In our company we have recommended questionnaire to gather feedback about new team member at the end of his/her probationary period. It’s an usual form with very smart and useful questions such as
How well does employee possess job-related knowledge and skills?
How well does he /she work as part of a team?
How well does the employee finish what he is committed to?
and so on. Overall it is only 10 such questions and you may answer either putting a number or adding a more comprehensive comment.
Recently I have tried something different. Instead of sending this form and asking guys to fill in, I’ve sent a short email to team members with only 2 questions:
Do you want to continue working with John in one team?
Why?
The response rate was exactly as I expected: 100% of team members answered my questions (with original questionnaire response rate is approximately 40% after the first call and 60% after the reminder). Another positive aspect of this is that the decision was made by team, not the manager. Manager in this case is only a facilitator.
One thing you need to be ready for - properly react to answers. If you ask straightforward question and get “No” - be ready to act straightforward as well: find another team for a guy or fire.
Do you still have probationary periods? How do you handle them?