Best employee survey questions: best questions for employee onboarding that drive honest employee feedback

The best employee survey questions for onboarding help you understand how new hires are settling in and what support they need to succeed. Collecting feedback early lets us pinpoint onboarding gaps and boost retention before small issues snowball.

This guide covers the most effective questions for employee onboarding surveys—from those first-day check-ins to deeper 30-day reviews—so you get actionable feedback when it matters most.

Day 3 check-in: catching confusion before it grows

The day 3 check-in is our first critical touchpoint. Impressions are still fresh, anxiety or confusion can surface, and it’s the perfect moment to show new hires we want honest feedback—not just after the honeymoon phase.

• What’s the one thing you’re still unsure about in your new role?
  This cuts through small talk and gets straight to the root of early confusion. Often, new hires hesitate to admit when they’re lost. Directly asking surfaces support needs we’d otherwise miss.

• Has anything surprised you—good or bad—so far?
  Early surprises reveal gaps between expectations and reality. This helps us spot broken promises, unexpected workflows, or pleasant surprises that can be reinforced.

• Do you feel comfortable asking questions, and do you know who to turn to when you need help?
  This shows us whether cultural and resource cues are clear—are teammates welcoming, or does it feel like everyone’s too busy?

• Is there any tool, training, or piece of information you wish you had today?
  Missing a key document or login early can throw off the entire onboarding flow.

With automatic AI follow-up questions, we can probe deeper whenever someone flags confusion. Imagine the AI jumping in:

When an employee mentions feeling unclear about their role, ask specific follow-up questions about: which responsibilities are confusing, what resources they need, and who they think could help clarify expectations

This makes the feedback richer, leading to faster, more personalized fixes. Sharing surveys by QR code during orientation gets immediate responses—no lost links or excuses.

And the data backs this up: Only 39% of employees find the onboarding process clear, while 32% find it confusing, and 22% find it disorganized. Catching confusion at day 3 is essential if we want new hires to stick around and thrive. [1]

30-day surveys: measuring onboarding effectiveness

By day 30, it’s time for a broader review of the onboarding experience. We’re not just solving for first impressions—we want to see if new hires are productive, integrated, and feeling supported.

• On a scale of 1-10, how clear are you about your role and responsibilities?
  Helps track whether job descriptions and training have matched the real work and if role confusion persists.

• How would you describe your integration with your team?
  Are they collaborating, invited to meetings, and included in decision-making? Social and team belonging matter for long-term retention.

• Have you had the resources and training you need to do your job well?
  If not, dive into what’s missing: access to mentors, job aids, or hands-on experience?

• Do you feel supported by your manager during this transition?
  We want to know if managers check in regularly or if new hires feel left to sink or swim.

• What’s one thing we could improve about our onboarding process?
  Invites constructive ideas, showing new team members their insights matter.

Compare the types of questions you can ask:

If a hire rates their onboarding below 7/10, AI-driven follow-ups can guide us:

If employee rates onboarding experience below 7/10, explore specific areas for improvement: Was it the training content? The pace? The support from their manager? What would have made it better?

Localization matters too. Specific’s multilingual support means global teams and international hires can always answer in their preferred language—no lost nuance, no awkward translation.

And the impact is measurable: 89% of employees report that effective onboarding boosts their engagement, while organizations with strong onboarding see retention jump by up to 82%. [1]

Why traditional surveys miss critical feedback

Here’s what traditional survey forms get wrong: a rigid form can’t dig into why a new hire feels lost, overwhelmed, or unappreciated. They only capture what’s asked, not the story behind each answer.

Low response rates. Traditional surveys feel like another task on an already overwhelming to-do list. Response rates plummet, and we mostly hear from the extremes—the delighted or the dissatisfied.

Surface-level answers. Without follow-ups, you get lots of “fine” or “it was okay.” That’s not actionable. We need probing, context-rich answers to learn what to fix for the next new hire.

Language barriers. International hires may struggle to express complex feelings in a second language or avoid giving feedback altogether. That silence is costly.

This is where conversational, AI-powered surveys transform feedback. With Conversational Survey Pages, feedback feels like a friendly check-in. AI can follow up naturally when someone hints at trouble, while built-in translation means everyone’s voice is heard.

And it works: AI-powered chatbots conducting conversational surveys with open-ended questions drive a significantly higher level of participant engagement and elicit better quality responses. [2]

Making onboarding surveys work in practice

Great onboarding surveys aren’t just about what you ask—they’re about when and how you ask. Automation is your secret weapon. Schedule day 3 and day 30 touchpoints to ensure every new hire has a voice, without manual follow-up.

Here’s how I like to deliver onboarding surveys:

• Email links—reliable, but sometimes lost in clutter.

• QR codes—print and place them at desks or in welcome kits for instant access.

• Slack messages—meet people where they work for higher response rates.

The AI survey editor makes it easy to adapt your questions for different roles—describe changes in plain English, and the AI tunes your survey for sales, engineering, or frontline workers.

Keep it short: aim for surveys under five minutes. The tone should be welcoming, never like a performance review. Set the expectation that the survey is for their benefit—to ensure they feel supported.

Remember, 72% of companies now use digital onboarding tools, and digital checklists alone can cut onboarding time by 30%. Don’t let clunky delivery hold you back. [3]

Turning feedback into better onboarding

Gathering feedback is just step one. What matters is using it to create a smoother journey for the next hire.

Start by looking for patterns—where do new hires struggle most? When does confusion, stress, or disengagement tend to spike?

What are the top 3 areas where new employees feel most confused during their first week?

Compare feedback from remote vs. in-office new hires - what are the key differences in their onboarding experience?

You can dig deep into your survey results with AI-powered survey response analysis—think of it like chatting with an onboarding expert who’s read through all the feedback. This helps surface blind spots and new ideas, fast.

Once patterns emerge, build an action plan. Maybe it’s revamping your welcome guide, pairing each new hire with a peer mentor, or re-training managers on how to run a check-in. The goal: a smoother, higher-retention onboarding flow with every new cohort.

65% of HR professionals believe that using AI in onboarding will positively impact employee retention. [2]

Start improving your onboarding today

Better onboarding means happier, more engaged teams—and retention that compounds over time. Start building a stronger workplace with every new hire: create your own survey that gets real results.