AI Prompts for HR: 35 Templates for Recruiting, Onboarding, Policy Writing, and Employee Communications

Write a job description for the following role:

Job title: [TITLE]
Department: [DEPARTMENT]
Reports to: [TITLE]
Location/remote policy: [LOCATION OR REMOTE/HYBRID]
Compensation range (if disclosing): [RANGE OR "omit"]
Company: [BRIEF COMPANY DESCRIPTION — industry, size, stage]

Key responsibilities (I'll expand these, but the core areas are): [LIST 4–6 AREAS]
Required qualifications: [LIST WHAT'S TRULY REQUIRED]
Preferred qualifications: [LIST NICE-TO-HAVES]

Write this to be:
- Focused on what the person will DO, not just what they'll HAVE
- Free of gendered language and unnecessary jargon
- Compelling to the candidate, not just descriptive
- Honest about the role (don't oversell it)

Include an EEO statement at the end.

Review the following job description for language that might discourage qualified candidates from applying. Look for:
- Gendered language or coded words that skew masculine or feminine
- Requirements that are proxies for age, race, or socioeconomic status
- Education requirements that may not actually predict job performance
- "Culture" language that may favor in-group candidates
- Any requirement that could be reframed to be more inclusive

For each issue, suggest specific replacement language.

[PASTE JOB DESCRIPTION]

Create 5 application screening questions for a [JOB TITLE] role. The questions should:
- Be answerable in under 3 minutes total
- Reveal something relevant that a resume doesn't show
- Avoid questions that could screen out protected classes
- Be open-ended enough to let strong candidates differentiate themselves

Key things I'm trying to assess at this stage: [LIST 2–3 THINGS — e.g., "relevant experience," "motivation for this specific company," "writing ability"]

Create a structured interview guide for a [JOB TITLE] role. This guide will be used by multiple interviewers.

The core competencies we're evaluating: [LIST 4–6 COMPETENCIES — e.g., "problem-solving," "collaboration," "communication," "domain expertise"]

For each competency:
- Write 2 behavioral interview questions (past behavior predicts future behavior)
- Write 1 situational question ("What would you do if...")
- Provide a scoring guide: what a 1, 3, and 5 answer looks like for each

Also include:
- Opening rapport-building questions
- A standard close where the candidate can ask questions
- An evaluation scorecard template

Design a skills assessment for a [JOB TITLE] candidate.

Role context: [BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THEY'LL DO]
Time budget: [X hours — keep it reasonable]
Key skills to test: [LIST 3–4]

The assessment should:
- Reflect actual work they'd do in the role (not trick questions)
- Be completable in the stated time by a qualified candidate
- Have clear instructions and evaluation criteria
- Include a rubric for scoring responses
- Avoid asking candidates to do work that benefits the company directly

Draft an offer letter for the following hire:

Candidate name: [NAME]
Role: [JOB TITLE]
Department: [DEPARTMENT]
Start date: [DATE]
Compensation: [SALARY] annual base
Bonus: [BONUS STRUCTURE OR "none"]
Benefits: [HIGH-LEVEL BENEFITS — e.g., "health/dental/vision, 401k with match, 20 days PTO"]
Equity: [EQUITY DETAILS OR "none"]
Reports to: [MANAGER TITLE]
Employment type: [AT-WILL / FIXED TERM]
State: [STATE — employment law varies]

Include: contingencies (background check, I-9), IP assignment reference, at-will language (if applicable), offer expiration.
Tone: warm and welcoming — this is someone's new beginning.

Write a rejection email for candidates who applied to [JOB TITLE] but didn't make it past the initial screening.

The email should:
- Be warm and brief (under 150 words)
- Not be a form letter that's obviously templated
- Encourage them to apply for future roles if it's genuine
- Leave them with a positive impression of our company
- Not include feedback (at this stage, that's not practical)

Company name: [COMPANY NAME]

Write a rejection email for a candidate who interviewed for [JOB TITLE] and made it to [INTERVIEW STAGE — e.g., "final round"].

