As your company grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with the hiring and onboarding process. You may notice that small problems go unresolved or that the process is inefficient. Over time, this can lead to low employee engagement and high employee turnover.
Recruitment and onboarding surveys are a valuable tool that can help companies collect feedback from new hires about their hiring experience, identify areas for improvement, and increase employee engagement and retention.
What Is an Onboarding Survey?
Onboarding surveys, run during the hiring and onboarding process, give companies a way to get feedback from new employees on their first impressions. These surveys usually include questions written specifically for new hires. Employees' onboarding experience can also be measured at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days.
This survey helps employers understand how they can improve their onboarding processes and create a positive experience for new hires.
Types of Recruitment and Onboarding Surveys
Recruitment / Candidate Experience Surveys
This survey is sent to job applicants during the recruitment process to evaluate their experience of it. It can help companies identify areas for improvement, refine their recruitment processes and attract better candidates in the future.
Pre-Onboarding Surveys
This survey is sent to new hires before their first day. It can help companies tailor their onboarding processes to meet new hires' individual needs.
Orientation Survey
This survey is sent to new hires at the end of their orientation. It can help companies identify the areas where they need to improve their orientation programs. It also helps new employees settle into their new work environment, integrate into the company culture and help that culture spread.
Post-Start Surveys
This survey is sent to new hires after they have worked at the company for about 90 days. It can help assess their overall onboarding experience and the long-term impact of the company's onboarding process.
Manager Feedback Surveys
These surveys collect feedback on managers' role in the onboarding process. They can help companies identify where managers can improve and provide insight into strengthening the manager–employee relationship.
How Do Onboarding Surveys Increase Employee Engagement?
Research shows that 20% of new hires leave within their first 45 days. Given what it costs to replace an employee, this is something companies should work hard to prevent.
Onboarding surveys help companies understand the onboarding process from the employee's point of view. By surfacing problems in the hiring process, they show how the process can be improved. Onboarding surveys can also help increase employee engagement and reduce employee turnover.
Onboarding surveys can improve employee engagement in several ways:
Surveys show that employee feedback is valued. By asking new hires for feedback through onboarding surveys, companies show that they value their employees' views and are committed to continuous improvement. This can help new hires feel more engaged with the company.
Identifying areas for improvement. Onboarding surveys can help companies identify the areas of the process that need improvement. By addressing these areas, companies can create a better onboarding experience for new hires, which can lead to greater engagement. In addition, onboarding surveys help new hires get more support with their job responsibilities and feel better about them, which can also contribute to greater engagement.
Improving communication. Onboarding surveys can help new hires communicate well with their colleagues and their mentor. By asking questions about the impact of mentoring and about communication, companies can make sure new hires get the support they need to feel engaged with the company.
Overall, onboarding surveys can help companies create a more positive and effective experience for new hires. This leads to higher retention, greater job satisfaction and more productive employees.
By showing that you care about your employees' onboarding experience and using their feedback to improve the process, you can create a workplace that attracts and retains the best talent.
You can find sample questions to ask at these stages in our article on employee experience survey questions. At the other end of the employee life cycle, to measure the experience of employees leaving the organization, take a look at our article on exit survey questions.
