Posted April 5, 2021, 3:18 p.m. by Vice Admiral Daniel Lerner (President / Procedures Guru / Personnel Director (outgoing)) (Daniel Lerner)
Personnel Department Report - March 2021
Membership trends
The trends in changes in membership as of March 1, 2021 can be viewed here. For explanations and cautions about accuracy, please read this post.
Explanation notes: Once a person posts, they are considered a member for the next 30 days. That means that if a person stops posting, they aren’t removed from the membership numbers until the next month. That means: (1) if a new member never posts, they are not counted on this chart, (2) if a person posts once and doesn’t post again, they will be counted as a new member in the month they posted, and then a member who left STF in the following month.
Comments: As mentioned in my last report, February was a very good month for the club’s membership. We saw new growth, and a reduction of attrition. Let’s see if we can continue the trend.
Placements overall
There were 15 applications processed in the month of March. All 15 applications were placed by the Personnel Department, and unless otherwise stated all remaining stats for this month apply to those 15 applications.
Academy vs Non-Academy
Requests
Placements
Posting Speeds
Trends of various ship speed data and comparisons over the past two years can be found here.
Posting Speed Requested - Academy
Posting Speed Placed - Academy
Note: The Academy only has a medium-speed ship.
Posting Speed Requested - Main Fleet
Posting Speed Placed - Main Fleet
Note: There are no fast ships in the club at the moment.
How they found us (all processed applications):
Departments
Trends
First choice preferences for departments
Department Placed in
Note: The next two lists offer a better breakdown of what is happening.
Department Choice Placed In - Academy Placements
Department Choice Placed In - Main Fleet Placements
Processing Times
(Includes all processed applications)
Average Processing Time: 5.5 hours. A two-year trend can be found here.
Member Tracking
(As of April 5, 2021)
Trends: Two year trends for Academy and non-Academy combined, for Academy only, and for non-Academy only.
January 2021
Academy placements: 4
Comments: No changes since last report.
Non-Academy placements: 0
February 2021
Academy placements: 9
Comments: Since the last report, one cadet who was AWOL and unrostered is now active again; two active cadets are now AWOL but still rostered; one active active cadet is AWOL and no longer rostered.
Non-Academy placements: 1
Comments: No changes since the last report.
March 2021
Academy placements: 10
Non-Academy placements: 5
Discord and retention
The Personnel Department has been asked to start tracking how retention might be affected by new members joining our Discord channel. It will take a few months before trends can be determined.
January 2021
New members placed who joined Discord: 2 (50% of placed new members). Number of them active on their ship: 0 (Comparison: number of non-Discord users who are active: 0)
February 2021
New members placed who joined Discord: 7 (70% of placed new members). Number of them active on their ship: 4 (57%) (Comparison: number of non-Discord users who are active: 2 (67%))
March 2021
New members placed who joined Discord: 12 (80% of placed new members). Number of them active on their ship: 6 (50%) (Comparison: number of non-Discord users who are active: 0)
Open items from last report
Updating static pages: Tabled to next term
Recommendations page: Tabled to next term
Retention: Retention is still an ongoing large concern, with no obvious solutions at this time. February’s numbers did appear promising, but it’s really after 2 months that we have a better idea of how things are for this month’s placements. March’s numbers - while good for raw totals on the recruitment side - still give me concern on retention.
Comments
March saw the Challenger increase its department size to four cadets per department, which is as high as the ship can handle. However, as the attrition of new members plays itself out, the PDept may want to chat with the Academy about going back to three cadets per department at some point.
I have noticed an interesting trend from the last two months. Many (but not all) of our active new members in the main fleet are making their way to the Sentinel and/or Leviathan. In many cases, the new members become active there and go AWOL on their original ship. This includes some of our slow ship placements. I’m not sure if this says something about the ships they were placed on, the ships they joined since becoming members, or a combination of the two. It’s something the PDept may want to keep an eye on and see if that leads to any changes in placement policies, etc.
Well, that’s my last report as Personnel Director. It’s been over two-and-half years as Personnel Director, covering four terms and five presidents (and covers my entire time in STF between my last term as President and my new term as President :P ). I’d like to thank all the PDept assistants over the past four terms, who have all helped and contributed to the improvements in the PDept since I took over. I also want to thank Joe for all of his additions to Exodus behind-the-scenes that have helped improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the PDept. I think the Personnel Department is in a much better spot than where it was when I took over in 2018, and I think it is ready to start with some of the new projects facing the Personnel Department, including the Recommendations Page, additional membership support, and looking towards the ongoing retention issue. I think we have also spent almost three years collecting a lot of data about what our members want and where they end up to see if we can target our polices and procedures more effectively.
Good luck to the next Personnel Department team!
Daniel Lerner
Personnel Director
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