The email should:
- Be personal, not a template
- Acknowledge the specific time they invested
- Be honest that we went with another candidate without explaining why in detail
- Leave the door open for future opportunities if appropriate
- Be under 200 words

Do not include: specific feedback (unless I add it), rankings or comparisons to other candidates, anything that creates legal exposure.

Write a [LinkedIn message / cold email] to recruit a passive candidate for a [JOB TITLE] role.

What makes this role interesting: [2–3 GENUINE SELLING POINTS]
Company context: [BRIEF — what the company does, stage, culture highlight]
Why I'm reaching out to this person specifically: [WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE — e.g., "their background in X," "they built Y at Company Z"]

The message should:
- Be under 100 words for LinkedIn, under 200 for email
- Not lead with "I came across your profile"
- Reference something specific about them
- Be a question, not a pitch
- Sound like a human wrote it

Create a facilitation guide for a post-interview debrief for a [JOB TITLE] candidate.

Interviewers involved: [LIST ROLES — e.g., "hiring manager, two team members, HR"]

The debrief should:
- Have each person share their score and key observations before group discussion
- Prevent the first speaker from anchoring everyone else
- Address each core competency systematically
- Surface any concerns or red flags explicitly
- End with a clear hire/no-hire/more-info decision (no "let's keep looking")

Include questions the facilitator can use to push past surface reactions and get at specific evidence.

Create a 30/60/90 day onboarding plan for a new [JOB TITLE] in [DEPARTMENT].

Company context: [BRIEF DESCRIPTION]
Manager: [MANAGER TITLE]
Key priorities for this role: [LIST 3–4]

For each phase, include:
- Learning goals (what they should understand by the end of the period)
- Relationship-building milestones (who they should have met)
- Delivery milestones (what they should have produced or accomplished)
- How success will be assessed at the end of the period

The plan should be ambitious but realistic for someone who is genuinely new to the company.

Draft a welcome email from the hiring manager to a new [JOB TITLE] who starts on [DATE].

Include:
- A genuine welcome that reflects excitement about them specifically
- What their first day will look like (logistics)
- Who they'll meet and when
- Any prep they should do before they start (if anything — keep this light)
- Encouragement that it's okay to not know everything

Tone: warm, human, not HR-corporate. Should sound like the hiring manager wrote it, not a template.

Manager's name: [NAME]
New hire's name: [NAME]

Create a first-week schedule for a new [JOB TITLE] starting on [DATE].

They'll need to:
- Complete I-9, payroll setup, and benefits enrollment
- Get set up on all systems: [LIST KEY TOOLS/SYSTEMS]
- Meet: [LIST KEY PEOPLE AND THEIR TITLES]
- Learn: [LIST 2–3 KEY PROCESSES OR CONCEPTS]
- Attend: [LIST ANY RECURRING MEETINGS THEY'LL JOIN]

Structure the week hour-by-hour for the first 2 days, then day-by-day for days 3–5. Build in white space for absorbing information — don't pack every hour.

Create guidelines for an onboarding buddy program at [COMPANY NAME].

Include:
- What a buddy is (and isn't) — not a manager, not a trainer
- How buddies are selected and matched to new hires
- A suggested interaction schedule for the first 90 days
- 10 conversation topics/questions buddies can use to break the ice
- What the buddy should proactively tell every new hire (unwritten rules, culture norms, who to go to for what)
- How to gracefully wind down the formal buddy relationship at 90 days

Company size/culture context: [BRIEF — helps tailor the tone]

Create a training schedule for a new [JOB TITLE] during their first [4-8] weeks.

Skills and knowledge they need to develop:
[LIST 6–8 AREAS — e.g., "product knowledge," "CRM system," "internal process X," "compliance training Y"]

For each training area:
- Suggested format (shadowing, reading, video, hands-on practice)
- Estimated time required
- Who owns/facilitates this training
- How competency will be assessed before moving on

Sequence the training logically — foundations before advanced topics.

