Giving Feedback to New Employees: 56 Examples

Lots of teams have a process in place for gathering feedback from new hires, whether it be through 1:1 meetings or onboarding surveys. But it's just as important to provide feedback in an employee's first weeks and months in the role. If we neglect feedback for new employees until it's time for a formal review, we miss the opportunity to have a positive real-time impact on their performance and to reinforce a culture of feedback. Research supports this - 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week (1).

With that in mind, we wanted to share our favourite examples of feedback for new employees, which can be used by both managers and peers. We highly recommend you grab our free download, so you can scan through it anytime new people join the team, and use our samples as a handy feedback template. We'd also love you to [take a look around the Feedback space in Frankli to see how we're making giving, receiving and requesting feedback more efficient for 100s of teams worldwide.

Looking for a different type of feedback template? Get in touch to let us know via LinkedIn.

Giving Praise in Frankli

Giving Feedback to New Employees: 56 Examples

Positive Feedback for New Employees

1. “Your contribution to the team over the past few (weeks) has been invaluable.”

2. “I want to congratulate you on meeting your onboarding goals.”

3. “You’ve made terrific progress in your first (2 months) in the role.”

4. “I never doubted that you would excel in this role, but you’ve exceeded my expectations.”

5. “I really value your (dedication and creativity).”

6. "Your work is already having a positive impact on our team and company goals."

7. “Your addition to the team has resulted in a boost in (sales).

8. “I really admire your commitment to learning.”

9. “Your willingness to learn has really paid off this (month).”

10. “I know I speak for the whole team when I say that your work on (Project X) has been brilliant.”

11. “I appreciate your bravery in taking risks with (Project X).”

12. “You showed great initiative on (Project X).”

13. “I really appreciate your (flexible) approach.”

14. “I hugely appreciate all of the (energy and enthusiasm) you bring to your work.”

15. “I really admire how focussed and results-oriented you are.”

16. “You're an excellent communicator and listener.”

17. “I really appreciate the positive attitude you bring to work every day.”

18. “Our team is all the richer for having you on it.”

19. “Your energy and enthusiasm is infectious - it makes us all want to work harder and do better.”

20. “Your work has been of great benefit to the team.”

21. “It’s a pleasure having you on our team.”

22. “Hiring you was one of the best decisions we’ve made.”

23. “It’s no exaggeration to say that you’re a huge asset to our team.”

24. “Having you on our team has been a game-changer for (Company X).”

25. “We’re grateful to have such a talented individual on our team.”

26. “I'm truly impressed with how you tackle challenges, head-on.”

27. “I know you were thrown in at the deep end with (Project X), but I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.”

28. “I was thrilled to watch you overcome multiple challenges in your first (6 months).”

29. “I really appreciated how thorough your report was, and I know the client did too.”

30. “Our customers can’t say enough good things about you, and that really speaks to your customer service skills.”

31. “I can’t wait to watch you grow and develop these skills even further.”

32. “I can’t wait to see where your creativity and passion takes you next.”

33. “I’m looking forward to working with you for many years to come.”

34. “I think you have a long and fruitful career ahead of you at (Company X).”

Constructive Feedback for New Employees

35. "I appreciate how thorough your work is, but I'd love to see you increase your output."

36. “I would love to see you spend even more time on (sales outreach) in the coming months.”

37. “I’m noticing some issues around (time management). Can we arrange a session to talk through a couple of solutions?”

38. “I’d prefer if you (shared less detail with the team in Daily Stand Up). I find it most useful when (you give a brief summary). I really like (the format you use for Weekly Stand Up), could we try something like that?”

39. “I’d like to see you contribute more in conversations and meetings.”

40. “Are you interested in improving your (presentation) skills? I think it would really contribute to your career development.“

41. “I’ve noticed a few small details that were missed during (Project X), which set the whole team back. I’d suggest (a checklist of all the deliverables) to avoid this in future.”

42. “I've noticed that you’re asking (the Development team) for help on a daily basis. I’d like to see you invest more time in problem solving before you bring them in.”

43. “I’ve noticed that you’re working longer hours than some of your teammates. I really appreciate your dedication, but I want you to have a healthy work-life balance too. I’d love to make a plan for rebalancing your workload.”

44. “I really appreciate you providing me with information on why the deadline was missed. In future, I’d like you to highlight these issues sooner, so we can request help from other departments.”

45. “I really believe in your (communication skills), but I’m not seeing them in practice. I’d love to see you focus more on this (next month).”

46. “I love how independent you are, but I think the whole team could benefit if you asked for help more frequently.”

47. “I’ve been really impressed with your work on (Project X), and I think I’ve found a way to improve results even further.”

48. “I know you’re finding (data analysis) a challenge at the moment. Can I suggest a way to make your work on this more efficient?”

49. “It was really useful when you (helped with researching the new product feature) recently. Do you think you could continue to do this on a regular basis?”

50. “Can I offer some feedback? I think you might get better results if you tried (running a survey before conducting your research).”

51. “I noticed you’re having some challenges with (payroll management). I’ve come up against some of the same issues myself. Can I share a few things that worked for me?”

52. “I know how busy you are, but I was hoping you could take a bit more time to (talk us through what you’re working on in Weekly Stand Up). It would really help me to (prioritise the work I send your way).”

53. “I see room for improvement in (Project X). Can I offer a few more detailed suggestions?”

54. “I think the whole team would benefit from (more information on how you’re progressing with your research project).”

55. “I’d love to see something a little closer to (Project X). I was really impressed with your work on that one.”

56. "I'm really impressed with your overall progress. I think we should work together on improving your (project management) skills (next month)."

‍Frankli provides teams with intuitive channels for giving, receiving and requesting feedback at all levels of the organisation. Learn more about Frankli.

1. OfficeVibe data report, The state of employee experience‍