Presented at ESEM 2015 in Beijing, China.
http://eseiw.iscas.ac.cn/eseiw2015/esem/
© Microsoft CorporationRamp-up Journey of New Hires:Tug of War of Aids and ImpedimentsAyushi Rastogi, Suresh Thummalapenta, Thomas Zimmermann,Nachiappan Nagappan, Jacek Czerwonka
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© Microsoft CorporationHiring Top Talent
© Microsoft CorporationNew Hires often spend weeks ormonths before• Making major contribution• Reaching the productivitylevel of existing employees
© Microsoft CorporationPercentage of New Hires14-49% of allsoftware developersin Microsoft productteams are New Hires
© Microsoft CorporationGoal of this Study1. Identify factors that influence the ramp-upjourney of new hires.2. Measure the amount of time it takes fornew hires to become productive.
© Microsoft CorporationApplication of the ResultsIndustry– Reduce bottlenecks in existing processes– Spread best practicesAcademia– Understand skills needed in industry andchallenges that new hires face
© Microsoft CorporationMixed Methods ApproachMINING INTERVIEWS SURVEY
© Microsoft CorporationNew Hires• University recruit or first company• Joined as an intern or vendor and convertedto a full time position• Left the company and joined again after atleast a year• Worked for other companies in the past
© Microsoft CorporationData Analysis• CodeMine• Data from Version Control System• Data from HR database
© Microsoft CorporationTime to First Check-InFirst check-in that makes the release branchIntuition:• Basic understanding of the engineering system• Basic knowledge of the project
© Microsoft CorporationTime to Ramp-upEmployee reaches the productivity level ofexisting employeesThree flavors of ramp-up• Familiarity… frequency of Check-ins• Effort… lines changed• Knowledge… files changed
© Microsoft CorporationInterviews• 30 minutes interviews with 4 developers– What factors supported or undermined attemptsto early first check-in and the time to ramp-up?– What could have been done to reduce it?
© Microsoft CorporationSurvey Questions• Influence of factors on time to first check-inand time to ramp-up• Other activities that take time• Suggestions for improvement of the ramp upprocess
© Microsoft CorporationSurvey Participants• Selection of population– Have started recently (fresh memory) and spent aminimum time at Microsoft– Anticipated response rate ~ 20%• Randomly selected 1189 developers with6-13 months experience at Microsoft• 411 complete response (34.57%)
© Microsoft CorporationRESULTS
© Microsoft CorporationTime tofirst check-in
© Microsoft CorporationDoes the product group of new hiresinfluence the time to first check-in?Median population ofnew hires across allproduct divisions take4-10% of the maximumtime to first check-in.Working with somespecific product grouphas no significant impacton the time to check-in.
© Microsoft CorporationDoes prior job experience influencethe time to first check-in?Inexperienced new hiresmake early first check-ins (~20%) compared toexperienced new hires.Senior developersperform consistently andmake early first check-ins compared to middlelevel SDE.
© Microsoft CorporationInfluence of factors
© Microsoft CorporationSI: Strong Increase; MI: Moderate Increase; NE: No Effect;MD: Moderate Decrease; SD: Strong Decrease; DK: Don’t Know
© Microsoft CorporationOther factors• Mentorship• Documentation– Product and Process– Different Formats• Standardize Process• Access and Permissions with team• System set-up
© Microsoft CorporationTime toramp-up
© Microsoft CorporationDoes early check-in correlated withearly ramp-up?Early ramp-up not related to early first check-in
© Microsoft CorporationIs ramp-up journey a function ofproduct?New hires ramp-upstep-wiseRamp-up journeysimilar on check-incounts (~32-45%);different on lineschanged (~45-81%)and files changed(~68-100%).
© Microsoft CorporationIs ramp-up journey a function ofexperience?Experience has no impact onramp-up time on check-incountsMiddle and senior developerstake longer (~13% and 6%)to ramp-up on lines changedand files changed (~22%).
© Microsoft CorporationOther factors• Team Interaction– Verbal communication/Pair programming– Recently ramped-up mentors• Training programs• Overview of the system– Well chosen starting tasks• Proximity to release
© Microsoft CorporationOther New Hire Activities• Time to relocate• Set-up the system• Understand the existing system and their role• Acquire technical and functional knowledge• Miscellaneous: writing proposals, participatein events like Hackathons, etc.
© Microsoft CorporationSuggestions• Apply companywide coding standards• Improved code base and documentation• Easy toolsOne Engineering System Initiative• Training tools• Guided work• Centralized information• Clearly communicated expectation
© Microsoft CorporationThreats to Validity• Internal Validity– Data Accuracy• Construct Validity– Activities in other product groups– Activities other than code check-in• External Validity– Generalizability– Geographic differences
© Microsoft CorporationSummary• Factors that influence the ramp-up journey ofnew hires.• Amount of time it takes for new hires tobecome productive.
© Microsoft CorporationThank you!