The process of onboarding a new employee may only last a couple of weeks, but the impact can be huge. Research tells us that great onboarding experiences can improve employee retention by as much as 82% (1), and that employees who had them are 2.6 times more likely to report high levels of satisfaction (2). Unfortunately, great onboarding experiences appear to be few and far between. In one study, only 29% of new hires said they felt fully prepared and supported to excel in their role after their onboarding experience (2). So how do we optimise the onboarding process? The first step is conducting onboarding feedback surveys.

When you use the Surveys and Polls tool in Frankli, the platform does most of the hard work for you, including setting the questions, communicating the survey to your people, reminding them to participate and analysing the data. Using our survey templates, you can create, customise and roll out an employee onboarding survey in less than 30 seconds. 

Of course, with any survey, it’s crucial that you get the questions right. That’s why, today, we’re sharing 13 of the best employee onboarding survey questions to ask, featuring some questions from Frankli’s employee onboarding survey template.

But before we get into the template, we wanted to answer some frequently-asked questions about employee onboarding surveys.

Onboarding Feedback Surveys: FAQs

At what stage should we roll out an employee onboarding survey?

The timeline for an employee onboarding survey depends on the length of the onboarding process, which varies from team to team, but, as a general rule, we recommend rolling out an employee onboarding survey at the end of the employee’s third month. To build a really well-rounded picture of their onboarding experience, you can run the survey multiple times, for example, at the end of their first, third and sixth months.

‍How long should an employee onboarding survey be?

We advise keeping your employee onboarding survey to 10 or 15 questions. 12 or 13 is the sweet spot for most teams.

‍What form should the questions take in an employee onboarding survey? 

Most of the questions in our template are designed to be answered using the Likert Scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree). This provides the added bonus of communicating some of the company’s core values to the recipient. We’ve also included one open question to help you capture more detailed feedback. 

What questions should I ask in an employee onboarding survey?

Simply put, your questions should be based on the feedback you'd like to capture. Depending on whether you’re combining the onboarding survey with other engagement rituals like regular 1:1 meetings and digital feedback channels, you may be looking to understand the following;

• How the employee feels about the onboarding process
• How the employee feels about the company
• If the employee has a good understanding of their role 
• If the employee has everything they need to excel in their role
• If further training is required 
• If the employee encountered any issues during the onboarding process 

By including some of our sample employee engagement questions, you can also use the results of your onboarding survey to measure employee engagement over time.

‍What are the ideal results of an employee onboarding survey?

For all of the questions we’ve provided, you want the average score to be Agree or Strongly Agree. Depending on the nature of the question, you ideally want to see between 60 and 80% agreement from your people.

‍Our employee onboarding survey is complete. What’s next? 

Your next step is to analyse the results of the survey (in Frankli, we do this part for you), and identify areas where improvements can be made.

13 of the Best Employee Onboarding Survey Questions to Ask:

1. The leaders at (Company X) have communicated a vision that motivates me.

2. The leaders at (Company X) demonstrate that people are important to the company's success.

3. I feel I am part of a team.

4. I have access to the things I need to do my job well.

5. Our physical workspace is enjoyable to work in.

6. Most of the systems and processes here support us in getting our work done effectively.

7. I know how my work contributes to the goals of (Company X).

8. I know what I need to do to be successful in my role.

9. I feel like I have a responsibility in helping (Company X) achieve its aims.

10. I am confident using the systems I need in my role.

11. The information I was provided during my first weeks has proved valuable.

12. I feel welcome at (Company X).

13. What is one thing we could have done differently to improve your onboarding experience?

‍It takes less than 30 seconds to create and publish an employee onboarding survey through Frankli. Get started today.

1. The 2021 Candidate Experience (CandE) Global Research Reports. 2. Gallup, 8 Practical Tips for Leaders for a Better Onboarding Process.

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