20 Metrics in 20 Days- Day 9: Time in Role 6 Months or Less

Day 9 in our series of 20 consecutive posts on HR metrics: Time in Role 6 Months or Less

Definition

Proportion in Current Role 6 Months or Less: the proportion of your employees who have been in their current role for 6 months or less.

The calculation is direct: divide the total numbers of employees who have been in their current role for 6 months or less by the total size of your workforce at that moment in time.

Additional Considerations

To avoid apples-to-oranges comparisons I would suggest focusing on only FTEs for the calculation rather than folding in part-timers.

I would also strongly recommend doing this calculation separately for the different areas of your company as part of your initial analysis provided you have sufficient numbers. You might find that particular business areas have an unusually high concentration of those with limited experience, either because of recent expansion or fast hiring-turnover cycles.

Relatedly, it might be worth separating out New Role- New Business Area from New Role – Same Business Area if you have enough numbers. Those who are new to a role in a wholly different area are likely to be experiencing greater initial challenges in the transition.

Why You Should Care

Clearly today’s measure is closely related to the “Median Time in Role” metric from Day 7 but focusing specifically on those with truly limited experience in their role ensures the issue gets sufficient coverage.

As we mentioned in that previous post, those in the earlier stages of their role are still making their way along the learning curve and may need some more guidance and input in the short run before they get things figured out.

Actions

If there are structural experience or overall workforce stability issues, some actions to consider are the following:

• Modifying your hiring or internal movement patterns to smooth out sudden increases in role inexperience
• Establishing deliberate managerial practices that reflect the workforce needs (esp. growth and development) for those areas with a particularly high concentration of inexperience.
• Scheduling more frequent touchpoints/ check-ins with those still new to their role.