Create check-in question guides for new hire conversations at 30, 60, and 90 days.

At each milestone, the questions should surface:
- How the new hire is feeling (honestly, not just "great!")
- What's going well
- What's confusing or harder than expected
- Whether they have what they need to be successful
- Any concerns about the role or team

The 90-day check-in should also assess: whether the role is what they expected, their confidence level, and their initial performance self-assessment.

Make the questions open-ended and non-leading — we want honest answers, not reassurance.

Create an onboarding experience survey to send to new hires at the end of their first [30/60/90] days.

The survey should measure:
- Clarity of role expectations
- Quality of training and resources
- Manager and team support
- Whether the job matched what was described in recruiting
- Overall experience rating
- Net Promoter Score: "How likely are you to recommend this company to a friend?"
- Open-ended: what would have made your onboarding better?

Keep it under 10 minutes to complete. Mix rating scales with open-ended questions.

Create an offboarding checklist for a departing [JOB TITLE].

Checklist should cover:
- Knowledge transfer (documentation, handoff meetings)
- System access revocation (I'll add the specific systems)
- Equipment return
- Final paycheck and benefits continuation (COBRA, equity vesting)
- Reference agreement if applicable
- Exit interview scheduling

Also create an exit interview guide with 8–10 questions that are:
- Honest (not designed to get positive quotes)
- Focused on learning, not retention
- Non-defensive (even if they're leaving because of a manager)

The goal is intelligence, not a PR exercise.

Create a performance review template for [JOB LEVEL — e.g., individual contributor, manager] at [COMPANY TYPE — e.g., startup, enterprise].

The template should have sections for:
- Goal achievement (with space for each goal and rating + narrative)
- Core competencies: [LIST YOUR COMPANY'S COMPETENCIES — e.g., "collaboration," "communication," "problem-solving," "execution"]
- Strengths this period (specific, evidenced)
- Development areas (specific, actionable)
- Goals for next review period
- Overall performance rating with definition of each level
- Employee self-assessment section (mirror structure)

Rating scale: [1–5 / 1–4 / "Exceeds/Meets/Below"] — specify which

A manager has provided the following performance notes about their direct report. Rewrite these as professional performance review narrative that is specific, balanced, and actionable.

Original manager notes: [PASTE MANAGER'S DRAFT OR NOTES]
Employee level: [LEVEL]
Review period: [PERIOD]
Overall rating the manager wants to convey: [RATING]

The rewrite should:
- Use specific examples and outcomes, not adjectives
- Be honest about development areas without being harsh
- Be defensible if challenged
- Not include anything that could be read as discriminatory
- Sound like the manager wrote it (not HR)

Draft a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) for the following situation:

Employee role: [JOB TITLE]
Performance issues: [DESCRIBE SPECIFICALLY — e.g., "missed 4 of 6 quarterly targets," "3 documented instances of late deliverables," "customer complaint rate 2x team average"]
Prior feedback provided: [DESCRIBE — dates and nature of prior conversations]
PIP duration: [30/60/90 days]
State: [STATE — employment law matters here]

The PIP should include:
- Clear description of the performance gap
- Specific, measurable improvement targets
- Resources and support provided to the employee
- Milestones and check-in schedule
- Consequences if targets aren't met
- Employee acknowledgment section

This is a legal document. Flag anything that needs legal review before use.

Create a goal-setting template for [ANNUAL / QUARTERLY] planning for a [JOB TITLE].

Framework: [OKRs / SMART goals / specify your framework]
Number of goals: [3–5]
Company priorities this period: [LIST 2–3 COMPANY-LEVEL PRIORITIES]

For each goal, the template should capture:
- The goal statement
- Why it matters (connection to team/company priorities)
- Success metrics (how we'll know it was achieved)
- Key milestones by quarter/month
- Dependencies (what/who needs to come through)
- Rating criteria at review time

Also create a brief guide for managers on how to give useful goal-setting feedback to their reports.

Create a manager's guide to giving effective performance feedback.

