New Hire Onboarding Jeopardy
A ready-made orientation game covering policies, benefits, and company know-how. Copy it free, tailor the clues to your org, and let new hires buzz in from their phones.
6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone
Copies all 30 clues into an editor of your own. Free, no account needed.
Every clue on this board
This page is public, so anyone can read the answers — copy the board and swap a few clues before game day.
First-Day Basics
- $200
This document, usually signed on or before a new hire's first day, formally confirms terms of employment such as job title, pay, and start date.
What is an offer letter?
- $400
This nine-digit number, issued by the Social Security Administration, is typically required to complete new-hire paperwork and payroll setup.
What is a Social Security number?
- $600
This federal form, completed by every new US employee, verifies identity and authorizes work eligibility.
What is Form I-9?
- $800
This federal tax form tells an employer how much income tax to withhold from an employee's paycheck.
What is Form W-4?
- $1,000
This term describes the structured process of integrating a new employee into a company's culture, tools, and role.
What is onboarding?
Benefits and Payroll
- $200
This umbrella term covers paid time away from work, including vacation and sick days, often tracked as a single combined balance.
What is PTO?
- $400
This type of retirement savings plan, named for a section of the US tax code, often includes an employer match on contributions.
What is a 401(k)?
- $600
This term describes an employer matching a portion of what an employee contributes to a retirement account.
What is an employer match?
- $800
This tax-advantaged account lets employees set aside pre-tax income for qualified medical expenses.
What is a flexible spending account?
- $1,000
This is the standard number of hours in a full-time US workweek, commonly used to determine benefits eligibility.
What is forty?
Who Does What
- $200
This department typically manages hiring, benefits, payroll, and workplace policy for a company.
What is Human Resources?
- $400
This role typically manages a single employee's day-to-day work, performance reviews, and time-off approvals.
Who is a manager?
- $600
This department manages a company's computers, networks, passwords, and technical support requests.
What is IT?
- $800
This department typically manages a company's budgets, invoices, and expense reimbursements.
What is Finance?
- $1,000
This person or team is typically a new hire's first point of contact for questions about benefits enrollment and paperwork.
Who is an HR representative?
Tools and Systems
- $200
This type of software system lets employees view pay stubs, request time off, and update personal information.
What is an HRIS?
- $400
This term describes software a company licenses and accesses over the internet rather than installing on individual computers.
What is SaaS?
- $600
This category of tool is commonly used for real-time messaging between coworkers, organized into channels or direct messages.
What is a team chat app?
- $800
This system tracks and stores a company's job applicants as they move through hiring stages.
What is an applicant tracking system?
- $1,000
This acronym refers to software that combines a company's core processes, such as finance, HR, and inventory, into one integrated system.
What is ERP?
Company Lingo
- $200
This term describes a short meeting, often held standing up, where a team quickly shares daily progress and blockers.
What is a stand-up?
- $400
This acronym refers to a specific, measurable target a team commits to for a given time period.
What is a KPI?
- $600
This phrase describes revisiting a topic or contacting someone again later, often after a meeting ends without resolving it.
What is circle back?
- $800
This phrase describes adding more people to an email thread or decision, typically by including them on the recipient list.
What is loop in?
- $1,000
This overused corporate term describes the idea that combined efforts produce a greater result than the sum of individual efforts.
What is synergy?
Policies and Perks
- $200
This policy allows employees to work from home or another location instead of commuting to an office.
What is a remote work policy?
- $400
This term describes a schedule where an employee splits time between working remotely and working in an office.
What is a hybrid schedule?
- $600
This policy sets rules for how employees may dress at work, ranging from formal business attire to casual jeans.
What is a dress code?
- $800
This type of leave, protected under a 1993 federal law, allows eligible employees unpaid, job-protected time off for family or medical reasons.
What is FMLA leave?
- $1,000
This perk reimburses or subsidizes an employee's coursework or degree program related to their job.
What is tuition reimbursement?
Final Jeopardy — HR Buzzwords
Coined at McKinsey in 1997, this three-word phrase describes companies' competition to recruit and retain skilled employees.
What is the war for talent?
How to run this board
Turn the firehose of first-week information into a game. This board covers the ground most orientations do — policies, benefits enrollment, who does what, and the tools a new hire logs into on day one.
Run it at the end of orientation week as a recap rather than a quiz on day one; people retain more once they have had a few days to absorb the material. Mixed teams of new hires and veterans keep the score close.
Every clue is editable, so swap the generic answers for your own department names, systems, and acronyms before you play.
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