Onboarding process survey questions
Use these sample onboarding process survey questions to get feedback from your employees and learn how you can improve the way you onboard new hires.
Why you should evaluate your onboarding process
Poor onboarding processes are among the most common reasons for why new hires leave. You may have set up procedures to welcome new employees, but you can’t be sure they’re effective unless you ask new hires about them.
Use onboarding process surveys to take the pulse of your new hire training. These surveys will help you:
- Revamp your onboarding: Identify what’s working and what could be improved, in order to give your new team members a warm welcome and walk them through their new roles.
- Address employees’ individual needs: Different employees require different types of training to help them adjust to their new roles, and this survey is an opportunity to discuss these needs.
- Retain employees: By uncovering issues your employees face on the job, you have the chance to resolve them with the right resources and guidance.
Sample onboarding process survey questions for new hires
- Who did you meet during your first day? Please list who welcomed you upon your arrival and any 1:1 and/or group meetings you participated in.
- What would have made your first day better?
- A detailed office tour
- More help with computer setup
- A team lunch
- Other: __________
- How would you rate your understanding of the expectations of your job?
- Clear
- Somewhat clear
- Not clear
- There was no clarity on job expectations
- Were you given all necessary resources to perform your job duties? (including hardware, software, stationery, guidelines)
- Yes, I was given everything I needed in advance.
- I was given most of the necessary resources.
- I was given some resources, but had to ask for the rest.
- I was barely given any resources.
- Please rate the following statement: “Training during my first [week/month] was helpful.”
- Strongly agree. After my training, I was well-prepared to take on all of my job duties.
- Agree. I understood most parts of my job.
- Disagree. My training was rushed or poorly executed and I didn’t learn anything about my new role
- Strongly disagree. I didn’t get any training or my training was irrelevant to my job.
- How would you rate the duration of your orientation process?
- Long. I could have taken on my tasks earlier.
- Short. I had many questions afterwards.
- Just about right. I was given enough time and guidance to settle into my new role.
- There was no orientation. I did not have any formal orientation process.
- What would you have liked us to share with you before your first day? Select as many as apply:
- Company policies
- Organizational chart
- Dress code
- Your team members’ names and roles
- Other: _______
- Please rate the following statement: “I understand how my job performance will be evaluated.”
- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Disagree
- Strongly disagree
- If a friend of yours was going to start working with us, what would you tell them to expect during their first day and week?
How to set up an onboarding process survey
New hires might feel uncomfortable talking about their manager and the hiring team during their first days at work. And forced answers won’t help you improve the onboarding process. To get genuine and unbiased feedback, make sure employees understand the purpose of the onboarding survey. It’s not about blaming anyone for wrongdoing; it’s about helping future new hires adjust well to their roles and the company.
Schedule one-on-ones with new employees, explain the process and then discuss the specifics of their onboarding experience. If you feel they might be holding back, consider using online survey tools, like Typeform and Google Forms to collect anonymous feedback. To guarantee anonymity, use these types of surveys when you’re onboarding a large group of new hires.
Here are a few tips to help you build effective onboarding process surveys:
- Build trust. Employees will share honest feedback if they feel confident you’re using it with care. Explain that you want both to make sure they have everything they need to perform their tasks and to improve your overall process for your next hires. Make sure to note that their answers will not be used against them.
- Don’t survey too late. If you wait for months until you ask employees about their onboarding experience, you may get vague answers, as it’s possible they have forgotten most details. Also, it’s in your company’s best interest to unearth potential issues before they escalate.
- Don’t survey too soon, either. Onboarding is not an one-day process. Give new hires the time to settle into their role and then ask for their feedback. That way, you’ll get valuable input and decide whether you need to take some action (for example, provide more training to your new hire.) Consider checking in with new employees after their first week, 30 and 60 days to get a complete understanding of their onboarding experience.
How to evaluate answers from onboarding process surveys
- Keep an eye out for frequently mentioned issues. For example, if you get negative feedback from employees of a specific department, you might want to train this department’s manager on how to properly onboard new team members. Or, consider rewriting your company policies if you often hear that they’re not clear enough.
- Focus on areas of improvement. New employees might hesitate to disclose things they didn’t enjoy about their onboarding, particularly if they have to share something negative about their manager or team. So, target your questions on how to improve your process. This way, you can understand if something malfunctions and figure out ways to make your new hires’ first days smoother.
- Follow up with employees. Make your onboarding process survey useful and show that you value employees’ opinions by reaching out, particularly to those who declared they had a less positive or an incomplete experience. Ask follow-up questions to learn what went wrong, make up for what they missed (for example, repeat a training session, if necessary) and thank them for their feedback.