What Are Key HR Metrics?

(With 14 Useful Examples)

Metrics are an essential component of HR analytics and provide helpful information for making
strategic decisions. To gather insightful information on their workforce and HR activities,
organisations use a variety of tools to track human resources metrics. If you are an HR
professional, you can evaluate data, enhance employee performance and cut expenses by
knowing how to use different metrics. In this article, we examine what key HR metrics are and
why they are beneficial, and list some common examples.
What Are Key HR Metrics? Professionals use key HR metrics to understand the effectiveness of
initiatives pertaining to HR processes like training or recruiting. Professionals in human
resources monitor HR metrics to gain insights and typically submit reports to management staff.
By highlighting what is functioning well, where there is scope for improvement and what trends
a business can expect in the future, these metrics play a crucial role in decision making.

14 Popular HR Metrics These are some popular metrics that HR professionals can monitor
or track:
1.Absence rate HR professionals measure absenteeism to understand how comfortable
employees working for a company are, and use insights to prevent excessive turnover. This
metric can help companies evaluate work-satisfaction levels among personnel. It can also reflect
the attitude that employees may have towards organisational changes. You can determine
absence rate with the formula:
Absence rate = (Workdays missed/Total workdays scheduled) x 100

2. Acceptance rate The percentage of applicants that accept employment offers from a company
is the acceptance rate. This metric can help HR professionals evaluate the appeal or
attractiveness of the work opportunities that a company provides. To calculate a company's
acceptance rate, use the formula:
Acceptance rate = (Acceptances/Offers) x 100 3. Average performance rating

Keeping track of a department's or a group of employees' average performance ratings can assist
HR experts in determining which staff members or departments require more training or
guidance. It helps companies understand whether their personnel are improving professionally,
through on-the-job training. To calculate average performance rating, you can use the formula:
Average performance rating = (Sum of all performance ratings/Number of employees) x 100

4. Benefits participation rate This metric shows the proportion of employees who choose to
participate in certain benefits plans that a company offers. HR personnel can use this information
to identify incentive schemes that perform poorly. To calculate the benefits participation rate,
you can use the formula:
Benefits participation rate = (Number of employees enrolled/Number of employees eligible) x
100 5. Cost of HR operations per employee and cost per hire

Firms can utilise this metric to decide the cost effectiveness of HR operations. To calculate the
cost of HR operations per employee, use the formula: Cost of HR per employee = Total HR
compensation/Number of employees The cost per hire measure displays the cost of hiring a new
employee. It can serve as an indicator of how effectively a hiring process works. To determine
cost per hire, use the formula:
Cost per hire = total cost of recruiting and staffing/Number of new hires

6. Early turnover Early turnover calculates the ratio of new employees leaving within the first
year of their career at a firm. This is essential data since recruiting and teaching new employees
can be a costly process for businesses. If a firm has a significant early turnover rate, it can be a
sign that there is a need for improvement in onboarding or hiring techniques. 7. Goal tracking
and engagement rating A range of software applications are available for monitoring goals
relating to personnel, teams and departments. Monitoring includes keeping track of progress
towards objectives that managers set and evaluating how they connect to business objectives.
Surveys are a popular method that HR professionals use to gauge employee engagement levels in
a company. This metric is important since employees who are more productive and satisfied with
their jobs typically contribute to higher retention rates. 8. Healthcare costs per employee HR
experts use the metric healthcare cost per employee to calculate the percentage of a company's
budget required to fund employee health insurance. To calculate health care costs per employee,
you can use the formula:
Health care costs per employee = Total health care costs/Number of employees enrolled in
company insurance schemes

9. Overtime percentage and percentage of vacation days Knowing a company's overtime

percentage can help HR professionals determine whether there are enough active employees at
all times and if managers are maintaining a suitable schedule for personnel. To calculate
overtime percentage, you can use the formula: Overtime percentage = (Overtime pay
amount/Total payroll) x 100 HR experts can assess whether employees have a healthy work-life
balance by calculating the percentage of vacation days they use in a ‌year. You can use this
formula to calculate the percentage of vacation days employees use:
Percentage of vacation days used = (Number of vacation days used/Number of vacation days
offered) x 100
10. Retention rate A company's staff retention rate is another key HR metric that indicates the
efficacy of recruitment processes. This metric corresponds to the number of employees who stay
with a company over a specific time frame. You can calculate it using the formula:
Retention rate = (Number of employees staying across a time period/Number of employees at
the start of time period) x 100.
While using this formula, ensure that you are not including new hires during the specified period.

11. Time to hire and transition The time it takes to hire a new employee is an important HR
metric. This metric counts the days that pass between a candidate submitting an application and
accepting a job offer. Measuring time to hire helps evaluate the efficiency of the recruitment
process. The time to transition metric counts the days between an employee's start date and the
point at which they are performing at a level that is satisfactory. This metric can assist businesses
in assessing the effectiveness of their onboarding and training strategies.
12. Training cost per employee and completion rate HR experts can calculate how much a
business needs to invest in workforce development, by estimating the cost of training each
employee. Travel expenditures, course fees and the price of a business' Learning Management
System (LMS) software subscription are some examples of training costs. To calculate the cost
of training an employee, you can use the formula:
Training cost per employee = Total training cost/Number of employees HR professionals can
also track how frequently employees finish a specific training programme that a company offers.
You can calculate the training completion rate using the formula:
Training completion rate = (Number of employees who completed training/Total number of
employees) x 100 13.
Training participation rate This metric calculates the proportion of employees who are inclined
to make use of professional development opportunities. It can be a helpful tool to assess whether
businesses are providing employees with the right training opportunities. You can calculate the
training participation rate using the formula,
Training participation rate = (Number of participants in training programme/Number of eligible
personnel) x 100

14. Turnover rate The ratio of employees who leave a company within a specific time period is
the turnover rate. This metric is helpful for determining the overall satisfaction levels of
employees in a company. To calculate the turnover rate, you can use the formula Turnover rate =
(Number of departures during a specific time period/Average number of employees during the
same period) x 100
Benefits Of Using HR Metrics Periodically tracking HR metrics and using insights to work on
personnel development can provide a range of benefits. Some include: Improving recruiting,
onboarding, training and remuneration processes relating to the human resources of an enterprise
Estimating the effects of modifications to activities and processes, such as personal time-off
policies, benefits adjustments, re-organisation of teams and overtime work hours Enhancing
return on investment of HR initiatives including engagement, wellness, financial planning and
employee performance & nbsp;

What are HR metrics?

HR metrics are quantitative measures used to track and assess the

efficiency and effectiveness of human resource management practices

within an organization.

