When should you send an onboarding survey?

At the end of the first week, at 30 days and at 90 days. The first catches practical problems, the second shows whether the job matches the offer, and the third shows whether the person is settled and would join again.

How many questions should a new hire survey have?

Eight to twelve. A new hire is already absorbing a lot, so the survey should take about three minutes. Keep the rated statements the same at each point and vary only the open questions if you need to.

Should an onboarding survey be anonymous?

Usually not, because the purpose is to fix problems for that one person. Make it confidential instead: the people team reads the answers, acts on practical gaps and shares only themes with the manager.

What do you do with onboarding survey results?

Fix individual gaps the same week. Then, each quarter, read the results for everyone who started in that period, find the statement that scores lowest and change the part of onboarding behind it.

New Hire Onboarding Survey Template (Free)

Last updated October 14, 2026

An onboarding survey shows how a new hire's start is going.

An onboarding survey is a short questionnaire sent to new hires in their first weeks and months. It checks the things that decide whether a start goes well: whether the job matches the offer, whether the tools were ready, and whether the manager and the team made time.

New-hire retention, the share of a hiring group still employed after a set milestone, is the fastest feedback you have on hiring and onboarding. This survey tells you why that number moves while the new hire is still there to be helped. Send the same eight statements at the end of week one, at day 30 and at day 90.

Here is how to use the new hire onboarding survey template in five steps.

How to use it

1Send it at three points
2Send it from the people team
3Act on single answers
4Read the answers by hiring group
5Feed it back to hiring

Send it at three points. Use the same survey at the end of week one, at day 30 and at day 90, so you can see each person's answers change.
Send it from the people team. A new hire is more open with someone who is not their manager. Say who reads the answers.
Act on single answers. Unlike other surveys, this one is about one person. If someone reports missing access or no time with their manager, fix it that week.
Read the answers by hiring group. Every quarter, read the surveys from everyone who started in that period together.
Feed it back to hiring. If the job keeps failing to match what was described, change the job description and the interview.

Here is a worked example with invented names.

Take an invented company, Pellamoor Insurance, which hires eight claims handlers in one quarter. All eight fill in the survey at day 30.

The statement the job matches what was described averages 4.3 out of 5. The statement my equipment and access were ready on day one averages 2.4, and six of the eight write that access to the claims system took more than a week.

Worked example

Pellamoor Insurance, an invented company: one hiring group at day 30

Hiring group8 claims handlers who started in one quarter
Survey pointDay 30
The job matches what was described4.3 out of 5
My equipment and access were ready on day one2.4
What was missingAccess to the claims system took more than a week, said 6 of 8

The fix

System access is requested the day an offer is signed. The next group rates the same statement 4.5

The hiring was sound and the setup was not. Pellamoor now requests system access on the day an offer is signed. The next hiring group rates the same statement 4.5.

These mistakes spoil an onboarding survey.

Sending it once, at day 90, when the early problems are long past fixing.
Having the manager collect the answers about their own onboarding.
Waiting for the quarterly review to deal with a new hire who has no laptop.
Asking only about paperwork and logistics, and nothing about the job or the manager.
Never telling hiring managers what the surveys say about the job description.

People ask these questions about onboarding surveys.

An onboarding survey is a short set of questions sent to new employees during their first three months. It asks whether the start was organized, whether the job is what they expected and whether they have the people and tools they need.

These glossary terms explain the ideas behind it.

New-hire retention
New-hire retention is the share of a hiring cohort still employed after a set milestone, commonly ninety days, six months or one year.
New-hire turnover
New-hire turnover is the share of a hiring cohort that leaves within a set early window, usually the first ninety days or the first year.
Cost of a bad hire
The cost of a bad hire is what a hire who does not work out costs you in total, from sourcing and onboarding through lost productivity, manager time, exit and re-hiring.
Employee engagement
Employee engagement is how committed and involved people are in their work and their company, beyond simply doing the tasks assigned to them.
Cohort analysis
Cohort analysis groups employees by a shared starting point, such as hire month, level or location, and follows each group over time.

These pages on this site go deeper.

These templates pair well with this one.

30-60-90 day check-in template
Three questions and a status at day 30, day 60 and day 90, plus a goals table.
New hire onboarding checklist
Five stages and 22 items for the manager, from before day one to day 90.
Pulse survey template
Five rated statements, one open question and a slot to swap each round.

Work out your own retention rate.

Enter your starting headcount, how many of those people left, and the people you hired during the period, and the free calculator works out the retention rate.

Calculate your retention rate

Free, no signup required.

Back to the HR templates, where all 22 are listed.