How long ago did this specific engagement start, in months?

Respondents reported a mean engagement age in months since the engagement started (mean 5.6, median 5.0, n = 804 respondents). The association with cancellation was equivalent to zero (TOST p 0.003). Customer satisfaction on active engagements showed the same tested null (TOST p 0.019). The association with the engagement indicator mean was also equivalent to zero (TOST p 0.011). Intent to leave among respondents returned a tested null as well (TOST p 0.005). Engagement age differed after Holm control by class of work (Welch F 9.44, Holm p 0.013, omega squared 0.053), by engagement status and lifecycle stage (Welch F 68.56, Holm p < 0.001, omega squared 0.399), and by vendor type (Welch F 10.49, Holm p < 0.001, omega squared 0.028).

The indicator had 73 written responses coded to it, from 69 of 850 respondents on 48 of 150 engagements. Negative responses numbered 22 of the 73 scored responses (30.14%). The strongest negative score, −10, was carried by 6 of the 73 scored responses (8.22%). Every response was a secondary response, written in answer to a question outside the indicator’s own survey section.

The study set mean was 5.6 on 804 answering respondents, with a median of 5.0.

All 73 responses were secondary responses. The secondary responses came from 69 respondents on 48 engagements, in answer to 11 questions outside the indicator’s own survey section (most often C156 with 17 responses, C114 with 15 responses and C198 with 11 responses). Among the Part 1 indicators with 30 or more scored responses, the secondary share of the indicator ranked 1 of 6 from the highest, tied with 4 other indicators. The median secondary share was 100.00% across the 6 indicators.

The indicator has no good or bad end. Under the coding rulebook’s rule for such indicators, the written score records the effect each response states on the engagement or on the respondent. The survey question is “How long ago did this specific engagement start, in months?” The frequency, scope and consequence a response states set the strength of its score. A score of +10 marks a response that describes “this attribute of the engagement as helping the engagement at its best.” A score of −10 marks a response that describes “this attribute as harming the engagement at its worst . . . .”

Of the 73 scored responses, 22 (30.14%) were negative, 6 (8.22%) carried the strongest negative score and 6 (8.22%) were positive. The responses had a mean written score of −1.5 (95% CI −2.5 to −0.6, n = 73 responses on 48 engagements).

Figures are respondent level. Means are on the scale as recorded. A level under 30 prints no interval and a level under 10 prints counts only.

Engagement families were tested on engagement means, and respondent role and vendor type were tested on respondents. A distressed p marked exact is a Fisher exact test for a two by two table, and one marked simulated is a Monte Carlo test run until its p is stable to the third decimal, both used where an expected count is under 5. Class of work differed after Holm control (Welch F 9.44, Holm p 0.013, tested on engagement means). In Descriptive Statistics by Segment, LOB Operational had the highest mean, 6.5 (n = 425 respondents), and Corporate Functional the lowest, 4.6 (n = 379 respondents). Engagement status and lifecycle stage differed after Holm control (Welch F 68.56, Holm p < 0.001, tested on engagement means). In Descriptive Statistics by Segment, Active, Production had the highest mean, 11.4 (n = 98 respondents), and Active, Build-Out the lowest, 2.7 (n = 161 respondents). Vendor type differed after Holm control (Welch F 10.49, Holm p < 0.001, tested on respondents). In Descriptive Statistics by Segment, Boutique or specialist provider had the highest mean, 6.3 (n = 80 respondents), and Pure-play agentic AI firm the lowest, 4.2 (n = 72 respondents). No difference held after Holm control for outsourcing model, institution type, process family and respondent role.

Scored responses came from 17 engagements in the Active, Build-Out group, 5 engagements in the Active, Transition/Cut-Over group, 3 engagements in the Active, Production group and 23 engagements in the Canceled group. A test of mean written scores across the groups, with each engagement counted once, showed a difference that reached significance at 0.05 (Kruskal-Wallis H 9.03, df 3, p = 0.029, n = 48 engagements). Of the two groups with 10 or more responses, the lower mean written score came from the Canceled group (−2.7, n = 31 responses). The higher came from the Active, Build-Out group (−0.1, n = 34 responses). Groups under 10 responses are reported as counts only. Negative responses numbered 4 of 5 in the Active, Transition/Cut-Over group and 1 of 3 in the Active, Production group.

Across respondent roles, no test was run, because fewer than two roles reached 30 scored responses. Roles under 10 responses are reported as counts only. Among portfolio directors, negative responses numbered 1 of 5.

The share of engagements canceled on the study date, measured at engagement level (base 150 engagements, 56 canceled). The association is a descriptive contrast, inflated because canceled engagements were rated after cancellation, and is not predictive.

The study set r was −0.08 (95% CI −0.24 to 0.08, Holm p 1.000, n = 150 engagements). The association did not hold after Holm control. Equivalence Tests of Null Results found it equivalent to zero inside the bound. Of the 20 tested segment levels, 0 held after Holm control.

The satisfaction score recorded against each engagement on a 100-point scale. The primary estimate uses the 94 active engagements. A descriptive contrast uses all 150 engagements.

The study set r was 0.09 (95% CI −0.11 to 0.29, Holm p 1.000, n = 94 engagements). The association did not hold after Holm control. Equivalence Tests of Null Results found it equivalent to zero inside the bound. Of the 16 tested segment levels, 0 held after Holm control.

The mean of an engagement’s 100 indicator ratings, measured at engagement level (base 150 engagements). Where this indicator is one of the 100, the mean is recomputed without it.

The study set r was 0.12 (95% CI −0.04 to 0.28, Holm p 1.000, n = 150 engagements). The association did not hold after Holm control. Equivalence Tests of Null Results found it equivalent to zero inside the bound. Of the 24 tested segment levels, 0 held after Holm control.