These metrics cover a wide range of areas, including recruitment,

retention, training, employee satisfaction, performance, and

productivity. They provide valuable insights that help inform strategic

decisions, optimize HR processes, and boost overall organizational

performance.
Why are HR metrics important?
Making the HR function more data-informed has numerous benefits not

only for the HR operations but also for the organization. Here are the

key reasons why HR metrics are important:

 Strategically managing talent: HR metrics assist in identifying

talent needs and gaps, guiding strategic decisions in talent

acquisition, development, and retention. HR can leverage this

information to create targeted talent management programs

that address specific organizational needs, enhancing workforce

capabilities.
 Optimizing costs: By analyzing recruitment, training, and

turnover costs, HR metrics help in allocating budgets efficiently

and identifying cost-saving opportunities. This allows HR to

justify investments in employee development and retention

strategies by demonstrating potential cost savings and ROI.

 Supporting strategic planning: HR metrics help uncover trends

and make forecasts that are essential for informed strategic

planning and organizational growth. HR can use these insights to

align workforce planning with long-term business objectives and

secure the right talent for the organization to meet future

challenges.

 Improving decision-making: Data-driven insights from HR metrics

empower HR professionals to make evidence-based workforce

decisions. For example, by leveraging data on the impact of

employee wellness programs on absenteeism rates, HR can

make informed decisions about continuing, expanding, or

modifying these programs to maximize their effectiveness.

 Highlighting the impact of HR initiatives on organizational

performance: Tracking HR metrics and being able to show how

they correlate with key business outcomes enables HR to

showcase the tangible impact of its initiatives on organizational

performance. This approach not only validates the strategic

 importance of HR efforts but also helps secure executive support

and investment for future HR projects.

Put simply, HR metrics are essential tools for forecasting, planning,

and optimizing the workforce for the future. Now, we’ll look at HR

metrics examples across different areas of HR and the business.

HR metrics examples in
recruitment and retention
1. Time to hire

Time to hire is one of the most widely used metrics for recruitment. It

measures the number of days between a candidate applying for a job

and them accepting a job offer. Time to hire gives insights into

recruiting efficiency and candidate experience.

Here’s how to calculate your average time to hire:

Average time to hire = (1st candidate time to hire in days + 2nd

candidate time to hire + nth candidate time to hire) / Total number of

jobs

Recruitment efficiency measures the speed at which HR processes a

candidate – assessment, interview, and role acceptance. If your

organization has a long time to hire, it reflects that your processes are

inefficient.

Having a long time to hire might negatively impact the candidate

experience. Candidates may drop out of the recruitment process if it is

too long, getting hired by a competitor instead.

Time to hire should not be confused with time to fill. This metric

typically measures the days between the approval of a job

requisition and the candidate accepting the job offer. This definition is

in line with the Society for Human Resource Management

(SHRM) and ISO 30414.

2. Cost per hire

The cost per hire is a recruiting metric that shows how much it

costs the company to hire new employees. This also serves as an

indicator of the efficiency of the recruitment process.

Cost per hire can be time-consuming to work out, as you need to add

together internal recruiting costs and external recruiting costs and

divide the sum by the total number of hires. The costs and number of

hires will both reflect a selected measurement period – such as

monthly or annually.

Cost per hire = (Internal costs + External costs) / Total number of hires
Here are some examples of internal and external costs:

Internal costs
External costs

Cost of sourcing

Background checks

Recruitment team costs

Marketing costs

Administrative costs

Singing bonus

Hiring manager costs

Technological expenses

3. Quality of hire

Quality of hire measures the value a new employee brings to an

organization. This metric assesses the effectiveness of the

recruitment process and the long-term impact of new hires on

company performance.

Quality of hire is typically evaluated based on several criteria,

including the new employee’s job performance, their contribution to

achieving team or organizational goals, how well they fit with the

company culture, and their retention rate over time.

4. Early turnover

Early turnover – the percentage of recruits leaving in the first year – is

arguably the most important metric to determine hiring success in a

company. This early leaver metric indicates whether there is a

mismatch between the person and the company or between the person

and his/her position.

New hire turnover is also very expensive. It usually takes 6 to 12

months before employees have fully learned the ropes and reach their

Optimum Productivity Level. The cost of replacing an employee can be

as much as 1.5-2x the employee’s annual salary, especially for more

senior roles.

You can calculate early turnover as follows:

Early turnover rate = (# of new hires who have left the organization

during period / # of new hires who from that same period) x 100

5. Turnover

This metric, usually expressed as a percentage, shows how many

workers leave the company in a given year. When combined with, for
instance, a performance metric, the turnover metric can track the

difference in departures of high and low performers.

Preferably, you would like to see low performers leave and high

performers stay. This metric also provides HR professionals with a

great amount of information about the departments and functions in

which employees feel at home and where in the organization they do

not want to work.

Turnover is very useful data to know when shaping recruitment

strategies. Additionally, it could be a key metric in measuring a

manager’s success.

Here’s how to calculate employee turnover rate:

Turnover rate = (# Terminations during period / # Employees at

beginning of period) x 100

6. Time since last promotion

This rather straightforward metric is useful in explaining why

your high potentials leave. It looks at the average time in months

since the last internal promotion.

HR metrics examples related to

revenue
7. Revenue per employee

The revenue per employee metric shows the efficiency of the

organization as a whole. It is an indicator of the quality of the

workforce.

The metric looks at the ratio of the organization’s total revenue

divided by the current number of employees and is usually calculated

on an annual basis:

Revenue per employee = Total revenue / Number of employees

It’s useful for comparing the year-on-year development of your revenue

per employee, as well as comparing your organization to your

competitors.

Another related metric is revenue per FTE.

8. Performance and potential

There are many qualitative and quantitative ways to measure

employee performance. Metrics include Net Promoter Score,

management by objectives, number of errors, 360-degree feedback,

and forced ranking.

Another useful tool is the 9 box grid, which assists in measuring and

mapping both an individual’s performance and potential in three levels.

This model shows which employees are underperformers, reliable

team players, high potentials, or exceptional talent:

This tool is great for differentiating between, for example, wanted and

unwanted turnover.

9. Billable hours per employee

This is the most concrete example of a performance measure, and it is

especially relevant in professional service firms (e.g., law and

consultancy firms). Relating this kind of performance to employee

engagement or other input metrics makes for an interesting analysis.

Benchmarking this metric between different departments and

managers/partners can also provide valuable insights.

This metric also relates to employee utilization rate, which refers to

the amount of working time an employee is spending on billable tasks.

Other HR metrics examples

10. Cost of HR per employee

The cost of HR per employee is calculated by dividing the total cost of

HR operations by the total number of employees in the organization. It

is usually expressed in dollars and calculated per specific period, for

example, on an annual basis.

Total HR costs refer to all expenses related to HR functions over a

specific period. This includes salaries of HR staff, costs of HR systems

and software, training and development expenses, recruitment costs,

benefits administration, and any other HR-related expenditures.

Cost of HR per employee = Total HR costs / Total number of employees

11. HR to employee ratio

HR to employee ratio is another measure that shows HR’s efficiency.

It indicates the number of HR professionals in an organization relative

to the total number of employees.

Our State of HR research showed that the typical HR to employee

ratio is around 1:50 or 2%, which means that there are 2 HR

professionals for every 100 employees.

