Joining a company can be one of the most exciting yet scary experiences for an employee. Have you ever made any attempts to understand whether your company’s onboarding experience is an enjoyable one or is it something new joiners absolutely dread? If not, then this is the right time to give this idea some attention.

Companies that want to simplify their onboarding procedures and ensure their new hires fit in seamlessly should develop an innovative employee survey. These surveys aid in spotting potential issues and growth opportunities, leading to increased employee satisfaction, productivity, and retention.

In this article, we'll go through nineteen novel yet powerful employee onboarding survey questions in detail.

We've carefully handpicked 19 such questions to help you make every new joiner's onboarding a great experience, and help boost their engagement.

1. Onboarding procedures

Overall, how would you rate the effectiveness of your onboarding process? Feel free to offer suggestions for enhancements if you have any.

An employee's first impressions of the onboarding process can be gleaned from their answer to this question. By listening to customer feedback, companies may pinpoint improvement areas and draw attention to factors that contribute to a smooth onboarding procedure.

2. Job responsibilities

Do you feel that you have been given an accurate description of your job responsibilities and that they are a good fit for your skills and experience?

For employees to be motivated and productive in their jobs, it is important to create an environment in which their responsibilities and expectations are crystal clear. This inquiry checks how well the company kept the new hire informed during the onboarding procedure.

3. Materials and tools for new employee orientation

Were the company's rules, training, and onboarding resources user-friendly? Please let us know if you know of any other resources that would have been useful.

Employee morale and productivity increase when new recruits have access to useful onboarding tools and services. This inquiry seeks feedback on the availability and utility of current resources, and it promotes suggestions for improvement.

4. Describe your company's structure clearly

Do you have a firm grasp of the company's structure and how your role fits into it?

Understanding the company's hierarchy is crucial for new recruits to feel like they belong and can contribute to the team. The purpose of this investigation is to identify informational breakdowns concerning the company's structure.

Have you had enough conversations with your superiors and peers to establish trusting working relationships?

Good working relationships are crucial to both employee satisfaction and the long-term success of a firm. This inquiry assesses how well the onboarding process sets the stage for these preliminary communications.

6. When and how quickly will new employees be trained?

Do you feel that you had enough time for onboarding and that the process as a whole went smoothly?

It's important to find a happy medium between a comprehensive onboarding process and overwhelming new hires. The purpose of this question is to determine if the new hire is a suitable match for the onboarding process.

7. Mechanism for collecting onboarding feedback

Did you know you have to give feedback as part of the onboarding procedure? Did you find the feedback method to be helpful?

Promoting an environment where new recruits feel comfortable contributing supports openness and continuous progress. This inquiry evaluates the success of the onboarding feedback process.

8. Integrating corporate culture and values 

Do you feel that the values and culture of the organization were conveyed to you clearly throughout the onboarding process? Please elaborate if you can think of any concrete examples that really touched home for you.

New hires need to feel a part of the company's culture from the start if they are to identify with its values and remain invested in its success over the long term. This inquiry is useful for gauging the effectiveness of cultural orientation throughout the onboarding process.

9. Instruction and skill improvement

How much room did you feel you have to grow and learn during the onboarding process? Is there a skill you wish you had learned?

To explain, competent training increases employee assurance and productivity on the job. This investigation assesses the quality of the training received and the existence of any knowledge gaps.

What degree of customization did you experience during your onboarding process in light of your specific needs and goals?

Customizing the onboarding experience for each employee helps them feel valued and heard. This question evaluates how customized the new hire's orientation was.

11. Onboarding program for new employees

How much of a help was the onboarding buddy/mentor program in helping you adjust to your new job? Please provide feedback if you have suggestions for enhancing the program.

To simplify the onboarding process and lessen the learning curve, it may be beneficial to pair new employees with experienced colleagues as mentors or friends.  Here, we take a look at how well these efforts have gone so far and where they may use some tweaking.

12. Support and communication during the onboarding process

How did you feel about the help you received during the onboarding process? It's important to highlight any instances of helpful or poor communication and support.

New hires will have less stress and more positive experiences with appropriate onboarding communication. The effectiveness of help and communication networks is investigated.

13. Gamification and interactivity in new employee orientation

Have you found any of the onboarding activities you participated in to be fun or helpful? If you have any fresh ideas for making communication better, please share them.

Adding gamification and other interactive elements to the onboarding process may make it more engaging and enjoyable for the new hires. This inquiry encourages original responses and seeks commentary on the effectiveness of such elements.

