Last year, our 82 questions your new hires wish you’d answer went down a storm. So here's the partner piece – 82 questions for you to ask new hires during onboarding.
Because onboarding doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s not a lecture; it’s a conversation.
Asking the right questions during onboarding gathers vital feedback, so you can make tweaks for the next new hire. It helps you understand how else you can empower new hires’ performance and cultural integration. And it surfaces any issues before they become engagement drains and turnover risk factors.
So, without further ado...
(OK, OK, you don’t have to ask all 82 questions. But this shows the scope of what you could ask and the areas you should cover. Tweak to fit.)
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After they accept the job |
Enable anonymity for more honest, constructive criticism. And ask open-ended questions, so you’re not (mis)leading answers.
| 1. | How did you find the application process? |
| 2. | What would you say about our recruiters? |
| 3. | How does our recruitment process compare to other businesses'? |
| 4. | How did you find the interview process? |
| 5. | What would you say about your interviewers? |
| 6. | How well did you feel we explained the role? |
| 7. | What did we do best? |
| 8. | What could we most improve? |
Plus they can help you understand what you’re doing right – and perhaps, wrong – with your employer brand. So you can double down on your strengths and improve any focus areas.
| 9. | How/where did you hear about us? |
| 10. | Why did you ultimately decide to join us? |
| 11. | What was most off-putting about us? |
| 12. | What was most exciting about us? |
Pre-start is also the best time to ask questions about new hires’ hopes and expectations for the coming months. You could then use that insight to personalize the onboarding experience. Or at the least, to sensitively manage their expectations if they’re unrealistic.
| 13. | What are you most excited about during your first three months? |
| 14. | What are you most nervous about during your first three months? |
| 15. | Is there anything you’d love us to know before you start? |
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After their first day |
Last year, we wrote our hugely popular piece on the 82 questions new hires wish you’d answer. First-day nerves featured heavily, so now’s the time to ask questions to check you’ve handled this hotspot effectively.
You don’t want to overload new hires with questions here, but asking how things went shows you care. And helps spot any weak points in your onboarding process so you can quickly take action.
Ask questions like:
| 16. | How did your first day go? |
| 17. | How prepared did you feel? |
| 18. | What else could we have done? |
| 19. | What did we do well? |
| 20. | What questions haven’t we answered? |
That last question is an excellent way to make sure you haven’t left your new hires hanging. Especially with questions they might be embarrassed to come right out and ask. Like… how holiday works, what happens if they get sick, or when they get paid, for example.
And if you’re using Talmundo to streamline your onboarding journey, our AI assistant can automatically direct them to the answer or escalate to someone who can help. So you nip unanswered questions in the bud.
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After their first week |
After their first week, your new hires will have formed a solid first impression of your business. A first impression that’ll be difficult to budge if it’s not a good one (that’s why you’ve been asking all these questions during onboarding so far, to help make the experience positive).
So now’s a great time to dig into those first impressions. New hires can hold a mirror up to your business, so you can see your strengths and weaknesses with unusual clarity.
| 21. | What’s your first impression of the business? |
| 22. | What’s your first impression of your team? |
| 23. | What’s your first impression of your role? |
| 24. | What’s your first impression of your manager? |
| 25. | What’s your first impression of your colleagues? |
Remember that 20% of staff turnover happens during the first 45-days – and mismatched expectations are the biggest cause. (Read more). Which makes this next question a biggie:
| 26. | How do your first impressions compare to your expectations? |
Now is also a good time to check you’ve delivered all the organizational stuff your new hires need to succeed.
| 27. | Do you feel you have everything you need? |
| 28. | What else could we provide, to help you better settle in? |
Or instead of asking open-ended questions here, you could format questions as a speedy checklist. Like:
| 29. | Have you been given: |
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That’s most relevant if you’re trying to manage all the moving parts involved in onboarding without an onboarding tool. If you’re using onboarding software, you can set workflows to automatically deliver all that stuff, so you are certain that new hires have what they need and when.
After a new hires’ first week is also a great time to check their initial training has been on point. With questions like:
| 30. | How confident are you using the systems you need in your role? |
| 31. | How confident are you with the processes you need in your role? |
| 32. | How would you describe the training you’ve had? |
| 33. | What do you need to know more about? |
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After their first month |
By now your new hires have started to settle down, integrate into the business and dig into their workload. So ask questions to check they’ve got everything they need to be maximally productive and engaged.
First, the social prong of onboarding. This aspect of onboarding is where you help new hires integrate into the business, build their cross-department network, make friends and start to feel they belong.