HR to employee ratio = Number of HR employees / Total number of

employees

The ideal HR-to-employee ratio can vary significantly depending on the

industry, the complexity of HR needs, the level of automation in HR

processes, and the specific responsibilities handled by the HR

department.

12. Ratio of HR business partners per

employee

This metric is similar to the HR to employee ratio but looks specifically

at HR business partners. This ratio is crucial for understanding how

equipped the HR department is to provide strategic support and

partnership to the business units it serves.

13. Effectiveness of HR software

The effectiveness of HR software is a more complex metric. The

effectiveness of, for instance, learning and development software is

measured in:

 The number of active users

  Average time on the platform

 Session length

 Total time on the platform per user per month

 Screen flow, and

 Software retention.

14. Absenteeism

Like turnover, absenteeism is also a strong indicator of

dissatisfaction and a predictor of turnover. Absenteeism rate can

give information to prevent this kind of leave, as long-term absence

can be very costly.

Again, differences between individual managers and departments are

very interesting indicators of (potential) problems and bottlenecks.

This is how you can calculate your absenteeism rate:

Absenteeism rate = (Number of absent days / Total working days) x

100

15. Training expenses per employee

Training expenses per employee is a metric that quantifies the

average amount of money an organization spends on the training and

development of each employee over a specific period, typically a year.

This figure is key for understanding the investment an organization

makes in enhancing the skills, knowledge, and competencies of its

workforce.

You can calculate training expenses per employee as follows:

Training expenses per employee = Total training expenses / Total

number of employees

16. Overtime expenses

Overtime expenses refer to the additional costs incurred by an

organization when employees work beyond their regular working hours

and are compensated at a higher rate, as mandated by labor laws or

company policies.

These expenses are a form of direct labor cost and can significantly

impact an organization’s payroll budget. That’s why it’s important to

keep track of them.

Here’s an overtime expenses calculation formula:

Overtime expenses = Total overtime hours worked x

Overtime pay rate

Soft HR metrics examples

Soft HR metrics refer to the qualitative aspects of HR management

that focus on measuring intangible elements related to the workforce’s

attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions.

Unlike hard HR metrics, which are quantitative and directly

measurable (such as turnover rates or cost per hire), soft HR metrics

delve into the subjective experiences of employees within an

organization. These metrics typically assess employee satisfaction

and engagement levels, leadership effectiveness, and the impact of

training and development programs.

17. Engagement rating

An engaged workforce is a productive workforce. Engagement might

be the most important ‘soft’ HR outcome. People who like their jobs

and who are proud of their company are generally more engaged, even

if the work environment is challenging and pressure can be high.

Engaged employees perform better and are more likely to perceive

challenges as positive and interesting. Additionally, team engagement

is an important metric for a team manager’s success.

Engagement rating is often expressed as employee net promoter

score (eNPS). This measures how likely your employees are to

recommend your organization to their friends or family as a good place

to work on a scale of 1-10.

18. Employee satisfaction

Employee satisfaction metrics help you evaluate how happy and

content employees are with their job roles, work environment, and the

organization as a whole.

This soft HR metrics is often measured through surveys and

questionnaires that ask about various aspects of the job and

workplace, including work-life balance, management effectiveness,

and job security.

19. Leadership effectiveness

The leadership effectiveness metric gauges the impact of leadership

on employee performance, morale, and overall organizational climate.

It can be measured through 360-degree feedback surveys, where

employees rate their leaders on a range of leadership competencies,

such as communication, decision-making, empathy, and the ability to

inspire and motivate.

Methods of Human Resource

Valuations
the following methods of human resource valuations i.e., (1) Historical
Cost Method, (2) Replacement Cost Method, (3) Economic Value
Method, (4) Standard Cost Method, (5) Present Value Method, (6)
Current Purchase Power Method, and (7) Opportunity Cost Method.

(1) Historical Cost Method:

This method is based on costs incurred or recruitment, training,
familiarization etc. It is developed by Rensis Likert. This is a very
simple method based on traditional principles of accounting. Under
this method an attempt is made to have a proper match between cost
and revenue.

The plus point of this method is that the organization can show the
value of human capital in its balance sheet and profit and loss account,
the weak point of this method is that it fails to fulfill the need of
developing a system of HRA based on systematic valuation of human
resources.

(2) Replacement Cost Method:

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Under this method the replacement cost of existing personnel is

estimated. Replacement cost includes the cost of recruitment, training
and opportunity cost for the intervening period. This serves the
purpose of making valuation of human resources periodically. It helps
in planning for human resources in future. The difficulty in this
method is that the value differs from person to person making it
difficult to find identical replacement of the present human assets.

(3) Economic Value Method:

The payment made to the human resources till their retirement are
calculated and appropriately discounted to get their present economic
value.

(4) Standard Cost Method:

This method is in improvement over replacement cost method. Under
this method the standard costs of recruitment, training and
development are developed and established every year to overcome
complications in calculations. There costs represent the value of
human resources for accounting. It is easy for implementation and
control.

(5) Present Value Method:

Under this method the net contributions of employees to the earning
of the organisation are discounted to have present value of human
resources.

(6) Current Purchase Power Method:

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In this method the historical costs are converted into current

purchasing power of money with the help of index numbers.

(7) Opportunity Cost Method:

Under this method the value of human asset is determined in their
alternative use or the next best alternative use. This value forms the
basis for valuation of human asset of organisation. For calculation of
opportunity cost bidding method is used. But it is difficult to decide
bid or offer.

B. Non-Monetary Methods:
Taking note of the changes in the effectiveness of individuals, groups
and the organisation from time to time, the behavioural scientists have
developed some non-monetary methods in HRA.

The important ones are discussed here:

1. Expected Realisable Value Method:
Under this method, the elements of expected realisable value of
employee are measured through behavioural measures. For example,
the productivity of an employee can be measured by using objective
indices and managerial assessment. Psychometric tests and subjective
evaluations can be used to measure the promotability and
transferability of employees. Similarly, attitude surveys can be used to
measure employee satisfaction, motivation, etc.

2. Discounted Net Present Value of Future Earnings:

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This method is propounded by Rensis Likert. The method is based on

three variables— casual, intermediate and output. According to Likert,
the effectiveness of human capital/resources can be measured by
using these three variables. Casual variables such as leadership style
and behaviour affect intermediate variables such as morale,
motivation, commitment to work, etc., which, in turn, affect output
variables such as production, sales, profit, etc.

What is HR benchmarking?
Benchmarking is the process of comparing similar characteristics between or within businesses,
identifying the most successful practices, and integrating them into the company procedure.
After collecting data for comparison purposes, HR professionals can better determine the
benchmark—the target they want to shoot for.
 Companies usually benchmark against similar competitors of the same size or industry to
understand how to incorporate better practices into their routines.

What are different types of benchmarking?

There are two main types of benchmarking in HR: internal and external.

Internal benchmarking is a comparison within an organization, such as comparing the

productivity of two teams or the profitability of two departments. External benchmarking is a
comparison between competing organizations, often seeking to determine where a business ranks
in relation to others.

