How we compute the benefit.

Faster ramp savings: current per-hire onboarding cost x ramp reduction (%) x hires per year.
Retention savings: replacement cost (1.0x salary, SHRM midpoint) x 22% early-attrition rate (DevPath) x retention-lift (%) x hires per year.
Annual ROI: total annual benefit minus programme investment.
Payback months: investment / total annual benefit, expressed in months.
3-year NPV: simple 3 x annual benefit minus one-off investment. No discount rate applied.

CFO one-pager template

Problem: Current onboarding costs $X per hire, $Y annually. Ramp is Z weeks. 22% attrition risk.
Investment: $A in tooling and process (one-off) plus $B/month run-rate.
Return: Ramp cut by P%, retention lifted by Q%. Annual benefit: $C. Payback: D months.
Risk if we do nothing: $E per missed hire, $F per early-attrition replacement, opportunity cost on roadmap.

Common questions

How conservative is the calculator?+

Reasonably. We use the 22% early-attrition rate (DevPath / Zartis) and 1.0x salary as midpoint replacement cost (SHRM range is 50-200%). We do not include team-velocity recovery or delayed-feature delivery, which are real but harder to defend in a CFO meeting.

What ROI should we expect?+

Companies investing in structured onboarding report 150-400% Year-1 ROI when the investment is below $100K and hiring volume is 8+ engineers per quarter (Brandon Hall Group, internal industry case studies). Above $250K of investment, expect more conservative 80-150% range in Year 1.

Should we discount future savings?+

For a CFO conversation, yes. The 3-year NPV on this calculator does not apply a discount rate. Apply your firm's WACC (typically 8-12%) to the Year 2 and Year 3 columns when presenting.

What inputs matter most?+

Hires per year and ramp reduction percentage. They multiply together and dominate the benefit. Retention lift is meaningful but smaller in dollars unless your salary band is very high.