Include:
- The SBI model (Situation, Behavior, Impact) with 3 worked examples
- How to give positive feedback that reinforces the right behavior (not just "great job")
- How to give corrective feedback without triggering defensiveness
- Language to avoid and what to say instead (e.g., instead of "you always..." try "in the last two weeks, I noticed...")
- How to handle a defensive or emotional reaction
- How to close a feedback conversation with a clear next step

Write this as a practical guide a manager can keep handy, not a theory lecture.

Create a facilitation guide for a performance calibration session for [DEPARTMENT/TEAM].

Participants: [LIST MANAGER TITLES]
Rating scale: [YOUR SCALE]
Time available: [X hours]

The session should:
- Ensure ratings are applied consistently across the team
- Surface any employees who may be over- or under-rated
- Address potential bias in ratings (recency bias, halo effect, in-group favoritism)
- Result in a clear distribution and documented rationale

Include: agenda, discussion questions for each rating level, a process for resolving disagreements, and documentation template.

Help me write a promotion justification for [EMPLOYEE NAME/ROLE].

Current level: [LEVEL]
Proposed level: [LEVEL]
Time in current role: [DURATION]

Evidence of readiness:
- Accomplishments: [LIST 3–5 SPECIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITH OUTCOMES]
- Scope expansion: [HOW THEIR WORK HAS EXPANDED BEYOND CURRENT LEVEL]
- Leadership demonstrated: [SPECIFIC EXAMPLES]
- Feedback from stakeholders: [SUMMARY OF PEER/CROSS-FUNCTIONAL FEEDBACK]

Write a justification document (300–500 words) that makes a business case, not just a tenure case. Address what they've done at the next level already, not just how long they've waited.

Help me prepare for the following difficult conversation:

Situation: [DESCRIBE — e.g., "I need to tell a long-tenured employee they're not getting promoted," "I need to address repeated lateness with someone who has personal circumstances," "I need to deliver a PIP to someone who thinks they're performing well"]
Employee context: [BRIEF — tenure, performance history, likely reaction]
My goal: [WHAT OUTCOME DO I WANT FROM THIS CONVERSATION]

Give me:
- An opening statement (first 3 sentences I'll say)
- The key points I need to land, in order
- How to handle 3 likely reactions: [defensive / emotional / shut-down]
- What I should NOT say
- How to close the conversation with a clear next step

I'll role-play this mentally before the actual conversation.

Draft a [POLICY NAME — e.g., Remote Work Policy, AI Use Policy, PTO Policy] for [COMPANY NAME].

Company context: [SIZE, INDUSTRY, CULTURE]
State(s) where employees are located: [STATES]
Key provisions to include: [LIST WHAT MUST BE IN THE POLICY]
Any edge cases or exceptions to address: [LIST ANY SPECIFIC SITUATIONS]

The policy should:
- Be clear enough that an employee can read it and know what to do
- Be specific (avoid vague language like "reasonable" without definition)
- Cover the process for exceptions and how to request them
- Note any legal requirements it's designed to address
- Include an effective date and owner

This is a draft that will be reviewed by legal before implementation.

Draft a company AI use policy for [COMPANY NAME].

Company context: [INDUSTRY, SIZE]
AI tools currently in use or approved: [LIST OR "TBD"]
Key concerns to address: [e.g., "confidential data input," "IP ownership of AI outputs," "disclosure requirements," "use in hiring decisions"]
State(s) of operation: [STATES]

The policy should cover:
- What AI tools employees may use and for what purposes
- What data they may NOT input into AI tools (trade secrets, customer PII, etc.)
- How AI-generated work should be disclosed and verified
- Any prohibited uses
- Consequences of violations
- How the policy will be updated as AI evolves

Make it practical — employees should be able to follow it without needing a lawyer to interpret it.

Here is our [POLICY NAME]:

[PASTE POLICY]

Rewrite this in plain English for employees. The summary should:
- Be under 500 words (the original doesn't matter how long it is)
- Use headers and bullet points
- Lead with "What this means for you"
- Explain the 3 most important things employees need to know
- Note any common mistakes or misunderstandings
- Include "For questions, contact [PERSON/EMAIL]"

Don't simplify in ways that create legal inaccuracies — flag any places where simplification might be risky.

