Template · Onboarding
New hire onboarding survey
In short
An onboarding survey asks new employees how their first weeks went: pre-boarding, day one, training, their manager, their team and whether the job matches what they were told. This template gives you ready onboarding survey questions for day 7, day 30 and day 90, on a consistent 1 to 5 scale, with open questions and guidance on reading the results.
New Hire Onboarding Survey template
New Hire Onboarding Survey
Thank you for taking about five minutes to tell us how your start has gone. Your answers are reported to HR in groups of five or more so individual responses are not shared with your manager. Rate each statement from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).
About you
- Survey point
- Day 7Day 30Day 90
- Department or site
- Work arrangement
- On siteHybridRemote
- Start month
Before you started (day 7 survey)
- I received clear information about my first day before I arrived.
- 12345
- Pre-start paperwork was easy to complete.
- 12345
- My equipment and logins worked on my first day.
- 12345
- My manager was available on my first day.
- 12345
- I felt welcomed by my team in my first week.
- 12345
- Orientation covered what I needed to know.
- 12345
Role and training (day 30 survey)
- I understand what is expected of me in my role.
- 12345
- The job matches what was described during hiring.
- 12345
- My training prepared me to do my job.
- 12345
- I have the tools and access I need.
- 12345
- My manager meets with me regularly.
- 12345
- I get useful feedback on my work.
- 12345
- I know who to ask when I am stuck.
- 12345
- My buddy or mentor has been helpful.
- 12345I do not have one
Fit and outlook (day 90 survey)
- I feel confident doing my job without close supervision.
- 12345
- I feel part of my team.
- 12345
- My schedule and workload are what I expected.
- 12345
- I can see how I could grow here.
- 12345
- I expect to be working here a year from now.
- 12345
- How likely are you to recommend working here to a friend? (0 to 10)
Open questions (every survey)
- What has been the best part of your start so far?
- What one thing should we change for the next person who starts in your role?
- Is there anything about the job that surprised you, good or bad?
- Is there anything you need right now that you do not have?
- May HR contact you about your answers?
- YesNo
- Name and email (optional, only if you answered yes)
How to use this template
- Pick the survey points you will use; most teams run day 7, day 30 and day 90, or day 30 and day 90 only.
- Load the matching block into your survey tool along with the About you and Open questions blocks.
- Schedule each survey to send automatically from the start date, by email or text, with one reminder two days later.
- Report results by cohort, site and manager only when there are at least five responses in a group.
- Read the open comments every month, not just the averages, and flag any urgent individual issues to HR.
- Share the top two findings and the fixes with managers and trainers, and track whether scores move in the next cohort.
Why survey new hires at all
Early turnover usually has a cause you could have fixed: a manager who never held a 1:1, training that did not match the job, a shift that was not what the recruiter described. Exit interviews find these problems after the person has left. An onboarding survey finds them while you can still act, and it shows which sites, classes or managers are struggling before the 90-day retention numbers do.
It also gives HR something concrete to bring to leadership. "New hires at the east site rate their training 2.6 out of 5, against 4.1 everywhere else" is a conversation that gets resources. Pair the survey with a structured new hire check-in form for the manager's own conversations; the survey hears what people will not say to their manager's face.
Choosing the right questions for each point
Ask about things while they are fresh. At day 7, new hires can tell you about pre-boarding, day one and orientation, but they cannot yet judge training or fit. At day 30, ask about role clarity, training, tools and the manager. At day 90, ask about confidence, belonging and intent to stay. That is why the template splits the scaled questions by survey point.
The single most useful item is "The job matches what was described during hiring." A low score there points straight back to recruiting: the job description, the interview or the realistic job preview. The second most useful is "My manager meets with me regularly," because it predicts so much else. Keep the scale the same across every survey so you can compare. Keep each survey under 15 questions; completion drops noticeably after about five minutes.
Confidentiality and anonymity
New hires are in the weakest position in the organization and they know it. If they think their manager will see their answers, they will rate everything 4 out of 5 and write nothing useful. Say in the intro exactly who sees what, and stick to it: report by group only when there are at least five responses, and never forward verbatim comments to a manager if they could identify the writer.
Offer an opt-in for follow-up, as the template does, so someone with a real problem can ask for help. If a comment describes harassment, discrimination or a safety issue, HR has to act on it even in an anonymous survey, so make sure your intro does not promise more confidentiality than you can keep.
Turning results into fixes
Look at three cuts every month: by survey point (which stage of onboarding is weakest), by site or department, and by manager where group sizes allow. Then pick one or two fixes, make them, and check the next cohort's scores. Teams that survey without acting usually see response rates fall below 30 percent within a year, because people stop believing it matters.
Match survey data with outcomes. If a training cohort with low day-30 scores also has high 60-day attrition, you have a strong case for changing the program. An onboarding reports view that combines completion, retention and survey scores by cohort makes that comparison quick. Our new hire onboarding checklist shows where each survey fits in the 90-day plan.
Surveying hourly and high-volume new hires
Hourly workers rarely check work email, so send the survey by text with a mobile-friendly link and keep it to 8 to 10 items. Send it during paid time where you can, for example in the last 10 minutes of a training day, and response rates climb sharply. For a contact center hiring a class of 30 every two weeks, that gives you a steady stream of comparable data by class and trainer.
For the invite itself, use our onboarding survey email template and adapt the short version for SMS. Mention how long the survey takes and one example of something you changed after the last round.
Frequently asked questions
What are good onboarding survey questions?
Questions about specific moments and conditions: whether day one information was clear, whether equipment worked, whether the job matches the description, whether training prepared them, how often the manager meets with them, and whether they expect to stay a year.
When should you send a new hire survey?
Common points are day 7, day 30 and day 90. Day 30 and day 90 are the most useful if you only run two. Send each on a fixed schedule from the start date so results are comparable.
What should I ask in a 30 day new hire check-in?
Ask whether expectations are clear, whether training matched the job, what tools or access are missing, how often they meet their manager, who they go to with questions, and what one thing should change for the next hire.
Should an onboarding feedback form be anonymous?
Report it confidentially by group, with a minimum group size of five, and offer an optional name field for anyone who wants follow-up. Fully anonymous surveys get more honest answers but make it hard to help individuals.
How many questions should an onboarding survey have?
Between 8 and 15, including two or three open questions. For hourly roles surveyed by text, stay closer to 8.