I'mBoard API Docs

Count of employees whose first day fell within the reporting period. The growth-input side of the headcount equation, paired with `hr.voluntary_exits` and `hr.terminations` on the loss side. Common pitfall: counting accepted offers vs actual start dates — these can diverge by weeks (notice period) or fall through entirely (offer rescind, candidate ghosting). The board number should be actual starts, not signed offers; pipeline movement belongs in `hr.hiring_plan` narrative. — HR KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).

I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier)

No public third-party standard anchors this KPI yet, so I'mBoard authors and maintains the definition — transparently labeled as editorial tier. See the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system and the back-attribution workstream.

Rogue ID: hr.new_hires Type: Number Domain: HR

Definition

Count of employees whose first day fell within the reporting period. The growth-input side of the headcount equation, paired with hr.voluntary_exits and hr.terminations on the loss side. Common pitfall: counting accepted offers vs actual start dates — these can diverge by weeks (notice period) or fall through entirely (offer rescind, candidate ghosting). The board number should be actual starts, not signed offers; pipeline movement belongs in hr.hiring_plan narrative.

Formula

Count of employees whose official start date is within the reporting period. Exclude rehires within 90 days (boomerangs) from this count if the board has adopted that convention; otherwise include and note in `hr.talent_highlights`.

Why it matters

Directly drives hr.headcount_change and validates execution against hr.hiring_plan. Persistent gaps between hiring-plan targets and actual new hires usually indicate either a pipeline problem or compensation-market mismatch — both board-action triggers.

How to interpret

Reconcile against hr.open_positions closed in period and against hr.hiring_plan targets. A new-hire count materially below plan (e.g. <70% of target for two consecutive periods) typically warrants a board conversation about recruiting capacity, comp band competitiveness, or scope realism (industry folk-wisdom, not citation-grade).

Calculation policy

How an AI agent should compute this KPI from messy company data. Free-text rules consumed at reasoning time — not a deterministic DSL. The most common ways to get this wrong are listed under Common miscomputations.

Inclusion rules

Count of employees whose official FIRST DAY (actual start date) falls WITHIN the reporting period — a period-flow count, bounded by the same period start/end the rest of the report uses.
Count actual starts only: the person showed up and began work in the period.
If the board has adopted the boomerang convention, exclude rehires within 90 days of a prior exit; otherwise include them and note in hr.talent_highlights.

Exclusion rules

Signed / accepted offers whose start date has not yet arrived — offers can slip by weeks (notice period) or fall through entirely (rescind, ghosting). Pipeline movement belongs in hr.hiring_plan narrative, not this count.
Contractor or agency starts — those move hr.total_contractors, not employee hires.
Internal transfers and promotions — the person was already a head; no net new hire.
Starts that landed in a prior or later period — respect the period boundary strictly.

Required inputs

New-employee list with official start dates within the period.
The period start/end boundaries.
The boomerang (rehire-within-90-days) convention flag if adopted.

Data-source priority

HRIS onboarding / start-date records.
Payroll first-paycheck records as a cross-check that the start actually occurred.

Edge cases

Offer accepted in one period, start date in the next: count in the period of the actual start, never the offer date.
Cohort / class start (e.g. a bootcamp or grad intake all starting the same Monday): all count in that period — expect a lumpy spike.
Rescinded offer or no-show after a recorded start date: reverse out of the count; do not leave a phantom hire.

Validation checks

New hires should reconcile against hr.open_positions closed in the period and against hr.hiring_plan targets.
Prior headcount + new hires − exits should tie to current hr.total_headcount for the period.

Common miscomputations

Counting accepted offers instead of actual starts — overstates hiring and diverges from headcount by the notice-period lag.
Including internal transfers / promotions as new hires — inflates the growth-input side of the headcount equation.
Mis-dating cross-boundary starts into the wrong period, breaking the headcount reconciliation.

hr.open_positions
hr.hiring_plan
hr.headcount_change
hr.avg_days_to_fill
hr.key_hires
hr.total_headcount

Source

I'mBoard editorial — authored and maintained by I'mBoard, first published 2026-04-01. No third-party standard is cited for this KPI; when one emerges, the definition is back-attributed and promoted to the published tier (a minor version bump). Read the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system, attribution rules, and dispute process.