The relationship between a person and a company follows the same arc every time: attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development, retention, separation. Six predictable stages, and almost nobody manages them as one journey. The damage, though, does not happen inside the stages. It happens in the handoffs.
The six stages, and one metric each
Attraction is employer branding, job postings and telling the truth about the work. Measure the application completion rate, because a form people abandon is telling you something.
Recruitment is structured interviews, skills assessments and a timeline you actually keep. Measure the offer acceptance rate.
Onboarding is the 30-60-90 day plan, a buddy, and an early win. Measure retention at 90 days.
Development is continuous feedback, an individual plan, stretch assignments and recognition. Measure engagement.
Retention is career conversations held before someone is halfway out the door, stay interviews rather than exit interviews, and criteria people can read. Measure voluntary turnover.
Separation is a respectful departure, knowledge that gets transferred, and an alumni network. Measure how many people come back.
Where it breaks
Five failures come up again and again. Sloppy handoffs, where the recruiter promised one thing and onboarding says another. One identical journey for very different profiles. Vanity metrics instead of the ones above. Managers who treat the whole thing as HR’s job. And the exit treated as paperwork, which is the most underrated of all: a good exit is a candidate who might come back or send someone, a bad one is a review that stays online for years.
Technology has exactly one job here: making one stage’s data readable in the next. Applicant tracking, HRIS, learning, performance and exit tools that do not talk to each other leave you with six separate processes sharing a name.
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