Onboarding survey questions for new employees

A new starter notices gaps the rest of the team stopped seeing long ago, such as a missing login or a closing step nobody explained. A few written questions at the end of week one, at day 30 and at day 90 catch those gaps while they are still cheap to fix. Below is a question bank for a small team, grouped by timing and by topic, with notes on wording, privacy and acting on the answers.

The free employee feedback survey builder prints questions with answer boxes or downloads them for a form tool. Use this page to choose what goes on the sheet.

Three short check-ins instead of one long form

Plenty of templates offer 30 60 90 day survey questions on a single form. In a shop with a handful of staff, an onboarding feedback survey works better as three short sheets. Use the end of week one for practical problems, day 30 for training and role clarity, and day 90 for fit and the future. Day 60 can be a five-minute conversation on the shop floor. The University of Minnesota's conversation guide for new employees follows a similar arc and treats the third month as a time to clarify expectations and set goals.

Each sheet mixes statements people rate from strongly disagree to strongly agree with one or two open questions.

First week check-in questions

1. On my first day I knew where to go and who to ask.
2. I had the keys, logins and uniform I needed.
3. Someone showed me each task before I had to do it alone.
4. Open: What has been confusing so far?
5. Open: What do you wish you had been told before your first shift?

30 day check-in questions

1. I understand what is expected of me in my role.
2. I have had enough training to work my usual shift without help.
3. My manager makes time for my questions.
4. Open: Which task do you still feel unsure doing alone?
5. Open: What would you change about your first month?

90 day check-in questions

1. I know what good work looks like in my role.
2. My hours match the availability I gave.
3. I can see a next step for me here, such as training to open or close.
4. Open: What would make you want to stay another year?
5. Open: What should we change for the next person who starts?

New hire survey questions by topic

When a sheet needs a different question, swap one in from the topic that matters most for the role. Keep the core statements the same at each stage so you can compare one round with the next.

Rating or open questions

Rating statements are quick to answer and easy to compare across hires. Open questions tell you why a score is low. Pew Research Center's guide to writing survey questions recommends asking about one thing at a time and notes that open and closed versions of the same question can produce different answers. It adds that some respondents tend to agree with agree-disagree statements, a pattern called acquiescence bias. Pair every few statements with an open question, and split any statement joined by "and" into two.

Keep it short

• Six to eight questions per sheet, about five minutes to answer.
• Cut any question you would not act on.
• Hand the sheet out during a paid shift, not as homework.
• Repeat the same core statements at each stage.

Should employee surveys be anonymous?

For a survey of the whole staff, often yes. For a new hire in a small team, it rarely can be: if one person started this month, you know whose sheet it is. Penn State's assessment office separates anonymity from confidentiality. An anonymous survey collects nothing that identifies the person, while a confidential one knows who answered but does not disclose it. The same page warns that small groups and written comments can make it obvious who responded.

So be honest on the sheet. Call it confidential, name who reads it, and say that answers will not be repeated with a name attached. Where possible, have someone other than the direct manager collect it. If you hire several people in a season, combine their answers before sharing any pattern with the wider team.

How to act on employee survey results

Read each sheet within a week and talk it through with the new starter. Sort what you hear into three groups:

1. Fix now. A missing login, a broken scanner or a shift that clashes with their availability.
2. Fix for the next hire. A step to add to your employee onboarding checklist or to the printable list from the onboarding checklist builder.
3. Watch. A single low score that may change with time. Ask the same statement again at the next check-in.

Then close the loop. Tell the person what you changed, or why something will stay as it is.

This example is fictional. A garden center with seven staff hired two people in spring. At day 30, both rated the training statement low and wrote that they had never closed the till with someone beside them. The owner added two paired closing shifts for every new hire and told both starters. Two answers are not a trend, but they were enough to change the plan. If people still leave in their first months, the employee retention plan guide covers stay interviews and a 90-day review.

Where Headoffis fits

Headoffis does not send surveys or collect answers. Its Onboarding section turns a template into assigned tasks on the Work board, each due a set number of days from the start date. The starter template includes a first-week check-in for the coordinator, and you can add 30 and 90 day check-ins to a template so each one appears as a dated task.

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