New Hire Stay Interview Guide (First 90 Days)
A stay interview guide for a new hire’s first 90 days, with prompts to check fit, surface concerns early, and capture follow-up actions before small issues become turnover risks.
Trusted by frontline teams 15 years of frontline software AI customization in seconds
Built for: Saas · Healthcare · Retail · Professional Services
Overview
This template is a structured stay interview guide for a new hire’s first 90 days. It helps managers check fit, ask what is helping or hindering the employee, and record concrete follow-up actions before small issues turn into disengagement or turnover.
Use it when you want more than a casual “how’s it going” conversation. The guide is useful after onboarding, during role ramp-up, and anytime you need to compare the new hire’s expectations with the actual experience of the job, team, and manager support. It works well for 1:1s because it keeps the conversation anchored in context, discussion, decisions, and action items with owners and due dates.
Do not use it as a performance review, a disciplinary meeting, or a generic onboarding checklist. If the goal is to evaluate output against goals, use a review template instead. If the goal is only to confirm access and paperwork, use an onboarding tracker. This template is specifically for retention-focused check-ins that surface blockers early, clarify expectations, and document what will happen next. It is especially useful when the role is new, the team is changing, the hire is remote, or the manager wants a repeatable way to learn whether the employee is likely to stay and succeed.
Standards & compliance context
- Keep notes focused on job-related topics such as role clarity, support, workload, and onboarding experience rather than personal characteristics.
- If the conversation surfaces a medical, family, disability, or leave-related issue, route it through the appropriate HR process instead of documenting unnecessary detail here.
- Follow your company’s retention, privacy, and recordkeeping rules for storing manager notes and action items.
- If the template is used in a regulated environment, make sure any commitments or policy references align with internal HR and employment practices.
General regulatory context for orientation only — verify current requirements with counsel or the relevant agency before relying on this template for compliance.
How to use this template
- Set the meeting for a specific point in the first 90 days, such as 2 weeks, 30 days, or 60 days, and choose the version of the guide that matches the hire’s stage.
- Fill in the context section with the role, start date, manager name, and any known onboarding milestones so the conversation starts with shared facts.
- Use the agenda prompts to ask about expectations, support, workload, team fit, and anything that has been harder or easier than expected.
- Capture decisions, blockers, and action items during the conversation, and assign each action item to one owner with a clear due date.
- End by confirming the next time you will check back, what success looks like before then, and which follow-up items will be reviewed in the next 1:1.
Best practices
- Ask the same core questions across new hires so you can spot patterns in onboarding friction and manager support.
- Separate context from outcome so the notes show what happened, why it mattered, and what will change next.
- Write action items with a single owner and due date instead of leaving them as shared team responsibilities.
- Probe for specific examples when a new hire says something feels off, because vague discomfort often hides a concrete process or communication issue.
- Close the loop within the promised timeframe so the new hire sees that feedback leads to action.
- Use the guide in 1:1s rather than email so you can clarify misunderstandings in real time.
- Keep the tone candid but non-defensive, since the goal is to learn what would make the role sustainable.
What this template typically catches
Issues teams running this template most often surface in practice:
Common use cases
Frequently asked questions
When should I use this stay interview guide?
Use it during the first 90 days, especially after the first week, around the 30-day mark, and again near 60 or 90 days. It is designed to catch onboarding friction, role confusion, and manager support gaps while they are still easy to fix. If you only use it once, you will miss the pattern of how the new hire is settling in.
Who should run the stay interview?
The direct manager should usually run it because they can act on workload, priorities, and support issues quickly. In some organizations, HR or People Ops may facilitate the first conversation if the manager is new or if the role is sensitive. The key is that the person running it can own follow-up actions and close the loop.
Is this the same as a performance review or onboarding checklist?
No. A performance review evaluates outcomes, while this guide focuses on fit, context, and early experience. An onboarding checklist confirms tasks were completed; this template captures how the new hire is actually experiencing the role, team, and manager support. It is meant to surface blockers and action items, not just mark boxes complete.
What kinds of issues does this template help uncover?
It often surfaces unclear expectations, missing context, tool access problems, workload mismatch, weak cross-functional handoffs, and concerns about team culture or manager communication. It can also reveal whether the role matches what was discussed during hiring. Those findings are useful because they point to specific follow-up actions rather than vague sentiment.
How often should stay interviews happen in the first 90 days?
A practical cadence is one check-in at 2 to 3 weeks, another at 30 days, and a final one at 60 to 90 days. High-risk roles, remote hires, or fast-moving teams may need more frequent touchpoints. The template works best when the cadence is consistent enough to show whether concerns are improving.
What should I do if the new hire raises a blocker I cannot solve immediately?
Capture the blocker clearly, assign an owner, and set a due date for the follow-up even if the final answer is not ready yet. If the issue needs escalation, note who will take it next and when the new hire should expect an update. Leaving a concern unowned is one of the fastest ways to lose trust.
Can this template be customized for different roles or departments?
Yes. You can tailor the agenda items for engineering, sales, operations, support, or any other function by changing the role-specific prompts and examples. Keep the core structure intact so you still capture context, discussion, decisions, and action items with owners and due dates.
How does this fit with other onboarding tools or integrations?
This guide pairs well with onboarding checklists, 30-60-90 plans, HRIS notes, and task trackers. You can copy action items into your project management tool or link them to a follow-up workflow so nothing is lost after the meeting. The template is most useful when it becomes the source of truth for the conversation and next steps.
What is the biggest mistake managers make with stay interviews?
The most common mistake is treating the conversation like a casual chat and not recording concrete action items. Another pitfall is asking broad questions without following up on specifics, which produces polite answers but no useful signal. This template is built to turn the conversation into decisions, owners, and next time follow-up.
Related templates
Go deeper on the topic
-
Discover proven strategies to motivate retail employees—from recognition and communication to mobile-first training tools that drive engagement and reduce...
-
Healthcare employee engagement ideas to reduce burnout, boost retention, and improve patient outcomes in your health system.
-
10 strategies to reduce burnout among retail associates with smarter scheduling, training, and engagement tools that cut turnover and stress
-
Discover how a mobile-first employee app transforms retail staff training—streamlining onboarding, standardizing SOPs, and reaching every frontline worker.
Ready to use this template?
Get started with MangoApps and use New Hire Stay Interview Guide (First 90 Days) with your team — pricing built for small business.