There are also other types of benchmarking that can be done both internally and externally.
These include:

 Process benchmarking: This type of benchmarking looks at processes like onboarding, recruitment, or
performance management
 Competitive benchmarking: Unlike process benchmarking, which focuses on a single specific process,
competitive benchmarking takes a holistic view of the overall performance of organizations
 Functional benchmarking: This type of benchmarking looks at how successful organizations are at
achieving their goals, whether that be measured in terms of revenue, market share, brand recognition, or
something else

Why should HR leaders care about

benchmarking?
 Benchmarking helps HR professionals identify successful practices in other companies and areas
for improvement in their own. Benchmarking data enables HR leaders to analyze the causes
behind identified gaps and make more informed decisions about effective practices and policies
that need adjustment.

Studying competing company practices can keep HR leaders informed regarding the constantly
changing landscape of customer demands. HR leaders can use benchmarking to improve:

 Recruitment
 Engagement
 Retention
 Training
 Compensation planning
 Budgeting
 Turnover rate

What are the advantages and disadvantages

of HR benchmarking?

Benchmarking has several important advantages, including:

 Offering data-based insights about business performance and contributing factors

 Identifying industry trends and developments
 Improving existing HR practices
 Helping improve employee experience and engagement

It’s also worth noting that there are some disadvantages to benchmarking. First, it can be
challenging to compare organizations that have fundamental differences. Because so many
 factors are at play in how an organization performs, raw numbers don’t always give a complete
picture of what’s going on.

This is why HR professionals must analyze benchmarking data in tandem with larger issues. For
example, the fact that an organization takes longer to fill open positions than another may not
necessarily mean it is doing a poorer job at recruitment. Instead, it might indicate that they have
higher standards for who they hire, and their retention rates are better as a result.

Another challenge of benchmarking is that not all terminology is used identically from
organization to organization, meaning people can’t always compare metrics one-to-one. For
example, what one company calls turnover, another may call attrition.

What is the process of HR benchmarking?

To implement impactful benchmarking, HR can:

 Define the focus area. HR leaders can collaborate with colleagues to pinpoint the issue that needs
improvement and formulate a question that the benchmarking process will address. For example, a
company looking to hire in-house brand marketing designers could ask: What compensation can we offer
that fits the company budget and needs and attracts and retains talent?
 Identify the measurements. Different metrics allow HR leaders to compare specific aspects of their
company with those of other companies. For instance, HR leaders can measure:
o Quality of hire
o Turnover rate
o Quality of work
o Market index
o Average compensation per employee
 Collect data. Professional HR leaders engage in extensive, in-depth research to find external information
that accurately corresponds to their measurements. They often purchase benchmarking reports that save
them from sifting through irrelevant information and provide accurate, pertinent data.
 Study the gaps. Comparing internal and external metrics, HR leaders should ask what their organization
can do to reach the levels of success of other companies in their industry. HR leaders can implement
changes that align with company strategy based on the data they collect. Perhaps, for instance, a company
prides itself on high base salaries. So, they decide to decrease funding for employee wellness
programs and increase base pay. This way, the employer can offer a more competitive edge for
compensation plans while maintaining alignment with the high base salary strategy.
 Design a plan to implement the changes. HR leaders and colleagues can collaborate to implement an
executive-backed plan that achieves the designated goals. Creating a detailed plan that meshes with
the company culture can increase the chances that people will readily accept the new changes.
 Analyze the long-term results. After a specified period, HR professionals should follow up to ensure
that the new changes bring positive results and then provide a detailed report to distribute to collaborators.

What are some best practices in HR

benchmarking?

Some best practices for benchmarking in human resources include:

 Choose your competitors wisely. Because benchmarking is a rather involved process, you’ll have to
limit the number of competitors you choose to compare your business to. When you pick the
organizations you want to benchmark against, choose only the relevant ones, such as those similar to you
in size or location.
 Find data sources. Your benchmarking results are only as good as the data you analyze, so choose your
sources carefully. Think about what data is available to you and where you’ll find it. Competitors’ job
postings and industry benchmark reports are high-value, publicly available sources to consider.
 Be realistic with your goals. Benchmarking can help you identify large, structural improvements to
make. When setting your goals at the end of your benchmarking process, think macro and long-term
rather than trying to implement all of the changes at once.
 Continue the process. Benchmarking isn’t a one-and-done. It’s a continual process that requires
regularly revisiting your benchmarks to see what has changed and what needs further work.

Recommended For Further Reading

 Benchmarking and how to talk comp with your people

 Attract and retain talent with Bob’s Compensation Benchmarking Powered by Mercer
 What is salary benchmarking?

HR benchmarking examples

As an example of how benchmarking can be planned and executed, let’s look at the fictional
company Ficta. Ficta is a book publisher that wants to benchmark in order to see what their more
successful competitor Nocta might be doing well. Because Ficta has had a hard time filling open
positions and retaining people, they decide to focus on how Nocta’s hiring practices help them
succeed.

Ficta chooses to look at the data they have access to:

 A market research report from Ibis World

 Nocta’s Glassdoor data
 Professional networking events and online groups

These sources provide Ficta with information about Nocta’s revenue, employee satisfaction, and
salaries. Comparing this data to their own, Ficta ascertains that people consider Nocta to be a
highly desirable employer for book editors because of its brand reputation, generous benefits,
and flexible hours.

As a result, Ficta sets a goal for improving their newly-determined human resources benchmarks:
stronger brand recognition and a more attractive benefits package and working hours policy.
How does benchmarking improve company
culture?

Benchmarking is an ongoing process of company growth and advancement. Using benchmarking

to enhance the employee experience and increase compensation, retention, and job satisfaction
can lead to greater employee wellbeing and, in turn, a healthier company culture.

How to Build Powerful

Tableau KPI Dashboard
(Step by Step)
Tableau is a powerful data visualization tool that can help you track your Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs). With the right dashboard, you can make informed
business decisions to help your company grow and succeed. This blog post will walk
you through the steps needed to create an effective Tableau KPI dashboard. Let’s get
started!

Why you need Tableau KPI dashboards

“You get what you measure” is just one of the popular sayings about the importance of
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Let’s say your business goal is to increase sales by 20%. Creating a dashboard with all
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understand how you perform against your goal. You can easily track and monitor
progress in real-time, identify areas of improvement, also spot trends and make
predictions.

How to create a basic KPI Dashboard in

Tableau
Now, let’s look at how to create a basic KPI dashboard in Tableau. For this tutorial, we
use Tableau Cloud. However, you can also use any other version of Tableau that you
have to try out the steps in this section, even though a few steps might be slightly
different.

Follow these steps to get started building a KPI dashboard in Tableau:

Step 1: Choose your KPIs

The first step in creating a Tableau KPI dashboard is choosing the KPIs you want to
track. This will depend on your business goals and what metrics are most important to
you. For example, if you’re trying to increase profits, you might want to track KPIs such
as total sales, expenses, and profit, including their changes over time.