Draft a remote work policy for [COMPANY NAME].

Policy should cover:
- Eligibility (which roles are remote-eligible and how that's determined)
- Work hours expectations (core hours, availability, time zones)
- Equipment and expense reimbursement
- Home office requirements (secure connection, dedicated workspace, etc.)
- Performance expectations vs. in-office
- In-person requirements (quarterly on-sites, specific meetings)
- How remote work agreements are approved and can be revoked
- Data security requirements

State(s): [STATES — different states have different reimbursement requirements]
Company stance: [FULLY REMOTE / HYBRID / REMOTE AS EXCEPTION]

We're rolling out our [POLICY NAME]. Anticipate the 10 most common questions employees will ask and write clear, honest answers.

Policy summary: [PASTE KEY PROVISIONS]

For each Q&A:
- Write the question as an employee would actually ask it (not a straw man)
- Give a direct answer (not "it depends" without explanation)
- Note any exceptions or edge cases in the answer
- Flag any question where the answer might be "talk to HR" — but only where that's genuinely the right answer

This will be published on our internal wiki.

Draft an all-hands communication announcing [CHANGE — e.g., "a reorganization," "a new executive hire," "a shift to hybrid work," "a layoff"].

Context: [DESCRIBE THE CHANGE AND WHY IT'S HAPPENING]
Audience: all employees
Key messages to land: [LIST 2–3 THINGS THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND]
What will change for employees: [BE SPECIFIC]
What won't change: [IF RELEVANT — stability messaging]
Q&A process: [HOW WILL EMPLOYEES GET THEIR QUESTIONS ANSWERED]

Tone: honest, not spin. Employees can tell when leadership is managing a message — be direct about what's happening and why.
Format: can be read in under 3 minutes. Include an FAQ at the end.

Create an employee engagement survey for [COMPANY NAME].

Key areas to measure:
- Overall engagement and satisfaction
- Manager effectiveness
- Role clarity and growth opportunity
- Company direction and communication
- Team dynamics
- Psychological safety
- Compensation and benefits perception

Survey requirements:
- Mix of 1–10 scales (for benchmarking) and open-ended questions
- Include at minimum 2 eNPS questions: one for recommending as a place to work, one for recommending their manager
- Under 15 minutes to complete
- Anonymous (no questions that would identify the respondent)

Aim for 25–30 questions total.

Design an employee recognition program for [COMPANY NAME].

Company context: [SIZE, BUDGET — rough, CULTURE]

Include:
- Types of recognition (peer-to-peer, manager-to-employee, company-wide)
- Frequency and occasions (milestone, achievement, behavior-based)
- How recognition is delivered (public vs. private)
- Tangible rewards if applicable (I'll customize amounts)
- Manager guidance: how to give recognition that lands (not just "nice work")
- How to measure whether the program is working

Avoid: programs that feel like HR theater, recognition that's mandatory and therefore meaningless, or systems that favor extroverts or visible roles over quiet contributors.

Help me draft layoff communications for [COMPANY NAME]. This is a [NUMBER]-person reduction affecting [DEPARTMENTS/ROLES].

I need:
1. The script for the individual conversation with affected employees (manager to read)
2. The all-company email to go out same day
3. The message to remaining employees after the individual conversations are complete
4. Talking points for managers of affected and non-affected teams

Key facts to communicate:
- Why this is happening: [HONEST REASON — business performance, strategic shift, etc.]
- What severance and benefits continuation employees will receive: [DETAILS]
- What the transition timeline is: [DETAILS]
- Who employees can contact with questions: [HR CONTACT]

Tone requirements: honest, respectful, not corporate spin. These are real people. Don't hide behind passive voice or euphemism. Avoid: "restructuring," "right-sizing," "impacted employees" — call it what it is.