Is your onboarding working? Here’s how to find out

HR managers say one of the top three biggest challenges they face with onboarding is measuring its effectiveness. And we get it. Setting up a strong onboarding program is not easy, and here’s the truth: even the best-designed plan will always need adjustments over time. Onboarding is a continuous process of improvement, so don’t get discouraged if it’s not perfect from the start.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. With fast-changing technology and new generations of employees with different learning needs, organizations must keep adapting their onboarding strategies. Careful evaluation is the key to making those improvements.

In this article, we’ll look at why measuring onboarding is so important, which metrics you can use, and how you can make ongoing improvements.

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Why evaluating onboarding matters

The main reason to evaluate your onboarding program is simple: to make sure your organization isn’t wasting money, time, or effort.

A well-structured onboarding program helps companies retain top talent, build engagement early on, and get new hires productive faster. That leads to stronger ROI and happier employees. Without evaluation, though, it’s hard to know if you’re on the right track—or if new hires are quietly slipping away.

How to measure onboarding success

Organizations typically use a mix of quantitative (numbers, completion rates, retention data) and qualitative (feedback, surveys, interviews) metrics. The key question to ask is: what value is the company receiving from onboarding?

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Here are three of the most reliable ways to measure effectiveness:

1. Employee engagement

Are your new hires happy, motivated, and connected? Engagement is one of the earliest indicators of onboarding success. An engaged employee is more likely to stay, give their best effort, and advocate for your company.

You can measure engagement with:

• Regular check-ins with managers
• Feedback moments during the onboarding journey
• Surveys and pulse polls

For example, asking questions like “Do you feel welcome in your team?” or “Do you clearly understand how your role contributes to the organization’s goals?” can reveal how well the onboarding experience is landing.

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2. Performance and productivity

Onboarding is ultimately about preparing employees to do their jobs well. That’s why measuring time-to-productivity is so important.

Some practical ways to measure this include:

• Training completion rates
• The time it takes for new hires to reach key performance benchmarks
• Quality of work in the first 30–90 days

Low completion rates might suggest that training is too time-consuming or poorly communicated. On the other hand, high rates usually mean employees are motivated and find the content relevant.

Digital learning tools can make this much easier by tracking progress in real time, spotting bottlenecks, and adjusting the process quickly. For example, a retail chain could see whether store associates completed a new safety training before peak season, and address gaps immediately.

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3. Retention

Retention is one of the clearest signs of onboarding success. According to research, two out of three employees who leave in their first year do so within the first six months—and nearly 20% leave in the first 30 days. That’s a costly loss, especially considering the time and money invested in recruitment.

Tracking voluntary turnover during the first 90 days can help spot weaknesses in your onboarding. Was the training relevant? Did the culture match what was promised during hiring? If people are leaving early, those are the questions to dig into.

Don’t let resignations pass without learning from them. Conduct exit interviews to capture honest insights. Sometimes the feedback from one departing employee can be the key to preventing five more from leaving down the road.

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How digital tools can help

Measuring onboarding doesn’t have to be complicated. A digital employee experience platform like Oneteam makes it easier to:

• Collect feedback through surveys and polls
• Track training completion and progress
• Share onboarding content with your frontline workforce
• Monitor engagement and adapt quickly

Because everything is centralized in one app - communication, onboarding, eLearning, and surveys - you get a clear picture of how onboarding is performing and where to optimize.

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👉 Want to see how this works in practice? Watch the explainer video below or request a demo to learn how Oneteam can help you connect with and retain your frontline workforce.