An onboarding survey asks new hires, at set points in their first months, what is working and what is not, so you can fix the start before it turns into early turnover.
| When | Focus | Example question |
|---|---|---|
| Day 7 | Basics and belonging | Do you know who to ask about your schedule? |
| Day 30 | Job match and training | Is the job what you expected when you accepted the offer? |
| Day 90 | Future and manager | Can you see yourself here in a year? What would change your answer? |
Keep each round to 5 to 8 questions with one open text box. More question ideas are in onboarding survey questions.
EZTime digital HR forms let you send, sign and file employee documents online.
A retailer hires 30 seasonal associates across 3 stores. The day 7 survey goes to all 30 through the team app, and 26 answer. 11 of the 26 say they do not know who to ask about schedule changes, and 9 of those 11 work at the same store.
That store had no assigned onboarding buddy and its manager was on leave the first week. The district manager assigns a buddy to each new hire there and posts the schedule contact in the store’s feed. At day 30, the same question at that store drops from 9 to 2 people unsure.
Without the survey, the first sign would have been seasonal associates not showing up for shifts they did not know about.
An onboarding survey only helps people who are still there. Set a rule that every answer flagging a risk, such as not knowing who to ask or a job different from what was described, gets a response within 5 working days. That response can be a buddy assignment, a call from the hiring manager or a change to the next week’s schedule.
Track the share of flagged answers that got a response in time, by location. It shows where the process works and where surveys are being sent but not read. Over a few months, compare 90-day retention for new hires whose flags were handled with those whose flags were not.
A home care agency asks every new caregiver at day 30: “Is the job what you expected when you accepted the offer?” Of 24 new hires in a quarter, 7 answer no. 5 of the 7 mention travel time between clients that the interview never covered.
The agency adds a realistic description of travel between visits to its job ad and interview, and schedulers group each new caregiver’s visits by area during their first month. The next quarter, 2 of 21 answer no at day 30.
Common points are after the first week, the first month and around 90 days, each with a different focus.
With small groups, true anonymity is hard. Many teams use confidential surveys that HR reads, and report results only for groups of several people. See anonymous employee surveys.
5 to 8 per round, with one open question. Short surveys get more answers from hourly staff.
Fix the specific gaps quickly, compare groups, and tell new hires what changed.
Within about 5 working days, while the new hire is still deciding whether to stay. A buddy, a call from the hiring manager or a schedule change all count as a response.
The share of flagged answers that got a response in time, by location, and later the 90-day retention of new hires whose flags were handled compared with those whose flags were not.
Send digital HR forms for e-signature before day one, and keep every signed document in the employee’s digital file.