Read more: 10 team building exercises that aren’t cringey
It’s crucial to employees’ long-term happiness and success. During this phase of onboarding, ask questions like:
| 34. | How confident do you feel working with other teams? |
| 35. | How confident do you feel approaching leaders for support? |
| 36. | How confident are you that you’d know who to approach for help? |
| 37. | How included do you feel at work? |
| 38. | How accepted do you feel at work? |
| 39. | What else could we do, to help build an inclusive workplace? |
| 40. | How would you describe your relationship with colleagues? |
| 41. | How else could we help you build connections at work? |
Then the functional prong of onboarding – the absolutely crucial part where you empower new hires to add maximum value in their function.
Ask questions that seek feedback into your onboarding processes, plus questions that highlight possible training and skills gaps and check you’re doing enough on the career development front.
Read more: 8 secrets to grow your employees into successful manager
| 42. | How transparent is your career path? |
| 43. | How confident are you that you can access training you need to excel? |
| 44. | How would you describe the career development support you’ve had? |
| 45. | How would you describe the training you’ve had? |
| 46. | What else could we do to help develop your career? |
| 47. | What other training do you need to help you build relevant skills? |
Then ask questions geared towards understanding their on-the-job performance. To spot any early performance management issues, manager-employee fit issues or additional support needs.
First quarter performance sets the tone for new hires’ whole career at your business so it’s crucial you get this right.
| 48. | How relevant do your quarterly performance objectives feel? |
| 49. | How confident are you that you’ll achieve those objectives? |
| 50. | What else could we do to help you achieve those objectives? |
| 51. | Describe your relationship with your manager? |
| 52. | How confident are you that your manager has your back? |
| 53. | What else could your manager do to support you? |
| 54. | What challenges have you faced so far? |
| 55. | What could we do to help you overcome those challenges? |
During this stage of onboarding you could also ask questions that check new hires feel connected to purpose: a crucial marker of their long-term engagement.
| 56. | How fulfilling do you find your role? |
| 57. | How valued do you feel? |
| 58. | How meaningful is your work? |
| 59. | How well do our organizational values align with your own values? |
| 60. | What else could we do to help you feel your work is valuable? |
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After three months |
| 61. | How did you find our onboarding program? |
| 62. | What did we do best? |
| 63. | What could we do better? |
| 64. | What was missing? |
| 65. | What was overkill? |
| 66. | What do you wish you’d known when you started? |
Plus, you want employees’ feedback on their experiences during their first three months. Ask new hires questions like this to help surface performance issues, training gaps or engagement risk factors. So you can make changes before productivity and retention suffer.
| 67. | How have you found your first three months? |
| 68. | What’s been your best bit? |
| 69. | What’s been your worst bit? |
| 70. | What can we do to turn bad bits into good bits? |
And you could ask questions that help you better understand the anatomy of your workforce. You could even give recognition and rewards, if that ties into your culture.
| 71. | Who’s your closest work colleague? |
| 72. | What are their best qualities? |
| 73. | Who do you most admire in the business and why? |
| 74. | Who outside your team do you approach for help? |
| 75. | Who deserves special commendation and why? |
At the three-month mark, new hires should have a robust understanding of the role and your culture – one that goes beyond first impressions. So now’s a great time to check cultureboarding has gone well. (Read more: Cultureboarding – why you need to ride the wave)
Plus new hires’ unique perspective can fuel your marketing efforts. You never know who’ll come out with a gem about your business.
| 76. | How does the reality of the role compare to your expectations? |
| 77. | How does the reality of working here compare to your expectations? |
| 78. | What change would you love to see, about working here? |
| 79. | Describe our culture in a nutshell? |
And finally, if you’ve done everything right your new hires should be well on their way to becoming brand evangelists. Capitalize by asking for referrals and testimonials (testimonials which you could then ask them to post straight to review sites like Glassdoor – fantastic for your employer brand).
| 80. | Who’s the best engineer/writer/account manager you know? |
| 81. | Do you feel confident ‘selling’ our company to outsiders? |
| 82. | What would you say to other people considering joining us? |
And WOO! You’ve done it. You've successfully nurtured your newest hire through your onboarding program and they’re fast becoming an integrated, effective, and hyper-engaged employee.
But don’t stop there!
Employee development shouldn’t fall off a cliff but slope gently into your usual development processes. You should keep asking questions – not only during onboarding but at every checkpoint beyond. Learn how to excite and educate new hires and drive impressive ROI.
Ready to level up your onboarding?
Book a free, no-strings call with one of our onboarding consultants and see how future-proof, digital onboarding can transform your business.
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