Early-leaver risk check: twelve questions about someone new.
You have someone four to twelve weeks into a new job. Are they settling, or quietly reconsidering? Twelve questions about what you already know will show you where to look.
Answer twelve questions about a new starter; get a risk band and up to three actions. Nothing is stored.
How the check works
Each of the twelve statements scores 0 for yes, 1 for not sure and 2 for no, giving a total out of 24. 0 to 4 is lower risk, 5 to 10 shows some warning signs and 11 or more is higher risk. One answer overrides the score: if you say they do not see a future for themselves here, the result is always higher risk, because in our new-starter questionnaire anyone undecided or unhappy about a future with the organisation is classed as at risk. If half or more of your answers are “not sure”, the result says so.
The check then lists up to three actions. It takes the statements you answered “no” first, then those you answered “not sure”, and within each group follows the priority order in the table below. If every answer is yes, there are no actions to list.
Why these questions
They come from what new starters tell us in our OnBoarder questionnaires. New starters are mostly clear about their role, but the gaps cluster around how they will be judged and developed: across up to 15 organisations in our data, only 66% of new starters said they had agreed a development plan with their line manager, 77% understood how their performance is measured and 79% received regular feedback. 75% said the job was a close fit to what they expected. The full findings are in what new starters tell us in their first months.
A prompt, not a prediction. The scoring and bands are our own judgement, not a validated statistical model. The check cannot know what the new starter thinks; it tells you where your own knowledge is thin and what to talk about. The best next step, whatever the result, is to ask them.
| Priority | Statement | If the answer is No or Not sure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | As far as you know, they see a future for themselves here. | Have a stay conversation this week. Ask what they hoped for when they joined, what has matched and what has not, and what would make them want to build a career here. Listen first, then agree one thing you will do. Stay interviews sets out how. |
| 2 | You and they have agreed a development plan. | Agree a simple development plan: two or three things they want to get better at in their first year, how they will learn them, and when you will review it together. |
| 3 | They know how their performance will be measured. | Explain how their performance will be judged: what good looks like at six and twelve months, which measures matter, and when reviews happen. Put it in writing. |
| 4 | You give them specific feedback at least every couple of weeks. | Start a feedback rhythm. A short, specific comment on something they did, every week or two, does more than a long conversation at the first review. |
| 5 | The job has turned out close to what they expected when they accepted it. | Ask what is different from what they expected. If something was oversold during recruitment, acknowledge it, say what can change, and tell whoever recruits for the role. |
| 6 | You meet them one-to-one as often as they would find useful. | Book regular one-to-ones and protect them. We suggest weekly or fortnightly in the first months; ask them what would help. |
| 7 | The organisation has turned out close to what they expected. | Talk about how the organisation works in practice: how decisions get made, what is valued, where to go for what. Where it differs from what they were told, say so. |
| 8 | They can describe what they need to deliver in their first year. | Go through the role together and agree the three or four outcomes that matter most this year. |
| 9 | Their workload feels manageable to them at the moment. | Look at their workload together. Agree what matters most, what can wait, and what needs handing to someone else. |
| 10 | They have had the training they need to do the job well. | Find out what training is still outstanding and book it, or arrange for them to shadow someone who does the work well. |
| 11 | They have everything they need to do the job, such as equipment and system access. | Fix the basics now: access, equipment, passwords, and how routine things like expenses and ordering work. Small gaps here slow everything else down. |
| 12 | They are building good working relationships in the team. | Help them connect: a named colleague to go to with questions, work that brings them into contact with others, and an invitation to the meetings where they will meet people beyond the team. |
To hear from new starters directly rather than through their manager, see what to ask new starters, and when. If you are new to managing people yourself, your first 90 days as a new manager covers the same habits from the other side.
Based on the questions in great{with}talent’s OnBoarder new-starter questionnaire and our follow-up conversation guidance. To hear from every new starter directly, with benchmarks, see OnBoarder.
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