It’s Friday afternoon—and your favorite team member’s last day before they move on to a new organization. You wanted to work through their final handoffs, but they’re in HR’s office. And in that meeting, for the first time in three years, someone asks them: “What made you decide to leave, and what could we have done differently?”

They answer, in full detail. They joined because the company’s careers page promised “development opportunities,” but they got turned down for every leadership program they asked to attend. They were told more than once that a promotion was coming. It never came. And they never got the chance to really push on either one, because their one-on-ones happened so rarely that there were 28 other things they needed to cover first.

An exit interview is often the most candid conversation someone has at work. But it happens when it’s too late to do anything about it—and usually not with the person who could have done something.

Gallup research backs this up. Of people who voluntarily left a job, 42% said their manager or organization could have done something to keep them. And 45% said that in their last three months, neither their manager nor any other leader took the initiative to talk with them about their job satisfaction, performance, or future.

That’s why some people, often in HR, recommend a “stay interview”: the same questions, but asked while the person still works there.

I love the idea. But I don’t love the name, and I’d bet your team won’t either.

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