Think of your most recent new hire. What did they have ready before their first morning?

Nothing — they arrived and we figured it out

A laptop and a desk, but accounts were set up on day two or later

Equipment and accounts ready, but no schedule for the first week

Equipment, accounts and a written first-week schedule, sent in advance

Between offer acceptance and day one, how often did someone from the team contact them?

Only HR admin and paperwork emails

Manager plus a future teammate reached out, with a personal message

On their first day, who was assigned to be with them for lunch and questions?

A named buddy who was told the day before

A named buddy with a short briefing and time blocked in their calendar

If you asked this new hire today to list their top three priorities for the first 90 days, what would happen?

They would not be able to list three

They would list tasks, but not outcomes

They would list priorities that only partly match mine

Their list would match mine, because we wrote it together

How did they learn what a good job looks like in the role?

They worked it out by watching others

I described it in a conversation

They got a job description and a list of goals

They saw real examples of good work and agreed on success measures in week one

When this person was unsure who owned a decision, what happened?

They guessed, and sometimes got it wrong

They asked around until someone answered

They asked me, and I answered each time

They had a decision-rights map or a clear list of who to ask for what

In their first two weeks, how many one-on-one conversations did they have with people outside their own team?

Three or four, arranged for them

Five or more, with a clear reason for each meeting

Think about the last time they were stuck on something. What did they do?

They stayed stuck for a while before telling anyone

They waited until our next scheduled meeting

They messaged me or their buddy the same day

They asked in a team channel without hesitating

How did the team mark this person joining?

An introduction at a team meeting

An introduction plus a short note about what they bring, and a first-week team moment

In the first 30 days, how many structured check-ins did you hold with them?

One, around the end of the month

Weekly, but mostly status updates

Weekly, with time set aside for their questions and my feedback

When did they receive their first piece of specific feedback on real work?

After 60 days or at the first review

In the first week, on a small piece of real work

Has anyone asked this person what the onboarding was like, and did you change anything afterwards?

We asked informally and changed nothing

We asked in a survey and noted the answers

We asked at 30 days, and changed something specific because of it

Which best describes you?

I manage people who joined recently

I'm an external consultant assessing a client

Is Your Onboarding Actually Working? The Onboarding Experience Scorecard

Is your onboarding actually working? This 3-minute onboarding scorecard looks at your most recent new hire and rates four areas: before day one, role clarity, connection & belonging, and ramp & feedback. You get one score out of 48, a radar chart, and the single gap to fix first.

For HR leaders, hiring managers, founders and onboarding consultants. Answer about one specific recent hire, not your average hire.

Using it with a team?

Ask every manager who onboarded someone this year to answer separately, before any discussion.
Have them type the same company or team name on the last page so results can be grouped.
Compare the spread between managers, not the average. The question with the biggest disagreement is the best conversation to start with.
Fix the lowest area first, then retake in 90 days.