HR records study, 1,140 hires, nine sites

Human resources research poster example

A human resources research poster should turn HR records into something a manager can act on. This A0 portrait board links a ten item onboarding checklist to 12 month retention for 1,140 hires across nine sites: 81% stayed with full onboarding against 68% without, and a 30 day check in was the strongest single item.

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The whole board

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LBS

Does structured onboarding keep new hires? 12 month retention for 1,140 hires across nine sites

R. Abernethy ¹, Y. Okonjo ¹

1 Workforce Research Centre, Larkspur Business School

The question

Every site in this organisation has the same ten item onboarding checklist, and every site uses it differently. Some managers complete all ten items in the first month; others tick two or three. HR wanted to know whether the checklist is worth enforcing, and if so which items carry the weight, before asking managers to spend more time on it. The records already held the answer: a checklist score for every hire and whether that person was still employed a year later. This board reads those records for 1,140 hires across nine sites and asks how retention changes as the checklist score rises from 0 to 10.

WHAT WE DID

Records. HR records for every permanent hire who started between January 2024 and June 2025, 1,140 people across nine sites.

Checklist. Ten items in the first 30 days, each scored done or not done by the manager, giving a score from 0 to 10.

Outcome. Still employed 12 months after the start date. Transfers between sites counted as retained.

Groups. Full onboarding is a score of 9 or 10, 420 hires. Partial or none is 0 to 8, 720 hires.

Analysis. Retention by score, and the retention gap for each item done against not done, adjusted for site and role.

Results

Of 1,140 hires, 830 were still employed after 12 months, 72.8%. Retention rose with every point of the checklist, from 55% at a score of 0 to 82% at 10. Hires with full onboarding stayed at 81%, 340 of 420. Hires with partial or no onboarding stayed at 68%, 490 of 720. The gap of 13 percentage points held at all nine sites, from 8 points at the smallest to 17 at the largest. One item stood out: the 30 day check in with the manager, done for 610 of the 1,140 hires.

Figure 1. Share of hires still employed at 12 months, per cent, by onboarding checklist score from 0 to 10.

Source: HR records, 1,140 hires, nine sites.

Discussion

The curve has no plateau before the top score, so there is no point at which the checklist is done enough. That argues for enforcing all ten items rather than a short list. The item analysis softens that: the 30 day check in carries an 11 point gap on its own, more than any other item, and it costs a manager about half an hour. If managers can only be made to do one thing, it is that conversation. Two limits apply. Managers who complete the checklist may also be better managers in other ways, and this design cannot separate the two. And a score is recorded by the same manager who did the work, so a few ticks may be generous.

REFERENCES

1.Prowse, H. and Adeyemi, K. (2024) Onboarding checklists and first year exits. Journal of Workforce Studies, 21(3), 140 to 162.

2.Tamsin, L. (2025) The manager conversation in the first month. People Practice Review, 12(1), 5 to 22.

3.Abernethy, R. (2025) Reading retention from HR records. Larkspur Workforce Paper 2, 2025.

13 points

higher retention with full onboarding

81% of 420 hires against 68% of 720 hires at 12 months

Figure 2. Retention gap in percentage points between hires who got each item and those who did not, after site and role.

Source: HR records, 1,140 hires, nine sites.

Key finding

Full onboarding kept 81% of hires against 68%, and the 30 day check in did the most work.

1,140 hires across nine sites, 12 month follow up

Retention 81% with full onboarding against 68% without

The 30 day check in was the single strongest item

The gap held at all nine sites, 8 to 17 points

Block by block

What each block on the board is for, in the order a reader walks it.

Title band and two authors: The title asks whether structured onboarding keeps new hires and names the 1,140 hires and nine sites.
The question, what we did and results: Three columns, each with a small icon beside its heading: why HR asked, five method entries on records, checklist, outcome, groups and analysis, and the retention results.
Figure 1, retention by checklist score: Eleven bars, scores 0 to 10, from 55% to 82%. The axis starts above zero so the steady rise is visible.
Key number: The stat block holds 13 points, with 81% of 420 against 68% of 720 underneath.
Figure 2, gap by checklist item: Four horizontal bars for the 30 day check in, buddy named, kit on day one and written role plan, after site and role.
Discussion and references: Why the curve argues for all ten items, why the check in is the place to start, and two limits on what records can show. Three references follow.
Key finding and key points: The callout gives 81% against 68% and names the check in. Four checked points carry the brief's key points: 1,140 hires, nine sites, the retention gap and the strongest item.

What makes this board work

A dose response, not a yes or no

Figure 1 shows retention at every checklist score from 0 to 10, rising from 55% to 82% with no plateau. That is stronger evidence than two groups, and it answers how much onboarding is enough.

The second figure names the item

Figure 2 ranks four checklist items by their retention gap: the 30 day check in at 11 points, then a buddy at 7, kit on day one at 5 and a written role plan at 4. It tells a manager where to start.

The groups add up

420 fully onboarded hires with 340 retained and 720 others with 490 retained give 830 of 1,140, the 72.8% in the results. The 13 point headline is 81% less 68%.

Questions people ask

What should an HR research poster include?

The population and period, the practice being tested and how it was measured, the outcome and its follow up, the comparison, and the limits of records data. HR audiences also want the practical step, so this board ends on the one item a manager should do first: the 30 day check in.

Why show every checklist score instead of two groups?

Because a steady rise across eleven scores is harder to explain away than one gap between two groups. If retention jumped only at the top it might reflect who got full onboarding; a climb at every step from 55% to 82% points to the checklist itself, though records alone cannot prove it.

Where do the four key points go on this layout?

In the checked list at the foot of the right column. The three small icons on this design sit beside the first three section headings as markers and hold no text, so they cannot carry a number. The checked list holds exactly four points, which matches the four key points in the brief.

How do I handle a manager rated measure on a poster?

Say who recorded it and what bias that could bring. Here each checklist item is ticked by the manager who did the work, so some ticks may be generous. Naming that in the discussion costs one sentence and saves the question at the board.

Why is one figure vertical bars and the other horizontal?

Each figure block has its chart kind set by the design: the upper figure is vertical bars and the lower one horizontal. Horizontal bars suit the item figure because its labels are phrases like written role plan, which would crowd an axis if they ran along the bottom.

How many references does this portrait design hold?

Three numbered entries in the reference block at the foot of the left column. A brief that lists four has to drop one, so keep the citations a reader is most likely to look up: the prior onboarding study, the work on manager conversations and your own methods paper.

Why measure retention at 12 months?

Most early exits happen in the first year, and twelve months is long enough for an onboarding effect to show and short enough that later events, a restructure or a new manager, are less likely to swamp it. Transfers between sites count as retained on this board, which the methods block states.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked 4 October 2026.