Step 2: Prepare your data sources

Once you’ve chosen your KPIs, the next step is to select your data source. This can be
any data containing the KPIs you want to track. For example, if you’re tracking sales
data, your data source could be a Salesforce database. If you’re tracking customer
 satisfaction data, your data source could be an online survey platform like
SurveyMonkey.

For this article, we’ll use the Superstore sample data set to create a very simple
dashboard that tracks Profit. To give you a big picture, here is the final dashboard we
will build:

As you can see, the Tableau KPI dashboard above shows KPIs, such as total profit,
including its monthly changes over time. In addition, it shows the % change compared
to the previous year.

Step 3: Connect to your data source

As explained previously, we’re going to use the Superstore sample data set. To connect
and perform the steps below:

1. Create a new Workbook by clicking on New > Workbook.

2. The Connect to Data window may immediately prompt you to choose a data source. In the On
This Site tab of this window, let’s just select the Superstore Datasource and click Connect.

3. You will see the following screen once the data source is loaded. There are three tables you can
find on the left pane: Orders, People, and Returns.
4. We will only be focusing on the Orders table. So, if you want, hide
the People and Returns tables by right-clicking on each of them and selecting Hide.
 Step 4: Add charts to visualize KPIs in Tableau
Now that you’re connected to your data source, it’s time to add a chart. We’ll show a
monthly profit over the year 2022—a line chart is a powerful and effective way to
illustrate this data.

Make sure you are on the Sheet1 tab. Then, follow the steps below:
1. Drag and drop Order Date into the Columns shelf and Profit into the Rows shelf.
2. Click the arrow on the YEAR(Order Date) dimension on the Columns shelf and select Filter.
On the Filter window, select only 2022 from the list and click OK.
3. Click the arrow on the YEAR(Order Date) dimension again and change the granularity
to MONTH(Order Date).
4. Notice the chart is now updated, showing a monthly Profit in 2022:
How to Share a Tableau Dashboard with Tableau and Non-Tableau Users
Tableau Sales Dashboard Explained
Tableau vs. Looker Studio (Google Data Studio): A Detailed Comparative Analysis of Two
Dataviz Tools

Step 5: Customize your charts

Once you’ve added a line chart, you can customize it as you want to make it more
visually appealing and easier to understand. You can experiment with this until you’re
happy with how it looks.

For example, if you wish to change the line color, click Color in the Marks card and
select the color you want.
For better readability, you can drag Profit from the Measures data pane to Label in
the Marks card. This will show profits in the line chart:
If you want to show only minimum and maximum profits in the chart, click Label in
the Marks card and select Min/Max in the Marks to Label dropdown.
To format the profits in Currency, click the arrow in the SUM(Profit) label and
select Format Number. Choose Currency and adjust the Decimal Place as you want:
To remove X-Axis’s header, right-click on any month’s name and unselect Show
Header. You can also remove Y-Axis’s header by right-clicking the Y-Axis and
unselecting Show Header.

Now, our chart will look like this:

 Step 6: Add titles to your chart
Adding titles to your charts helps viewers know what they’re looking at.

In our case, we’ll add a title that shows the total profit for 2022, including the % change
over last year’s value. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Create a new calculated field Profit 2022 based on the Profit and Order Date fields. To do that,
click on the arrow icon next to the filter icon and select Create Calculated Field.
After that, rename the field from Calculation1 to Profit 2022. In the calculated field
window, type the following formula:
{ FIXED: SUM(IF YEAR([Order Date]) = 2022 THEN [Profit] END )}
{ FIXED: SUM(IF YEAR([Order Date]) = 2022 THEN [Profit] END )}
2. Repeat Step 1 above to add another calculated field called Profit 2021 with the following
formula:
{ FIXED: SUM(IF YEAR([Order Date]) = 2021 THEN [Profit] END )}

3. Again, repeat Step 1 for the % Change calculated field with the following formula:
(SUM([Profit 2022])-SUM([Profit 2021]))/SUM([Profit 2021])
4. Rename Sheet1 to PROFIT by right-clicking on the sheet name and selecting Rename. Enter
“PROFIT” and click OK. Notice that after that, the sheet’s title is automatically changed
to PROFIT.
5. Drag the Profit 2022 calculated field and drop it to Detail in the Marks card. Do the same for
the % Change field.

6. Format the % Change measurement to Percentage and set its Decimal Places value to 0.
7. Double-click the sheet’s title to open the Edit Title window.
8. In the Edit Title window, insert the total profit by clicking on the Insert dropdown and
selecting SUM(Profit 2022). Also, insert the AGG(% Change) value and format the title as you
like—here is an example:
9. Click OK to close the Edit Title window and apply the changes.

Step 7: Put the chart in a KPI dashboard in Tableau

We’ve created a worksheet with a chart and title showing KPIs. Now, it’s time to put
them on a proper Tableau KPI dashboard.

Follow the steps below:

1. Create a dashboard by clicking on the New Dashboard icon at the bottom.

2. Add the PROFIT sheet to the dashboard by dragging and dropping it to the canvas.
3. Drag a Text object to the top of the dashboard to enter a title. When done, click OK and resize
the title area as you like.
4. If you want, select the size of your dashboard. A 1000 x 800 canvas is recommended for most
laptops and desktops but feel free to choose one that best suits what you need.

5. To save your work, click Publish As. Select the location you want in the Publish
Workbook window and click Publish. Please note that if you select Personal Space,
the Workbook will be private to you, and collaboration tools like Share and Subscription will
not be visible.
Congratulations! You have just created your first KPI dashboard in Tableau. Though we
only used one sheet here, hopefully, all of the steps explained will help you create a KPI

dashboard in Tableau for work or just for fun!

Connect real data to Tableau with no code

Outdated data can be a huge blocker to making real-time data-driven decisions. It
defeats the purpose of building a Tableau KPI dashboard.

One way to update data is by manually downloading and importing data into Tableau,
which is time-consuming. Another way is by connecting real data from different
applications to Tableau with no code using Coupler.io. It is a data automation tool that
helps in building near real-time dashboards in Tableau and other BI tools.

1. Collect data
Select the required app from the source drop-down in the form below and click
on Proceed.
To continue with the connection process, log in to your Coupler.io account or create one
for free.
 For example, if your source is Google Ads, enter the details of the source like basic
settings, report period, and more.

Note that the source details and settings are different for different sources. You can also
add data from multiple sources and arrange it in the next step.

2. Organize data
Instead of organizing the data in Tableau which is not very ideal, you can organize it as
required in Coupler.io. You have options like,

 Rename, rearrange, and hide columns

 Use filters to focus on specific data

 Sort to identify top-performing elements

 Create new columns with custom formulas

When the data is ready, move on to the next step to set up the destination (Tableau) by
following the instructions.

3. Schedule data refresh

As the goal is to keep your Tableau dashboards fresh, you’ll set up an automatic data
refresh as often as every 15 minutes.
That’s it! Your dashboard now has updated data that is ready for real-time decision-
making.