14. Integrating into existing business procedures

How well do you feel like the company's onboarding process included you in its teams and daily operations? Otherwise, please elaborate on the challenges you faced.

The goal of the onboarding process is to ensure that new employees feel welcome and comfortable learning and using the organization's systems and protocols. This inquiry pinpoints places where integration should be strengthened.

Were concerns about work-life balance addressed adequately? Please discuss ways in which we might better balance our professional and personal lives.

Quickly addressing work-life balance concerns demonstrates the company's commitment to its workers. This questionnaire collects data on work-life balance onboarding criteria.

16. Evaluation of onboarding objectives 

When you look back on the onboarding process, do you feel that your goals and expectations were met?

With well-defined onboarding objectives, businesses can measure their progress and make informed modifications based on hard evidence. The purpose of this survey is to evaluate how well the stated onboarding goals have been met.

17. Initial thoughts on the company's culture

Tell me about your first impressions of the company's culture and whether or not they were met.

Understanding how recently hired employees feel about the company's culture may assist in identifying potential disconnects and pave the way for closer cooperation.

18. How does the onboarding process affect employee happiness?

If you're currently employed, what percentage of your happiness at work do you attribute to the recruiting process itself?

Examining how onboarding affects employees' happiness on the job might shed light on the success of the process in creating a positive work environment.

19. Suggestions and comments

Is your positive onboarding experience enough to make you want to tell others about this company? Please add any more thoughts you may have.

If new employees had a positive onboarding experience, how likely would they be to promote the business to others? The last inquiry asks for this specific piece of data as well as any further observations respondents may have.

Make your existing employees' experience even better with proven strategies that enhance their happiness.

Read more: 15 proven strategies to enhance employee happiness in the workplace.

Wrapping it all up

Establishing a comprehensive employee onboarding survey is crucial for organizations looking to constantly enhance their onboarding strategy. The article's 19 original questions go deeply into different aspects of the onboarding process, providing helpful advice for boosting employee engagement, simplifying the process, and ensuring the long-term success of the business and its new employees.

If you ever feel stuck or find it hard to get your head around the survey, give ThriveSparrow a call. We will help you decipher the survey and help you to better assess the thoughts of your employees.

ThriveSparrow is an employee success platform built for the unsung heroes of the workplace, like you. 🙂 Seamlessly choose from a bank of templates and schedule your survey within a few clicks. Remove boring and generic surveys and add a touch of fun and inspiration to the onboarding experience.

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1. What are the best practices to follow in an employee onboarding survey?

Here are some key practices you can consider following to conduct an effective onboarding survey:

1. Keep it concise: Long surveys can lead to boredom, fatigue, and reduced response rates. It is recommended to stick to essential questions that address your objectives.
2. Incorporate anonymity in your surveys: Anonymous surveys encourage employees to share their feelings honestly, even on sensitive topics.
3. Send surveys at the right time and regularly: Sending surveys at regular intervals ( such as first week, month, and after 90 days) helps you stay on top of their challenges and immediately act on feedback. This helps you take timely action and address any issues in a smooth and timely manner.
4. Include variety in the survey: Add a mix of open-ended, and Likert scale based questions to accurately determine your employee's sentiment and onboarding experience.
5. Use an employee feedback software: Consider utilizing employee feedback software or survey tools designed for onboarding surveys. These platforms often come with features that make survey creation, distribution, and analysis more efficient. They can also help you visualize data and generate actionable insights on employee engagement and performance.

2. What are the benefits of onboarding surveys?

1. Get accurate and insightful feedback: Onboarding surveys provide a platform for new employees to share their experiences, impressions, and concerns. This feedback from the survey can help organizations analyze that data, and identify areas of improvement and enhance their onboarding processes.
2. Reduced turnover: Organizations can discover the reasons employees leave during the onboarding surveys, that helps to make necessary adjustment and reduce turnover.
3. Culture alignment: Organizations can determine how well new hires are integrating with the company's culture and values. This information helps organizations ensure that cultural integration is effective.
4. Improved employee satisfaction: With regular analysis and action on employee feedback, organizations can address issues promptly thus leading to higher levels of contentment among new hires.
5. Continuous Improvement: Regularly conduction and analysis of employee feedback can enable organizations to continuously refine their onboarding processes. This commitment to improvement can make the onboarding experience better for new employees over time.