45 Employee Onboarding Survey Questions To Ask Your New Hires

If you are an HR manager in charge of employee onboarding, here is a small piece of advice for you. Don't make the mistake of overlooking the importance of onboarding surveys and their consequent onboarding survey questions.

Even if HR managers do end up using onboarding surveys, the effectiveness of those surveys depends on the onboarding survey questions. A perfect set of survey questions must be:

• Impactful enough to gather the right data
• Simple enough for the surveyors to understand, and
• Specific enough to ensure that employees don't end up misunderstanding the question

That is why we decided to highlight some onboarding survey questions that will give you impactful data on how to enhance your onboarding process. But first, let's go through what this article will be about.

What Is An Employee Onboarding Survey?

Employee onboarding surveys are a type of employee survey that companies use to evaluate the employee experience of their new hires during the onboarding process. Onboarding survey findings can be invaluable in assisting companies in fine-tuning their onboarding process and making it even more efficient for future employees.

Types Of Questions In Employee Surveys

When it comes to onboarding survey questions, there are three main approaches you can take with the questions. The type of answers you get is heavily influenced by the type of questions you ask, so it's critical to understand the fundamentals of those question types.

1. Open-Ended Employee Survey Questions

Open-ended questions require answers that are detailed and descriptive. Survey participants will need to devote time and effort to answering these questions.

2. Likert Scale-Based Survey Questions

Likert scale questions require participants to select an answer from a 1-5 scale. Generally, a score of 1 means "strongly disagree," and a score of 5 means "strongly agree." It could also be the other way around. It allows employees to answer questions with more than two answer options.

3. Binary Survey Questions

Participants are given two options when answering binary survey questions. The most common answers are "Yes" or "No." Because of the limited number of options, binary survey questions are also called "forced-choice questions."

45 Employee Onboarding Survey Questions To Improve Your Onboarding Program

As the workforce evolves, so do its needs and expectations. Thus, the onboarding process that worked well for the last decade may have become obsolete by now.

But, we understand that it's hard to gauge whether your onboarding program needs a few tweaks, a major re-design, or is good to go for another few years.

That is why here is a list of employee onboarding survey questions that are perfect for assessing the state of your company's current onboarding process.

Pre-Onboarding Survey Questions

Employee engagement starts even before the new employees' first day. Understanding the employee experience of your new hires when they originally applied for the job will help you find and fill in the gaps in your hiring process. After all, without a solid hiring strategy, your chances of attracting top talent are significantly reduced.

Open-Ended Questions

1. How did you come across our job ad?
2. How long did it take for our human resources team to reply to your application?
3. Which part of the recruitment process, in your opinion, deserves special recognition for making the candidates' life easier?
4. According to you, we can make what new improvements in our hiring process?
5. How do you think we can make the job application process more inclusive for our diverse applicants?

Likert Scale-Based Questions

1. I found the job application process easy to understand and go through.
2. I think that the job description closely matches the requirements of my current job role.
3. I got actionable feedback from the interview panel.
4. I'm satisfied with the interview panel that conducted my human resources round.
5. I'm happy with the interview panel that handled my technical round.

Binary Questions

1. Did you feel that the entire recruitment process was bias-free?
2. Was the job description clear and understandable?
3. Were you treated with respect throughout the recruitment process?
4. Were your questions constructively answered?
5. Are you satisfied with the recruiter who handled your hiring process?

Related: Want to get your onboarding process off to a great start? Check out these templates to make sure you write the perfect welcome letter to new employees in 2023.

Onboarding Survey Questions

If employee retention is one of your top priorities, begin working on it during the onboarding phase of the employee lifecycle. To determine how much of a difference the company's onboarding experience made in their work lives, here are a few questions to ask them:

Open-Ended Questions

1. How long did it take you to receive your onboarding package after receiving your job offer letter?
2. If you had to summarize your onboarding experience in 3 words, what would they be?
3. According to you, what is the ideal amount of time we should spend onboarding?
4. What new changes would you have liked to see in the employee onboarding handbook?
5. What improvements would you make in the onboarding program?

Likert Scale-Based Questions

1. I have a clear understanding of my job role and its expectations.
2. My mentor has been monumental in helping me adjust to my new job.
3. My team members have been helpful and accommodating during my onboarding.
4. I felt that the onboarding process could have been more effective if it had been shorter.
5. My first assignment helped me learn more about my job role and its expectations.

Binary Questions

1. Were you assigned a peer mentor during your onboarding program?
2. Do you think assigning a peer mentor to a new hire is a good idea?
3. Were you provided soft or hard copies of the company's employee handbook?
4. Were you offered a thorough explanation of what tools you need to use to fulfill your job expectations?
5. Were your doubts and queries addressed effectively during the onboarding process?

Post-Onboarding Survey Questions

Once the onboarding gets over, the feedback loop stops. But should it, really? After 2-3 months of onboarding, when a new employee feels like a part of the team and starts working on regular projects, it is critical to connect with the employee and ask some meaningful questions. Here are a couple of examples:

Open-Ended Questions

1. What's your preferred way of receiving feedback?
2. How would you describe your assigned mentor?
3. How would you prefer to be recognized for your work?
4. What can we do to help you in your learning curve?
5. How would you describe your communication style?

Likert Scale-Based Questions

1. I think that the tools I use are very easy for me to use.
2. I have received timely and meaningful feedback from my manager.
3. My manager recognizes and appreciates my efforts and contributions.
4. I have developed positive and respectful relationships with my colleagues.
5. I feel psychologically and physically safe in my work environment.

Binary Questions

1. Do you think the onboarding process reflects our company culture?
2. Would you prefer that a peer mentor takes over a new hire's onboarding process?
3. Have you experienced any kind of discrimination from anyone in your organization?
4. Do you believe the onboarding process helped you make an easier transition to a new job?
5. Do you feel that your new job responsibilities will help your future career path?

In Conclusion: Here's How Vantage Pulse Can Help

At Vantage Circle, we aim to offer simple yet effective solutions that will help corporates enhance their employee experience. Tracking, measuring, and highlighting the metrics that are influencing your company's engagement levels is one of the most critical issues we tackle with the help of Vantage Pulse, our employee survey tool.

Vantage Pulse is a powerful eNPS-based employee engagement survey tool that sends out timely surveys that employees can complete in 5 minutes or less. This ensures that your employees experience almost no survey fatigue and take the surveys seriously.

With Vantage Pulse, the human resources manager can examine trends, identify reasons for employee attrition, forecast behaviors, and ultimately improve employee retention. If you are interested to see how Vantage Pulse works, click here for a free demo with us.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.