How to share your KPI dashboard created in

Tableau
There are a few different ways to share a Tableau dashboard you’ve created.
The most common option is to use the Share button located in the upper-right corner of
your dashboard’s view. This will allow you to share the dashboard with specific Tableau
users within your organization. You can also share it with even larger audiences using a
link or embed code.

To make your dashboard available to anyone on the web, you can publish it through
Tableau Public. However, there’s no option in Tableau Cloud for publishing directly to
Tableau Public. Instead, you will have to use Tableau Desktop to do it.

You can Download your dashboard as an image, PDF, or PowerPoint file, then attach it
to an email. Downloading the entire Workbook (.twbx) to your computer is also possible.
In addition, you can export the data used in the visualization as a Crosstab (Excel or
CSV).
Downloading as a Crosstab is suitable if you want to do a one-time analysis in Excel.
But if you need to export data to Excel frequently, then doing it automatically on a
schedule using Coupler.io will be more convenient and save a lot of your time.

Yes, Coupler.io supports Tableau as both a source and destination app!

For more details about the process, you can also refer to Tableau to Excel integration.

Connect your app to Tableau or automate data export from

your Tableau dashboard with Coupler.io
Tableau KPI dashboard examples
Now that we’ve covered the steps for creating a basic KPI dashboard in Tableau, let’s
look at some examples from Tableau Public Gallery to give you some ideas of what’s
possible with dashboards and how they can be used to track different KPIs.

Example 1: Executive KPI Tableau dashboard

KPIs help decision-makers see how well their company performs against specific goals.
Those in the C-suite rely on KPIs to measure progress and make decisions.

An effective executive KPI Tableau dashboard displays the most important information
clearly and simply. Each KPI is useful in its own way, but together they give a
comprehensive overview of the company’s health.
The following is an excellent example of an Executive KPI Tableau Dashboard. In this
dashboard, you can see how DataSpark Analytics has organized the KPIs by different
perspectives, such as finance, marketing, and operational. They also group the KPIs
neatly to make the dashboard clean and easy to understand.

Example 2: Sales KPI Tableau dashboard

Sales KPI dashboards include several KPIs that offer valuable insights into your sales
and marketing team. Many businesses track KPIs such as total sales, sales growth,
conversion rate, and cost per lead.

The following is an example of a Sales Marketing KPI Dashboard in Tableau by Priya

Padham. It lets you see total sales, market spends, and conversion rate. You can also
see black/red arrows indicating whether there was a positive or negative change from
the previous year.
Example 3: Customer satisfaction KPI Tableau
dashboard
It’s important for any company to know how satisfied and loyal their customers are. That
way, they can likely grow future revenues as well. To monitor customer satisfaction,
some great examples of KPIs are Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer retention rate,
and customer satisfaction index.

The following NPS dashboard shows the customer satisfaction score based on the
number of Promoters, Passives, and Detractors. There’s also a line chart at the bottom
that shows the previous year’s data for comparison.
Example 4: Retailer KPI dashboard example in
Tableau
Here is an example of a Retailer KPI dashboard created in Tableau by David Hoskins.
The dashboard tracks common indicators of growth in retail, such as sales volume and
average transaction value. At the bottom, there are charts showing the top 10 stores,
departments, products, and declining products.

Tips for building powerful Tableau KPI

dashboards
Having a powerful KPI Tableau dashboard with the right charts and info can be an
effective way to engage your audiences. It should also have an easy-to-understand
interface that provides enough detail.
 The process of designing a dashboard may rely heavily on the skills and creativity of the
dashboard designer. However, there are some general principles and tips we
recommend following when designing yours:

 Understand the purpose of your Tableau KPI dashboard. WHO will be viewing it? WHAT do
they need to see? WHY do they need to see it? Knowing and understanding the answers to
these questions will help you to determine which KPIs and charts to include.
 Start with the most important KPIs. You can always add more as needed. In addition, you
can always create additional dashboards for different audiences or specific purposes.
 Choose the right chart for each KPI. Not all KPIs are best represented by the same type of
chart.
 Use colors, fonts, and layout effectively to make your dashboard visually appealing. People
are more likely to engage with a dashboard that looks good. Taking care of these little details
can make a big difference in the overall look and feel of your dashboard.
 If needed, use advanced visualizations such as parameters, filters, reference lines, and
annotations to make your dashboard more interactive. These can help your audiences explore
the data and find the necessary information.

Goal Setting

What is goal setting?

Setting goals is the process of deciding for your business what you want and expect your business to
achieve. Goal setting starts with setting goals for your business and then setting the goals for your
employees aligning with your business goals.
Goal setting involves deciding on an action plan and chalking the necessary steps to achieve desired
results. It gives employees direction and does not run around without any purpose

How to set goals?

Even after understanding the importance and meaning of goals, businesses fail to achieve the goals
they set. The reason for it could be setting vague, unrealistic goals or not aligning business goals with
employee goals. Below we tell you the right steps to set goals for your employees. Take a look.
1. Think of the results you want to achieve
2. Create SMART Goals- specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound
3. Jot your goals in the HR software you use
4. Create an action plan- write measures you would take in detail to achieve the goals you have set
5. Set a timeline for your tasks under each goal set
6. Start working and take action
7. Review the progress
Goals Setting Process

The modern and competitive organization cannot exist without the

business strategy, which is regularly executed. The organization without
goals dies as it has no direction. Employees and managers do not
cooperate, and they do not share any common vision. They have no idea
about the final status and life in the organization is rather chaotic.

HR has to design process for the objectives setting and monitoring the progress. The
goal setting and monitoring process is a complex HR process, which needs many inputs
from the business like from Finance, Sales, Operations and external market monitoring.
HR is responsible for designing the process and setting basic rules for goal setting in the
organization.

The goal setting process helps to navigate the organization in reaching the business
strategy. The complex and long term activities are planned, and the individual steps and
milestones are defined and progress is monitored. The Finance Department monitors
the progress on the company level (visible in financial results), and HR runs the process
on the individual employee level.

HR is responsible for setting the methodology for goal setting in the organization. The
goals are not just business wide; they have to be personal as well and they have to
contribute to the development of skills and competencies in the organization.

The goal setting and monitoring process is about the strong inclusion of managers into
the development of the organization. They set goals; they monitor the progress; they
decide about correction steps and interventions. Managers are a crucial key success
factor for the goal setting process. Managers have to understand the business strategy
in a detail, and they have to understand, which initiatives are the most critical ones to
reach the defined long term goals of the company.

HR has to define the methodology for goal setting. The goals should be SMART
(specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-targeted). However, they should be
challenging employees and developing them. Managers tend to forget about the
development part of goals. Employees do not like to be stretched to limits without
receiving benefits out of it.

The goal setting process is about the discipline in the organization. The broken goal
setting process does not make any immediate damage, but it hurts the performance of
the organization in a long term view. HR has to objectively monitor the whole process,
and it has to prepare fixes. HR has to work with managers, and it has to prepare many
training courses about the correct goal setting for employees.

