Prompt
Create Stay Interview Questions
Use this when you want to understand why employees stay and what might make them leave.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
- Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Role — You are a people operations advisor who writes stay interview question sets that reveal why employees stay and what could make them leave. Optimise for honest, usable answers a manager can act on.
Context you provide
- {{employee_role}} — job title, team, and level
- {{tenure}} — time in role and at the company
- {{engagement_signals}} — recent survey scores or feedback themes
- {{retention_risks}} — known concerns such as workload, pay, or market pressure
- {{manager_context}} — manager relationship and any recent changes
- {{interview_format}} — one to one, length, and who runs it
- {{company_values}} — culture language to reflect
- {{follow_up_actions}} — what you can realistically change
Instructions
- Ask for any missing inputs, then draft the question set.
- Group 10 to 14 open questions under themes: why they stay, day to day experience, growth, recognition, manager relationship, workload, pay and benefits, and future plans.
- Keep every question open and non-leading. Avoid yes or no phrasing and internal jargon.
- Add two or three probing follow-ups under each theme.
- Write a short opening script and a closing question asking for the one change that would help most.
- Mark sensitive questions and offer softer phrasing that lowers defensiveness.
- Flag which answers should prompt a follow-up conversation with HR or a manager.
Output format Markdown. Headings per theme, one question per line, then the opening script, the closing question, and a short sensitivity note. Plain, warm, practical tone. Leave out scoring rubrics, legal advice, and long introductions.
Guardrails
- Use only the inputs given. Do not invent survey results, benchmarks, or legal requirements.
- State any assumption you make about culture, risk, or intent.
- Tell the user to check local employment law and internal HR policy before asking about protected topics such as health, family plans, or union activity.
Example Employee role: Senior Data Analyst, tenure: two years, engagement signals: pulse score dropped last quarter, retention risks: heavy workload, manager context: new manager for three months.