Digital Transformation Series: 5 HR Metrics to Measure and Track

Human Resources and Talent Acquisition teams are responsible for a whole host of responsibilities, including recruiting, benefits, feedback cycles, training & development, people policies and so much more. With this long list, tracking HR metrics and key performance indicators can seem like an afterthought.

However, collecting data on HR KPIs can lead to greater insights and better decision making.  These insights help propel HR teams into strategic business units. In talking about HR metrics Cassie Whitlock, the Director of HR at BambooHR said, “When you think about KPIs, there are certain industry standards that say you should always measure ‘a’, ‘b’, and ‘c’. You need to instead look at your company and understand your unique business objectives and vision. It’s  important to be thoughtful about the metrics you measure, and especially which ones you are most focused on impacting and improving over time.”

If you are not already, make it a goal to start tracking, measuring, and analyzing these five HR KPIs and metrics:

One important HR metric is Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a reflection of employee loyalty and happiness. It’s often measured through a survey question such as, "On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely would you be to recommend this company to a friend or colleague as a place to work?"

"We check our employee NPS monthly—which gives us a pulse on the general sentiment of the workforce over time," says Sarah Wilson, Head of People at SmartRecruiters. "This, in conjunction with a monthly pulse survey, allows us to adjust messaging or tweak programs as the sentiment of the workforce changes."

Jaci Sanchez, Fountain’s People Operations Manager added, “with a regular engagement survey, you can gain some insight into how your talent feels about working at your company and what areas need to be looked at- from employee development to strategy. Even better is taking the time to do qualitative research by having 1:1s with individuals and asking them about their challenges or blockers, and what changes they would make at the company if they could wave a magic wand. That doesn’t always mean your company will do all those things, but when you have that knowledge, you can make appropriate suggestions which will move the needle on talent engagement.”

Lemin Li, a Data Analyst of People Analytics at LinkedIn, recommended tracking talent flows. They said, “Looking at talent flows together in combination with other metrics such as employee engagement, internal movement and compensation can help uncover issues and optimize employee experiences.”

When a position gets opened to be filled, how many days does it take for a new employee to start? This HR metric gives teams insight into how quickly they are able to recruit for new positions. In some cases, especially for gig and on-demand businesses, this metric needs to be as short as possible—without new hires, customers cannot receive service. For other companies, speed to hire is not as important. However, tracking this metric anyway can show if there are gaps in the recruiting process for certain departments. This allows recruiters to home in on finding new pools of talent with specific skill sets. This metric can also show if you have operational blockers—like the background check—getting in the way of candidates starting on-time.

Everytime you post a new position on your careers page, how many candidates apply do you receive before you close the application? This HR metric directly correlates to your employer brand. It offers your talent acquisition team insights into how candidates view your company. Are candidates thrilled at the possibility of working for you or have they never even heard of your company? It can offer your teams ideas on how to promote and communicate your culture, benefits, and workplace perks more effectively.

Once your teams have gone through the hard work of sourcing, recruiting, and interviewing a candidate, you likely want to sit back, relax and wait for your new team member to start. One critical step in the process is for candidates to actually sign their offer letter. Acceptance rate measures the number of candidates who complete an offer letter after it has been sent.  By measuring acceptance rate, you are able to gain insight into if your salary ranges are in the right place, if hiring managers are able to communicate the value of working for your company, and if your benefits are in-line with your competition and the market. Making changes to these areas —and measuring this HR metric—will allow you to spend less time restarting the recruiting process.

Finally, have you started to think about how long it takes for your new hires to get onboarded, trained, and ramped up to start adding value to your organization? This is an especially helpful HR metric for teams to track if they have seasonal spikes or big product launches. In order to meet other business objectives, new employees not only need to be hired, but also need to be productive by certain dates within a calendar year. This can help talent acquisition teams better plan and focus on hiring with meaningful start-dates in mind.

If you are interested in learning more about HR digital transformation, be sure to check out the first and second posts in this series including “3 Paper Processes HR Needs To Digitize” and “3 Techniques to Attract Top Talent.”