Invite and Reminder Schedules

See when Retain sends survey invitations and reminders for each type of survey.

Every invitation and reminder goes to the employee's preferred contact method — email or text — and reminders stop as soon as they respond. Retain sends these during the day in your organization's time zone, so a message arrives sometime that day rather than at an exact minute.

New-Hire Surveys

New hires are invited automatically as they reach 15, 30, 60, and 90 days. While a survey is open, reminders go to anyone who hasn't responded yet. If an employee misses two new-hire surveys in a row, you're alerted 14 days after the second — see when you're notified if a new hire skips a survey.

Engagement Survey

The engagement survey invitation goes out on the first business day of the month you've scheduled. A reminder follows after seven days without a response, and a last-chance reminder goes out about five business days before the month ends. The survey is open the whole calendar month, and reminders stop once the employee responds.

Administrators also get a courtesy heads-up the week before the survey starts.

Follow-Up Survey

The follow-up survey is the shorter check-in scheduled six months after the engagement survey. It follows the same monthly timing — invitation on the first business day, then reminders on the same schedule.

Ongoing Engagement Survey

If your organization uses the ongoing engagement survey, Retain invites a sample of employees at each location every month, up to the amount your organization has set.

Exit Survey

The exit survey invitation goes out three days after an employee's final employment date is recorded in Retain. The survey stays open for 30 days, with a reminder after seven days and a last-chance reminder the day before it closes.

Anniversary Survey

If your plan includes anniversary surveys, each employee is invited on their work anniversary.