Onboarding
How to gather onboarding feedback in the first 30 days.
Ask new hires about a recent experience at three points in the first month. Learn whether they could start, what happened on their first independent task and which obstacle continued after they knew their way around.
- First week
- Check access, introductions and how the new hire found help.
- Around week two
- Reconstruct a real first task and compare the accounts of the new hire and the supporting colleague.
- Around day 30
- Identify one recurring obstacle and assign the next onboarding change to an owner.
First week. Find what made it possible to start
Ask, “What was the first thing you were expected to do, and what did you need to do it?” Follow with, “What did you have to ask for? How did you find the person who could help?” The answer may point to missing access, instructions that arrived late or an introduction that made everything easier.
Send requests for urgent equipment, safety or access issues to the team that can resolve them. You can use a separate onboarding conversation to understand why similar issues recur. Make those routes clear to the new hire at the start.
Around week two. Reconstruct the first independent task
Choose one task the new hire was expected to attempt independently. Ask which step they understood, when they needed a check and what helped them move on. A fictional example is a new team member preparing an order for collection. They knew how to pick it but could not find the process for a customer who was running late.
Ask the buddy or supervisor what they expected the starter to do and where they thought the instruction was available. Compare the accounts before deciding whether to change the instructions, permissions, training or the timing of the task. If the same step worked well for another starter, ask what that person saw.
Around day 30. Compare what changed and what remained
Ask, “Which part of the work do you handle independently now? Which part still sends you looking for help?” Ask for the most recent example. Capture one improvement to keep and one recurring obstacle to investigate. For work with a longer ramp-up period, adjust the timing and choose a milestone that makes sense for the role.
Review what your team might infer from the answers. The number of people mentioning a blocker in a small cohort describes those responses. Set out who was invited and whose experience you did not hear. Protect individual details, especially if the reader can identify the only starter in a role.
Assign one change to the next intake
Write the change in the language of the task. For example, “Before the first collection shift, the buddy will show the new hire where to find the late-customer instruction and check that they can access it.” Ask the next group what happened when they tried the process. Keep the owning role and review date with the onboarding material.
CIPD’s induction guidance treats induction as a way to welcome people, help them settle and give them the information and support they need to perform. Feedback gathered at real milestones helps the owning team see which parts of its induction support the work in practice.
Frequently asked questions
Questions that come up
Should new starters answer the same questions?
Keep one or two comparable questions about access and support. Add prompts about a task they have actually attempted, since expectations differ between roles.
What if a new hire is uncomfortable sharing feedback with their manager?
Explain who receives each response. Offer an existing route where they can raise feedback or a sensitive matter with the appropriate person.
What should I report when there is only one starter?
Avoid implying anonymity. Agree the right audience and level of detail, and share process changes at a level that respects what the starter was told.
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