The goal setting process is a part of the performance management. It has to be well
connected with the performance appraisal process. Managers and employees have to
see the logic behind both processes. The goals cannot be disconnected from the
appraisal. Designing the efficient process is demanding.

What is Goal Setting Process?

The modern performance driven organization manages employees and managers
through the strict goal setting process. The top management (executive management)
sets the strategic direction for the organization and defines main milestones for the
year.

They let the line management translate milestone into goals for departments and
employees. The goals represent desired outcomes of different plans of the individual
employees. The goals are usually long-term desired changes and implementations of
new approaches in a daily job. The goal represents the increase of the productivity or
the competitiveness of the organization.

The goal makes a difference between doing and reaching. The goals help to build a
more competitive organization than the company without defined objectives. The goals
have to be set in line with the business strategy and identified gaps in the department.
The goals are not a part of the standard job description. The goals build the extra job
content for the defined period.

The goal is the mutual agreement between the manager and the employees. The
manager proposes the goal, but the employee has to agree with the goal. They are
responsible for the specification of the goal. They are responsible for the agreement of
the cooperation as they reach the goal. The manager cannot surpass the responsibility
by setting the goal. The manager is responsible for the overall goals achievement. The
manager cannot make the failure as the excuse for himself/herself.
The correct goal in the organization has to be set using the SMART goal setting
methodology. The employees and managers need certainty about the correct definition
of the goal. The employee has to understand the definition of the desired outcome and
what is expected as the result. Otherwise, many discussions can be held at the
performance appraisal discussion. The employee has to understand the goal and has to
be able to imagine several options of reaching the goal. The order to work harder is not
a goal!

The manager is responsible for the monitoring of the progress and taking appropriate
actions and interventions to get the effort back on track. The manager has to set the
goal and has to make a regular adjustment, if it is needed.

The top management influences goals in the organization. The executives set the
framework and the playground in the organization. They have to set the playground,
which is compatible with the corporate culture in the organization. They cannot set the
goals, which are in a direct conflict with the corporate culture. The employees cannot be
victims of the system. It is the role of the top management to change the corporate
culture. The employees will adjust to the corporate culture. It cannot start with
employees. The line management will not allow such a change in the organization.

The organization has to be realistic in setting goals to employees. It cannot expect the
complete change in the behavior of employees within 12 months. It has to split the
long-term business strategy into milestones, and it has to closely monitor the progress.

Goal is not a task. The task is short-term, and it overrides other priorities. Most tasks
have to be finished in a short time. The tactical and strategic decisions are based on
results of different tasks. They can influence goals as they can shape goals. However, the
team cannot be management by setting many tasks as they miss the strategic
framework.

Performance Analysis
Performance analysis is the technique of studying or comparing the
performance of a specific situation in contrast to the aim and yet
executed. In Human Resource, performance analysis can help to
review an employee’s contribution towards a project or assignment,
which they allotted him or her.

Importance of Performance Analysis

Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is an accepted method for

measuring service quality well known for its simplicity and stress-free
application. Thus, IPA focuses on the gap between the customer
expectation on the importance and judgment on performing specific
attribute of service consumed.

We distinguish three basic steps in the performance analysis process:

data collection, data transformation, and data visualization. Data
collection is the process by which we get data about program
performance from an executing program. Data collected in a file, either
during or after execution, although in these situations it is presented to
the user in real time. We can distinguish three basic data collection
techniques:

DATA COLLECTION

 Profiles: It records the time spent in different parts of a program.

This information, though minimal, is often invaluable for
highlighting performance problems. Profiles are gathered
automatically.
 Counters: It records either frequencies of events or cumulative
times. The insertion of counters may require programmer
intervention.

 Event: It records each occurrence of various specified events, thus

producing large numbers of data. It produces traces either
automatically or with programmer intervention.

DATA TRNSFORMATON

· The raw data produced by profiles, counters, or traces are in the form
required to answer performance questions.

· Data transformations are applied, often with the goal of reducing total
data volume.

· It can use transformations to find mean values or other higher-order

statistics or to extract profile and counter data from traces.

DATA VISUALIZATION

· Although data reduction techniques are used in some situations to

compress performance data to scalar values.
· This process can help from the data visualization techniques. It can
apply both conventional and more specialized display techniques to
performance data.

· Each of the various performance tools described in later sections

incorporates a set of built-in transformations; the programmer can
code transformation that is more specialized.

A trace is processed to produce a histogram giving a distribution of

message sizes. Parallel performance data are multidimensional,
comprising execution times, communication costs, and so on, for
multiple program components, on different processors, and for
different problem sizes., often necessary to explore the raw
multidimensional data well known in computational science and
engineering,

As we shall see, a wide variety of data collection, transformation, and

visualization tools are available. When selecting a tool for a particular
task, we should consider the following issues:

1. Accuracy. Performance data obtained using sampling techniques

are less correct than data obtained by using counters or timers.
With timers, one must take the accuracy of the clock into account.

2. Simplicity. The best tools in many circumstances are those that

collect data automatically, with little or no programmer
intervention, and that give convenient analysis capabilities.
3. Flexibility. It extends a flexible tool to collect more performance
data or to offer different views of the same data. Flexibility and
simplicity are often opposing requirements.

4. Intrusiveness. Unless a computer provides hardware support,

performance data collection introduces overhead. We need to know
of this overhead and account for it when analysing data.

5. Abstraction. A good performance tool allows it to examine data at a

level of abstraction proper for the programming model of the
parallel program. For example, when analysing an execution trace
from a message-passing program, we wish to see individual
messages, if someone can relate them to send and receive
statements in the source program. However, this presentation is
not right when studying a data-parallel program, even if the
compilation generates a message-passing program. Instead, we see
communication costs related to data-parallel program statements.

Web-based Performance Analytics

Performance analytics is a field with huge discrete data sets that are
grouped, organized, and aggregated to understand the data structure.
Synthetic and real user monitoring are the two most popular
techniques to test the performance of websites; both these techniques
use historical data sets to test performance.
In web performance analytics, statistical values that describe a central
tendency (the odd number measure of central location) for the discrete
data set under observation. We can use the statistical metric to test and
analyse the data. These datasets have innumerable data points that are
aggregated using different statistical approaches.

HR Scorecard: Benefits, Use Cases,

Processes
An HR scorecard visually represents the critical measures of the HR
department's achievements, productivity levels, and other parameters - such
as hiring costs, retention rate, time to fill, quality of hire, and so on - critical to
the company's growth.

Most HR scorecards are tied to strategic plans and are designed to track and
measure the efficacy of HR activities, enabling the leadership to make
targeted investments in HR. Scorecards include current data and comparisons
with previous periods.

A walk back in time: History of HR and

scorecards
It is true when HR consultant and I/O psychologist Rob Silzer said, "Financial
resources may be the lifeblood of a company, but human resources are the
brains."
Traditionally HR was viewed as a support function that undertook basic tasks
such as payroll, time tracking, and disputes between the organizations and
unions. The role of the erstwhile personnel manager evolved into the HR we
know today with the advent of the services sector.

