cycle-time
Decision cycle time
How long does a complete request take to reach a decision?
Elapsed time from entry-gate completion to recorded decision.
Approve Workforce Need and Headcount← Process Library
Process family
Hiring System
7 connected processes, ordered by what depends on what, with the objects handed from one to the next and the measures that sense the family's performance.
Chain · 7 processes
- 01Approve Workforce Need and Headcount
Turn a business capacity or capability need into an explicit workforce decision before a role or requisition is opened.
Lock reference · DraftLeads the chain · no in-family handoff
- 02Define Role and Success Profile
Turn an approved workforce need into a clear, job-related definition of the outcomes, context, capabilities, and evidence required for success.
Lock reference · Draft- Handoff from Approve Workforce Need and Headcount · trigger — Workforce need approved or provisionally authorized
- Carries · Workforce Need
- 03Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parameters
Convert an approved role into an affordable, internally coherent, market-informed, and reviewable hiring range and employment frame.
Lock reference · Draft- Handoff from Define Role and Success Profile · trigger — The role profile is approved.
- Carries · Role Success Profile · Workforce Need
- 04Open and Source the Role
Launch an authorized role and generate a viable, informed candidate pool through deliberate audiences, channels, messages, and pipeline control.
Lock reference · Draft- Handoff from Define Role and Success Profile · trigger — The role profile is approved and the workforce decision remains active.
- Carries · Role Success Profile
- Handoff from Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parameters · trigger — Parameters are approved and the role is authorized to open.
- Carries · Approved Compensation and Employment Parameters
- 05Assess and Select Candidates
Collect comparable, job-related evidence and make one traceable hiring decision against criteria defined before candidates entered the process.
Lock reference · Draft- Handoff from Define Role and Success Profile · trigger — The role and evidence plan are approved.
- Carries · Role Success Profile · Selection Evidence Plan
- Handoff from Open and Source the Role · trigger — A candidate satisfies the assessment entry gate.
- Carries · Assessment Intake · Candidate Record
- 06Approve and Issue the Offer
Convert an authorized selection into one complete, affordable, approved, and version-controlled employment offer.
Lock reference · Draft- Handoff from Assess and Select Candidates · trigger — The offer owner accepts the decision package.
- Carries · Offer Decision Intake · Selection Decision
- Handoff from Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parameters · trigger — A selected candidate advances to offer.
- Carries · Approved Compensation and Employment Parameters
- 07Onboard the New Hire
Convert an accepted offer into role readiness, working relationships, safe system access, early contribution, and an owned transition to normal operation.
Lock reference · Draft- Handoff from Approve and Issue the Offer · trigger — The onboarding owner accepts the handoff.
- Carries · Accepted Offer Handoff
- Handoff from Define Role and Success Profile · trigger — Role-specific readiness planning begins.
- Carries · Role Success Profile · Selection Evidence Plan
Measures · 42
quality
Decision completeness
Are decisions supported by the required evidence and rationale?
Decisions satisfying all required fields and controls divided by all decisions.
Approve Workforce Need and Headcountadoption
Connected handoffs
Do receiving processes use the approved decision?
Approved decisions acknowledged by the designated downstream process with the correct version divided by all approved decisions.
Approve Workforce Need and Headcountexceptions
Unauthorized starts
How often does execution begin before the workforce decision?
Roles, supplier requests, or material work changes initiated without a valid decision divided by all initiated responses.
Approve Workforce Need and Headcountoutcome
Need resolution
Did the selected response close the stated capacity or capability gap?
Structured review of the original outcome and indicators at the assigned review point; it does not attribute the result to this decision process alone.
Approve Workforce Need and Headcountguardrail
Work displacement guardrail
Did apparent capacity improvement displace work or risk elsewhere?
Review of overtime, backlog, quality, safety, manager load, and hidden external work after implementation.
Approve Workforce Need and Headcountcycle-time
Role-profile cycle time
How long does an authorized need take to become an approved role profile?
Elapsed time from confirmed role-design mandate to profile approval.
Define Role and Success Profilequality
Criteria evidence coverage
Can the selection process obtain comparable evidence for every material criterion?
Material criteria with an approved evidence method divided by all material criteria.
Define Role and Success Profileexceptions
Downstream revision rate
How often must the role definition be reopened after sourcing or assessment begins?
Opened roles requiring material profile revision after downstream work begins divided by all opened roles.
Define Role and Success Profileadoption
Profile adoption
Are downstream hiring processes using the approved profile?
Required downstream artifacts linked to the approved profile version divided by all required artifacts.
Define Role and Success Profileoutcome
Early outcome alignment
Does early performance evidence reflect the outcomes defined before hiring?
Structured post-entry review of whether priority role outcomes remain valid and observable; not a causal claim about the process alone.
Define Role and Success Profileguardrail
Artificial barrier rate
Are unsupported requirements being removed before publication?
Proposed required attributes removed or reclassified because no job-related rationale could be established.
Define Role and Success Profileoutcome
Range operating fit
Does the approved frame support hiring while remaining coherent and affordable?
Combined review of filled-role outcomes, accepted pay, internal relationship, budget, and market evidence without attributing results to range alone.
Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parametersquality
Decision evidence completeness
Does every approved range contain required internal, market, cost, and review evidence?
Approved records satisfying required evidence fields divided by all approved records.
Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parameterscycle-time
Range decision cycle time
How long does an approved role take to receive authorized parameters?
Elapsed time from role-profile approval to parameter publication.
Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parametersadoption
Parameter adoption
Do sourcing and offers use the authoritative parameter version?
