Put it to work
The direct answer to this note. A flight-risk scorer, stay-interview scripts, and a retention action plan. The conversation leads to a tracked change rather than a filed note.
$69For skilled-trade and technician roles, where pay position and a clear path do most of the retention work. It carries the levers that keep hard-to-replace people from walking.
$69Puts a real number on what departures and unplanned absence cost. The case for a retention program becomes a figure a budget holder can weigh against the spend.
$59The questions are simple. Acting on what you hear is where retention is won or lost. The retention kits carry the follow-through, and a $149 Setup Session gets one running on your own people.
Kits
This note is general information about employment practice rather than legal advice for your situation. Check the review date and the jurisdictions above, follow the source link, and confirm the rule before you act on it.