Onboarding Buddy Feedback Survey

It measures whether the buddy was available, provided practical guidance, and helped the new hire understand team norms and day-to-day work. It also covers confidence asking questions, belonging, psychological safety, program expectations, cadence, duration, and overall value. Low ratings prompt open-ended follow-ups so program owners can understand what needs to change.

Send it near the end of the planned buddy period, when the new hire has had enough interaction to assess the relationship. A follow-up pulse can be sent later if you want to measure whether the benefits lasted beyond initial onboarding. Keep the cadence tied to onboarding milestones rather than sending repeated surveys that create fatigue.

People operations, an onboarding program owner, or an HR business partner can distribute and review it. Share cohort-level themes with program leaders and buddy managers, while limiting access to raw comments to people who need it. If the organization is small, use an anonymity guarantee or suppress reporting for groups where responses could be identifiable.

Yes, anonymity should be the default for employee feedback, particularly when questions address belonging, psychological safety, or comfort raising concerns. Collect cohort or start-period context only when it supports useful analysis and cannot identify an individual. Make demographic questions optional and place them after the substantive questions if you add them.

A consistent Likert scale creates comparable signals across cohorts, while the attached follow-ups explain why a rating is low. The survey also separates buddy availability and practical support from integration, confidence, belonging, and program structure. Informal conversations can still provide context, but they should supplement rather than replace a repeatable feedback instrument.

Yes, adapt references to the length, meeting cadence, communication channels, and responsibilities defined by your program. Keep the core 5-point Likert format with clear anchors from Strongly disagree to Strongly agree so results remain comparable. Avoid leading wording and retain the open-ended questions that identify reasons behind detractor or passive responses.

You can pass a cohort or start-period field into reporting, provided the field does not undermine the anonymity guarantee. Integrations may also support reminders, response-rate monitoring, and cohort dashboards, but access should follow your employee-data permissions. Do not export identifiable comments broadly or combine small cohorts in a way that reveals respondents.

Review response rate, item-level distributions, and recurring comments by cohort before deciding on changes. Prioritize issues that affect manager effectiveness, psychological safety, practical access to information, or intent to stay. Close the loop by telling buddy coordinators and future cohorts which program changes were made.