Downstream artifacts linked to the current approved version divided by all applicable artifacts.
Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parametersexceptions
Range exception rate
How often and why do roles or offers require approved deviation?
Approved and attempted deviations by reason, role, manager, market, and disposition per hiring decision.
Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parametersguardrail
Consistency and equity guardrail
Do decisions create unexplained compression, inversion, disparity, or inconsistent treatment?
Structured review of comparable pay relationships and documented legitimate factors; not a legal conclusion.
Establish Compensation Range and Employment Parametersoutcome
Viable candidate coverage
Is sourcing producing enough eligible and interested candidates for a credible assessment?
Role-specific review of eligible candidates relative to assessment capacity and decision needs; not a universal quota.
Open and Source the Rolequality
Eligibility yield by source
Which channels produce candidates who satisfy the approved assessment entry gate?
Candidates meeting approved minimum criteria divided by applicants, segmented by source and interpreted with volume and context.
Open and Source the Rolecycle-time
Source-to-assessment time
How long does interest take to reach assessment intake?
Elapsed time from application or outreach response to accepted assessment handoff.
Open and Source the Roleadoption
Candidate status health
Are active candidates receiving the promised process and communications?
Active candidates with current status, assigned owner, and communication within the defined cadence divided by all active candidates.
Open and Source the Roleexceptions
Withdrawal and process exception pattern
Where do candidates withdraw or encounter process failure?
Withdrawals, complaints, stale states, unauthorized messages, criteria exceptions, and data issues by stage and source.
Open and Source the Roleguardrail
Access and treatment guardrail
Do channels, messages, criteria, timing, or treatment create unexplained access or experience differences?
Qualified contextual review of source reach, progression, withdrawal, accommodation, communication, and feedback patterns; not a causal or legal conclusion.
Open and Source the Roleoutcome
Early role-outcome alignment
Does post-entry evidence align with the outcomes assessed before hire?
Structured comparison of early role outcomes with prehire criteria and evidence; not a causal validity claim by itself.
Assess and Select Candidatesquality
Material-criterion evidence coverage
Did every decision have sufficient valid evidence for each material criterion?
Material criteria with sufficient authorized evidence divided by all material criteria.
Assess and Select Candidatescycle-time
Assessment cycle time
How long does an admitted candidate take to reach an authorized decision?
Elapsed time from assessment admission to Selection Decision.
Assess and Select Candidatesadoption
Controlled-plan adoption
Are assessors using the approved methods, anchors, and independent scoring?
Completed assigned assessments conforming to the active plan divided by all completed assigned assessments.
Assess and Select Candidatesexceptions
Assessment deviation pattern
Where do administration, evidence, scoring, or decision rules break?
Deviations by method, assessor, candidate stage, severity, cause, and disposition.
Assess and Select Candidatesguardrail
Candidate fairness and burden guardrail
Do methods or administration create unexplained differences, excessive burden, accessibility failure, or adverse candidate experience?
Qualified review of completion, ratings, progression, withdrawal, time burden, accommodations, and feedback patterns; not a causal or legal conclusion.
Assess and Select Candidatesoutcome
Offer outcome pattern
What happens to approved offers and what can the pattern teach us?
Accepted, declined, withdrawn, and expired offers by relevant context; descriptive and not a causal measure of offer quality.
Approve and Issue the Offerquality
Offer package completeness
Did every issued offer contain required terms, conditions, versions, and approvals?
Issued offers satisfying required controls divided by all issued offers.
Approve and Issue the Offercycle-time
Selection-to-offer time
How long does an accepted selection take to become an issued offer?
Elapsed time from offer-intake acceptance to first authorized issue, separated into work and wait time where useful.
Approve and Issue the Offeradoption
Approved-version use
Are candidates receiving only the exact approved offer version?
Candidate-facing offer events linked to an approved active version divided by all offer events.
Approve and Issue the Offerexceptions
Offer deviation pattern
Which terms or decision boundaries repeatedly require change?
Requested, approved, rejected, and communicated deviations by component, cause, role, and authority.
Approve and Issue the Offerguardrail
Offer consistency and candidate-treatment guardrail
Do placements, changes, timing, or communications show unexplained inconsistency or candidate harm?
Qualified review of comparable offer decisions and candidate feedback; not a legal conclusion.
Approve and Issue the Offeroutcome
Time to agreed role readiness
When can the new hire perform the agreed early outcomes at the authorized level?
Elapsed time and evidence from start to the context-specific readiness state; not a universal productivity target.
Onboard the New Hirequality
Readiness evidence completeness
Are transition and autonomy decisions supported for every material condition?
Material readiness conditions with accepted evidence or controlled gaps divided by all material conditions.
Onboard the New Hirecycle-time
Critical-resource readiness time
How quickly are required access, equipment, information, and owner support usable?
Elapsed time from the agreed need point to verified usability, by critical resource and cause.
Onboard the New Hireadoption
Role-readiness plan use
Are manager, new hire, and support owners using the current plan and review cadence?
Completed required plan events linked to the current version divided by due events.
Onboard the New Hireexceptions
Onboarding blocker pattern
Which readiness failures recur, age, or materially delay work?
Blockers by type, role, system, owner, severity, cause status, and age per onboarding case.
Onboard the New Hireguardrail
New-hire experience and operating guardrails
Is early output being purchased through confusion, unsafe autonomy, excessive workload, exclusion, inaccessible practice, privacy loss, or poor treatment?
Context-specific review of new-hire feedback, workload, safety, quality, access, belonging, support, and retention signals; not a causal or legal conclusion.
Onboard the New Hire