Year three is when you become dangerous.
You're not learning the system anymore. You're building it. You know which "urgent" pings can wait, which processes are real, and how to ship decisions without six meetings.
That's also when the LinkedIn messages start looking good.
Last week I introduced REMOTE Score. This week: the "R" for Retention, and why it matters more than you think.
The Retention Gap
Companies love talking about ramp time.
- Month 1: 25%
- Month 3: 75%
- Month 6-12: Finally 100%
Those first months are expensive. You're learning tools, people, acronyms. Normal tax on productivity.
But here's what nobody measures: there's a massive gap between doing your job and peak effectiveness.
Real effectiveness takes time:
- Learning which processes are theater
- Building trust across teams
- Going from executing your craft to pushing its boundaries
That deeper effectiveness peaks around years 3–7.
Skill + context + relationships = better work, and organizational impact
Now looking at the data:
- Median tenure: 3.5 years
- Ages 25-34: 2.7 years
- 20%+ of workers: less than 1 year
Most companies pay for 6-12 months of ramp, get 12-24 months of solid work, then watch people leave right as they enter their highest-value window.
Then restart the cycle.
If you're a leader: measure the right thing
Retention isn't "did we avoid backfilling?" It's: "Do people stay long enough for us to benefit from their peak effectiveness?"
Three moves:
1. Track tenure distribution, not just turnover
Don't stop at "15% annual turnover." Ask:
- How many make it past year 3?
- Where do your best people cluster: 0-2, 3-5, or 5+ years?
2. Do the departure math
Someone leaves at month 18? Here's what happened:
- You paid the 6-12 month ramp tax
- You got 6-12 months of full productivity
- You captured zero years 3-7 upside
3. Rebalance your budget toward keeping people
You'll quietly spend 50-200% of salary to replace someone. What if you redirected 10-15% into:
- Manager training for remote teams
- Clear growth paths
- Real recognition and feedback
- Proactive comp conversations
In a REMOTE Score world, retention isn't "no one quit lately." It's: We don't throw people away just because their worth has grown.
This matters for each of us too.
Job hunting is not fun. Knowing you won't be doing it again next year? Obvious win.
But strong retention signals more than stability. It signals an environment where human connection is possible. (How long would you watch The Office if the cast changed every 6 months?)
It means people stick around long enough to show you the ropes. And that the "competitive" comp in the job description.... might actually be competitive.