Workforce, Labor Standards & Skills Planning worked example

Onboarding Cost at 98% program completion rate: a worked example

This scenario runs the onboarding cost calculation on the strong side: 98% program completion rate, with every other input held at its documented default. An HR or operations lead uses it to budget a hiring wave and weigh it against the staffing gap it fills.

The inputs for this scenario

  • New hires onboarded: 15 hires (unchanged)
  • Cost to onboard one hire: 3,200 $/hire (unchanged)
  • Program completion rate: 98 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 85)
  • Fixed program cost: 2,500 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Onboarding cost = new hires x cost per hire x completion rate + program fixed cost) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 49,540 $ for total onboarding cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 3,303 $ / piece for onboarding cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 47,040 $ for variable onboarding cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 2,500 $ for fixed onboarding cost adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where program completion rate sits at 85% and the headline result is 43,300 $, this scenario comes in 14.41% above the baseline at 49,540 $.
  • Use it when budgeting a hiring wave, comparing onboarding to turnover cost, or evaluating whether a program change pays off. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Total onboarding cost: 49,540 $ (headline result)
  • Onboarding cost per unit: 3,303 $ / piece
  • Variable onboarding cost: 47,040 $
  • Fixed onboarding cost adder: 2,500 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Onboarding Cost calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.