What Stay Interviews Should Mean for Your Learning Strategy

Posted on 07/14/26 By Lorman Team

How HR Leaders Can Turn Employee Feedback Into Meaningful Development

Stay interviews have become an increasingly valuable tool for understanding employee engagement and retention. Yet they remain underutilized. Industry surveys suggest that only about 30% of organizations conduct stay interviews on a regular basis, despite growing evidence that they can help organizations identify retention risks before employees decide to leave.

Unlike exit interviews, they give organizations the opportunity to learn what employees value, what motivates them to stay, and what might cause them to leave while there is still time to act. But collecting feedback is only the first step. The real value of a stay interview lies in what happens next.

According to LinkedIn Learning, 94% of employees say they would stay longer at a company that invests in their learning and development. That means the insights gathered during stay interviews should do more than inform retention conversations. They should also help shape your learning and development strategy.

Here's how HR and L&D leaders can turn stay interview feedback into meaningful employee growth.

Why Stay Interviews Matter

While most organizations conduct exit interviews after an employee has decided to leave, stay interviews provide an opportunity to address concerns while employees are still engaged and solutions can still be implemented. These conversations often uncover themes that extend well beyond compensation or benefits. Employees frequently discuss topics such as:

• Career growth opportunities
• Manager support
• Leadership development
• Skill-building
• Workload and confidence in their role
• Long-term career aspirations

Many of these concerns can be addressed through thoughtful learning and development initiatives. Gallup has found that 52% of voluntarily departing employees believe their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving. Stay interviews help organizations identify those opportunities earlier, giving HR leaders the chance to respond before employees begin looking elsewhere.

Turn Stay Interview Feedback Into Learning Opportunities

Employees rarely say, "I need more training." Rather, they describe the challenges they're experiencing, the opportunities they're looking for, or the support they feel they're missing. The key is identifying the underlying development need and connecting it to a meaningful learning opportunity.

A skills gap analysis can help HR teams compare employees' current capabilities with future organizational needs while prioritizing development investments. Instead of addressing each stay interview in isolation, organizations can also look for recurring themes across conversations to identify broader workforce development priorities.

Equip Managers to Act on Employee Feedback

Managers often conduct stay interviews or receive the feedback that comes from them. They're also in the best position to reinforce learning after the conversation. However, managers need support.

HR can make follow-through easier by providing:

• Recommended learning paths tied to common development goals
• Suggested coaching questions for follow-up conversations
• Visibility into employee learning progress
• Resources managers can use to reinforce new skills

LinkedIn's Workplace Learning research also found that 56% of employees would spend more time learning if their manager directed them to complete a specific course to build their skills. When managers actively support employee development, learning becomes part of everyday work instead of a separate HR initiative. 

Look for Organizational Patterns

Stay interviews shouldn't only influence individual development plans. They should also help HR identify broader workforce trends.

For example, if several employees mention:

• Limited leadership opportunities
• Difficulty managing projects
• Challenges communicating across teams
• Uncertainty about career growth
• Inconsistent manager coaching

Those themes may indicate organization-wide development needs.

Looking for patterns allows HR teams to build learning strategies that address common skill gaps before they become larger retention or performance challenges. This is also an opportunity to evaluate whether current learning programs align with organizational priorities. Our article, 7 Questions Every Learning Leader Should Ask, offers additional guidance for evaluating learning effectiveness and workforce readiness.

Make Learning Part of Your Retention Strategy

Employees are more likely to remain engaged when they can see opportunities to learn, grow, and advance within the organization. The learning assigned after a stay interview should go beyond simply address today's challenges to help employees prepare for future responsibilities and career opportunities.

By connecting employee feedback to structured development plans, organizations can:

• Improve employee engagement
• Strengthen manager effectiveness
• Prepare future leaders
• Close critical skills gaps
• Support long-term retention

Taking action matters. Gallup research found that workgroups where employees believed action plans from previous feedback had a positive impact on their workplace experienced an average 10% increase in employee engagement. Employees are far more likely to continue sharing honest feedback when they see that it leads to meaningful change. 

How Lorman Can Help

Turning stay interview feedback into meaningful action requires more than good intentions. HR teams need an easy way to connect employee feedback with learning opportunities that support both individual growth and organizational goals.

Lorman's enterprise learning platform helps organizations do exactly that. With more than 1,700 role-specific courses across leadership, compliance, HR, finance, project management, safety, customer service, professional development, and industry-specific topics, HR teams can quickly assign targeted learning based on the themes emerging from stay interviews.

Whether employees are looking for stronger leadership skills, clearer career development opportunities, greater confidence in their current role, or preparation for future responsibilities, Lorman makes it easy to build structured learning paths that support those goals.

Combined with continuing education opportunities, progress tracking, and reporting, Lorman helps organizations create personalized development experiences that improve engagement, strengthen retention, and build a workforce prepared for what's next.

If you're looking to better connect employee feedback with workforce development, schedule a free L&D strategy session. We'll discuss your workforce development goals, explore how your current learning approach supports employee growth and retention, and show you how Lorman can help deliver role-specific learning at scale.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a stay interview?

A stay interview is a structured conversation with current employees designed to understand why they remain with the organization, what keeps them engaged, and what improvements could strengthen retention.

How are stay interviews different from exit interviews?

Exit interviews gather feedback after an employee has decided to leave. Stay interviews take place while employees are still engaged, giving organizations the opportunity to address concerns and improve the employee experience before retention becomes a challenge.

What should HR do after a stay interview?

HR should review common themes, identify development needs, and translate employee feedback into actionable learning plans. This may include assigning role-specific training, creating career development opportunities, supporting managers with coaching resources, or conducting a skills gap analysis to identify broader workforce needs.

How can learning improve employee retention?

Learning helps employees build new skills, prepare for future roles, and see a clear path for career growth. Employees who believe their organization invests in their development are significantly more likely to remain with the organization. 

How often should organizations conduct stay interviews?

Many organizations conduct stay interviews annually or as part of their regular performance and development cycle. Others schedule them at key milestones, such as after onboarding, following promotions, or during periods of organizational change. The most important factor is consistently acting on the feedback employees provide.