Today, HR aids and enables other departments such as sales and marketing,
finance, and operations to contribute meaningfully to organizational strategies.

Accompanying the transformation is the rise of initiatives such as the HR

scorecard that helps measure how well HR aligns with the company's
strategic goals.

Most HR scorecards are based on the works of David Norton and Robert
Kaplan, who elaborated upon their earlier "balanced scorecard" theories. They
published a management book in 1996 called "The Balanced Scorecard,"
which was well-received.
From being a bare-bones management device, the HR balanced scorecard
approach has blossomed into a full-fledged strategic planning system widely
recognized in the industry.

Benefits of HR scorecards
With a scorecard, HR leaders can assess the department's performance in
their way and within a set structure that can be understood across the
organization. Here are the top four benefits of an HR balanced scorecard:

1. Gives structure to the strategy

A scorecard helps keep the goals at the center, uses specific parameters to
track progress, and follows initiatives for monitoring actions.

2. Improves performance reporting

The HR scorecard can come in handy for designing performance reports and
dashboards, ensuring the focus remains on critical strategic issues and
helping the HR department monitor the execution of its plan.

3. Makes it easier to communicate the strategy

Having a scorecard takes the guesswork out of trying to understand
everyone's responsibilities in the team and gets the entire department synced
up under one structure. This also gives a much clearer picture of HR projects
and initiatives.

4. Connects every HR employee to organizational

goals
An HR scorecard allows HR personnel to individually align their goals across
the department and organization. When every employee sees a greater
purpose behind the goals and objectives they are aiming to achieve; it
engages them even more in their work.

Disadvantages of an HR balanced
scorecard
While there are so many benefits to deploying an HR scorecard, there are
potential roadblocks you should be aware of:
 Even though there are many HR scorecard templates you can use, the
framework must be customized to suit your business requirements. This can
be time-consuming and tedious - especially for first-time users.
 HR scorecards can be overly complicated to understand despite there being
many case studies and resources to read from.
 HR scorecards usually require managers to report information, which can
cause some resistance and even delays.

Scenarios where using an HR

scorecard makes sense
Research shows that companies that use a balanced scorecard approach
tend to outperform those that do not. HR can use the tool in several scenarios,
including:

 To identify HR team members who need extra attention and provide them
with feedback and targeted training opportunities.
 To determine who needs support from HR and make informed decisions
regarding resource allocation.
 To evaluate and measure the effectiveness of HR and allocate the budget
towards HR initiatives.
 To give clear insights into which HR projects should be prioritized and set
realistic targets.

How to create and utilize an HR

scorecard
If you are new to creating HR scorecards, fret not. In the following section, we
have provided step-by-step instructions to help you tap into the full potential of
a scorecard:
1. Define your goals and objectives
Building an HR balanced scorecard requires you to discuss four types of
questions with your HR department. They include:

a. Financial

E.g., How can you quantify the financial impact of learning and development
initiatives in the new financial year? Think of recruitment spending, training
budgets, and incentive management.

b. Customer

E.g., What can you do to positively affect the workforce, which, in turn,
impacts the external customer? Employee engagement or satisfaction surveys
are common here.

c. Processes

E.g., How can you measure the effectiveness of the technologies already in
place to serve the business needs? Consider the update of performance
management software or time to fill.

d. Learning and growth

E.g., How are you supporting the future capability of the company? That could
include the viability of succession plans, digital transformation, and leadership
training.
source

2. Identify HR deliverables
Goals may differ depending on the type of HR scorecard you use. However,
they must generally reflect your core business values and company strategy.
For instance, if your company has adopted lean principles to be recognized as
an innovative organization in the industry, you could include the following HR
deliverables in your scorecard:
 Hire more qualified professionals (within a specific time frame and using
various candidate sourcing strategies)
 Decrease recruitment costs (by 12%)
 Decrease time to hire (by ten days)

Once you have identified your goals, it is essential to set KPIs against them so
that you can rely on quantifiable measures to highlight vital results.

For instance, decreasing the time to hire from 40 days to 30 days in a quarter
and bringing the company's current rank in the sector-wide innovation
benchmark from #7 to #3 are excellent HR scorecard examples.

Set up your HR scorecard in two significant columns:

a. The primary goal, which should briefly answer what you plan to achieve and
describe the overarching outcomes associated with fulfilling your primary
purpose.

b. Measurement sections that can be broken down as per the different types
of analysis your HR department wants to conduct.
source

3. Fetch data and ready your HR systems

After designing the HR strategy map and scorecard, it is time to gather data,
such as payroll, leave requests, attendance records, employee skills
assessments, and so on. For this, you could use any spreadsheet tool such
as Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.
Whatever you choose - please ensure your HR can input relevant data into
the software accurately. Think of using spreadsheets as a trial run so you can
organize the data - without formalizing anything.

After signing up for any HR software platform, you can upload the personnel
records for better visibility into data and processes. The outcomes of your
analysis on each HR process will help you highlight specific HR scorecard
metrics.

4. Leverage HR analytics to link every element on the

scorecard to business outcomes
In simple words, HR analytics refers to creating insights on how investments
in the workforce contribute to the success of four principal outcomes, including
risk mitigation, expense reduction, revenue generation, and strategic planning
execution.

A well-designed HR scorecard can generate meaningful results within

minutes. On the other hand, a poorly designed system can create false
positives or side-track from what you are trying to achieve. That should not be
the case.

Your HR scorecard needs to contain metrics that hold you accountable for
effectively implementing initiatives that influence your business outcomes.

5. Implement standardized reporting

Based on the information you have gathered in the above point, track
essential metrics such as employee turnover, first-year attrition rate, revenue
per employee, offer acceptance rate, time to productivity, and so on.
 Decide on the types of reports you want to create and the metrics they should
include. It is important to note not everyone has the same preferences. For
instance, the operations team could insist on getting specific, detailed
information, while as an HR department, you might require detailed
information.

6. Communicate the value of the HR scorecard to

leadership
Imagine showing your HR scorecard to your senior managers and C-level
execs and statistically demonstrating the cause-effect relationship between
business outcomes and the ROI for every metric?

For instance, if you can prove that faster time to hire results in poor hiring and
a more structured selection process can help you hire quality employees, then
put that in the scorecard. By walking the leaders through the connections
between what you are asking them to do and the business outcomes, you will
easily gain the buy-in you want.

The HR balanced scorecard: What not

to do
Here are some practices to avoid when designing and deploying an HR
scorecard, which is as follows:

 Remove irrelevant KPIs from the mix. Your HR scorecard metrics should
showcase your progress.
 Your scorecard should be a living document accessible to all who use it. Do
not develop it in a bubble.
 Do not take a paint-by-numbers approach. Your company must have a
unique, constantly evolving HR scorecard.
 There are many HR scorecard templates available. However, you need to
see which one best fits your requirements.