SHRM developed this guide using the same general-purpose AI tools it describes. The prompts are intended as starting points and may need to be adapted, reviewed, and validated for your specific use case.
AI can help you get more done with the HR work you already do, from drafting and summarizing to organizing information and generating ideas. But it does not know your organization, your people, your policies, or your obligations unless you provide that context. This prompt gives you a starting point, with space to add the unique information AI needs to support your work.
Prompt — Identify Themes in New Hire Survey Feedback
Replace everything in brackets before you run it.
Analyze these open-text responses from our new hire survey.
Context: [when in onboarding this was collected, how many respondents, what was asked]
Responses:
[PASTE — REMOVE NAMES, MANAGER NAMES, AND ANY TEAM LABEL SMALL
ENOUGH TO IDENTIFY ONE PERSON]
Give me:
- Themes, ranked by how many responses mention them, with the count for each.
- Two or three representative quotes per theme.
- Which themes are process problems, which are resourcing problems, and which are expectation-setting problems.
- Anything mentioned by only one or two people that you think still matters, and why.
- What a strong onboarding survey would usually surface that is missing here.
Rules:
- Report what people actually said. Do not soften criticism.
- Give me real counts, not impressions of frequency.
- Do not speculate about who wrote a comment.
- Flag immediately, and separately, anything that describes harassment, discrimination, or a safety concern — do not fold these into a theme.
Write in plain, everyday language. Do not use jargon or invented terms; if a simpler word exists, use it.
Optional, if available: give the AI your organization's style guide, brand voice guide, or writing standards document alongside this prompt so the output matches how we write.
Check Before You Publish
Before you publish, review the AI-generated draft carefully. You are responsible for the final version.
- Check facts, figures, dates, requirements, and other details against the information you supplied or the original source.
- Paste in any legally required or compliance-sensitive language yourself. Do not let AI generate it.
- Confirm nothing was invented, assumed, or taken out of context.
- Verify that the final version reflects your organization, your audience, and the purpose of the work.
Use your judgement as an HR professional. AI can assist with the work, but you make the final call. Looking for more prompts? Explore the AI Prompts Guide for HR for more prompts and templates to support your HR work.
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