The respondent’s stated likelihood of leaving the current job within 12 months, rated 1 to 10 (C019). Measured at respondent level on up to 798 respondents, with the engagement-level form reported alongside.

The study set r was −0.09 (95% CI −0.16 to −0.02, Holm p 0.409, n = 756 respondents). The association did not hold after Holm control. Equivalence Tests of Null Results found it equivalent to zero inside the bound. Of the 37 tested segment levels, 5 held after Holm control.

The cancellation contrast compared engagements with a negative written response against all other engagements. The comparison group comprised 131 other engagements, of which 102 had no scored written response coded to the indicator and 29 had only scored responses that were not negative. The contrast therefore did not test written sentiment by itself. Cancellation was recorded for 11 of the 19 engagements with a negative response (57.89%), against 45 of the 131 other engagements (34.35%). The difference did not reach significance at 0.05 (Fisher exact p = 0.073). The customer satisfaction contrast was not computed, because only 8 active engagements had a negative response, fewer than 10. The association of written sentiment itself with the study measures was tested by two correlations. The association of the engagement mean written score with cancellation did not reach significance at 0.05 (r = −0.23, p = 0.112, n = 48 engagements). The association of the respondent mean written score with intent to leave reached significance at 0.05 (rho = −0.33, p = 0.008, n = 65 respondents). Of the three outcome comparisons, one reached significance at 0.05: the correlation of the respondent mean written score with intent to leave. Both comparisons with cancellation were descriptive, because responses on canceled engagements were written after cancellation.

Pairs were compared on the engagement level form of every measure, each turned so that a higher value was the better outcome, on the 150 engagements where the indicator and all four measures existed. Of the 6 pairs, 0 differed after Holm control.

Clustering reduced the 804 respondent answers to about 150 independent answers. Respondent level intervals therefore used the cluster bootstrap, and respondent level tests on intent to leave used cluster-robust errors.

Tested null, equivalent to zero: cancellation rate, customer satisfaction, engagement indicator mean and intent to leave. No result was inconclusive. The detection floor column is the study floor at 150 engagements. Intent to leave was tested on its effective n.

Each change was computed before rounding, so it can differ by 0.01 from the difference of the two printed values.

Checks that did not hold: “Rank correlation in place of Pearson” on intent to leave and “Thin-base segments removed” on cancellation rate. A check holds when its test lands on the same side of 0.05 as the primary test and, where the primary test is below 0.05, its r keeps the primary sign. Thin-base rule: engagements in any level under 30 engagements of outsourcing model or process family removed. Institution type is not used, because every one of its levels is under 30.

Each of the four measures was computed from data this indicator does not contain, so each result is a finding rather than an arithmetic consequence.

Each deviation was computed before rounding, so it can differ by 0.01 from the difference of the two printed values.

The comparison ran on 150 engagements. The indicator departed from the study’s typical pattern on cancellation rate, customer satisfaction, engagement indicator mean and intent to leave.

The peer set comprised 101 indicators of the four Parts with 30 or more scored responses. The indicator was within the peer set. Its share of negative responses ranked 90 of 101 from the highest. Its mean written score (−1.5, n = 73 responses) ranked 88 of 101 from the most negative. The peer median of the mean written score was −4.6 across the 101 indicators.

The indicator’s twin, ENG:Age of Engagement (Months), records the same fact under the coding rulebook’s twin rule. The twin was coded in all 73 responses coded to the indicator. The twin is left out of the counts that follow. The responses coded to the indicator were most often also coded to “What stage is the engagement in?” (C036, 22 responses). The second most frequent co-coded indicator was “Rate how quickly the customer responds when this engagement raises issues that need customer action” (C109, 12 responses). The most frequent theme of the coding rulebook in the same responses was “Insufficient exposure to rate” (14 responses).

Engagement age was highest at Active, Production (mean 11.4, n = 98 respondents) and lowest at Active, Build-Out (mean 2.7, n = 161 respondents). LOB Operational respondents reported older engagements (mean 6.5, n = 425 respondents) than Corporate Functional respondents (mean 4.6, n = 379 respondents). Engagement age tracked lifecycle stage and class of work without any association with the four study measures.

The indicator is a survey question that is not a rating, so the written responses were not set against a rating. Written responses were voluntary. They recorded what the respondents who wrote reported, and how common it was is measured by the answers.

The evidence is reported experience: what the delivery team said about its own engagement, gathered in one cross-section. The figures showed associations, not causes. Indicators about the financial institution were reported at second hand by vendor staff. Cancellation is a descriptive contrast, because canceled engagements were rated after they ended.

Tests across respondent role and vendor type were run at respondent level and treated respondents as independent. The section Clustering and Effective Sample Size states whether, and by how much, clustering within engagements reduced the information in respondent level figures.

20 of 22 checks held. The rank correlation on intent to leave and the thin-base check on cancellation did not hold. Answers matched within engagements, so the item carried about one independent answer per engagement (ICC 1.00, 804 answers worth about 150 independent answers).

Shares of written sentiment were shares of responses, not of the study set of respondents. The written score took five fixed values, so its mean and median were coarse. Responses clustered within engagements. Intervals for written sentiment used a bootstrap by engagement. Coding was performed by AI coders under a fixed rulebook. Agreement on whether a response was coded to the indicator rested on 5 responses second-coded under rulebook 0.5, with the coders agreeing on 3 of 5. Agreement on the score rested on 6 responses second-scored under rulebook 0.6, with the scores agreeing in 4 of 6. These bases of second-coded responses are too small for an indicator-level alpha.