5 Key HR Metrics to Track for Success in 2024

In this article, we’ll explore five of the most important types of HR metrics to monitor in 2024, covering areas such as recruitment, diversity and inclusion metrics, employee satisfaction, revenue, and HR operations.

HR metrics, or human resource metrics, are data points that help employers evaluate their human resource performance and determine the effectiveness of their HR initiatives. These measurements can determine the value and effectiveness of HR initiatives and are typically gathered by assessing areas such as recruitment and turnover, employee performance, costs of labor, and revenue and expenses per employee.

These statistics can be an essential tool that guides decision-making every day for HR professionals. Consistently tracking key data can help your team establish the ROI of employee programs and HR processes—and measure the success of HR initiatives. By assessing metrics like employee turnover, employee satisfaction, workplace diversity, and more, human resources and staffing teams can make more informed decisions about how to structure their operations, budget, and employee programs.

Let’s take a closer look at the types of HR metrics that matter the most to HR teams and their organizations.

Recruitment HR metrics help employers gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of the hiring process, the quality of hires, and the overall efficiency of the recruitment strategy. Key metrics include:

Time to hire measures the amount of time between when a job is posted and when an offer is accepted, and it can help assess the efficiency of the recruitment process.

Time to fill measures the amount of time between when a job is posted and when a new hire begins their first day of work. Looking for discrepancies between time to hire and time to fill can help you identify where slowdowns may be occurring for your recruiting and onboarding team.

Quality of hire is a complex metric that can be measured in multiple ways, such as the performance of the new hire and their contribution to the company. It provides insights into the effectiveness of the recruitment process and the value new hires bring to the organization.

Cost per hire measures the total cost involved in hiring a new employee, including recruitment fees, job ad spend, and time spent by HR staff. It helps to assess the financial efficiency of the recruitment process.

Your offer acceptance rate is the percentage of job candidates who accept a job offer after it is extended. A high offer acceptance rate can indicate a strong employer brand and effective recruitment process.

Candidate experience metrics measure job seekers’ perceptions about an employer’s recruitment and onboarding process—including interviews, background checks, communication with the hiring team, and more. Insights can be gathered using an anonymous survey or by tracking at what points in the hiring process candidates drop out of your funnel. Then, the results can point to areas where improving the candidate experience could keep more qualified talent in your pipeline.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are increasingly important aspects of HR strategy, and tracking relevant metrics can help employers ensure they are fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Here are some DEI metrics that employers can track:

Workforce diversity is the representation of different groups within your organization. It can be broken down by various demographic factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability status, and more. Tracking workforce diversity can help you understand the composition of your workforce and identify areas where diversity may be lacking.

Hiring diversity looks at the diversity of new hires. This metric can help you assess whether your recruitment efforts are attracting a diverse range of candidates. If certain groups are underrepresented among new hires, it may indicate a need to adjust your recruitment norms by focusing on strategies like fair chance hiring.

Inclusion metrics assess employees' perceptions of the inclusivity of the workplace. They can be measured through employee surveys that ask about employees' sense of belonging, their perceptions of fairness and respect, and their ability to voice their ideas and opinions.

This metric measures the rate at which employees from different demographic groups are promoted. Disparities in promotion rates can indicate potential issues with equity within your organization.

This metric measures the rate at which employees from different demographic groups leave the organization. Higher turnover rates among certain groups can indicate issues with inclusion and equity.

Remember, tracking these metrics is just the first step. It's also important to use the insights gained from these metrics to inform your DEI strategies and initiatives. This might involve implementing new programs, adjusting existing policies, or providing training to employees and managers. By regularly tracking and acting on these metrics, employers can foster a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

Employee satisfaction metrics reflect how employees perceive working at your organization, workplace happiness and satisfaction, and what may be detracting from their experience on your team. Improving employee satisfaction can be key to boosting retention and performance stats, and these insights can help you head in the right direction. Key metrics include:

Employee turnover rate is established by measuring the number of employees who leave the company over a set period. High turnover rates can indicate problems with employee retention, which often stems from dissatisfaction with some aspect of the workplace, role duties, or compensation.

An employee NPS reflects the percentage of your employees who would recommend your organization as a good place to work compared to the percentage of your employees who would not. Top-performing HR teams assess this multiple times per year using anonymous internal surveys. Benchmarks for a “good” employee NPS will depend on your industry and the size of your business.

Your ESI reflects the level of employees’ satisfaction at work, measured through anonymous surveys that ask specific questions such as, “You feel like you can share ideas without judgment at work,” or, “You feel supported by your coworkers.” This metric is often used in conjunction with NPS results to evaluate employee happiness and identify areas for growth.

Certain revenue metrics are helpful for linking HR efforts to business performance and can provide insights into the financial efficiency and productivity of the organization. Key metrics include:

HCROI measures the return on investment for human capital, or how much value employees bring to the organization relative to their cost to employ. It’s calculated by dividing the total revenue by the total cost of employees (including salaries, benefits, and other employee-related expenses).

This metric measures the revenue generated per employee and can indicate overall productivity and effectiveness of HR practices. It’s calculated by dividing net revenue by the total number of employees.

This measures the revenue generated by teams within your organization and can indicate where staffing changes—reductions, additions, or reorganization—could help you meet business goals.

This measures the revenue generated by teams within your organization and can indicate where staffing changes—reductions, additions, or reorganization—could help you meet business goals.

Your HR process automation rate shows the percentage of HR processes that have been automated compared to those that need to be completed manually. A higher rate can indicate a more efficient HR function, freeing up time for HR staff to focus on strategic or higher-impact tasks. It can also indicate a lower level of risk for your organization from compliance violations, as you reduce the chance of human error during compliance processes. 

Common HR tasks that automation tools can speed up include background checks, payroll, employee onboarding flows, and messaging with candidates or employees.

This metric measures the cost of HR functions per human resource team employee. It’s calculated by dividing the total HR expenses by the total number of employees. This statistic can provide insights into the efficiency of HR operations and help identify areas for cost reduction.

This metric measures the number of HR staff members per employee. A lower ratio can indicate a more efficient and scalable HR function, while a higher ratio may suggest that the HR department is overstaffed or that HR processes are not as efficient as they could be.

HR metrics are important because they allow employers to make the connection between the value of what HR is doing and the outcomes of the business. These statistics provide the raw data that fuels analysis on what’s working, what’s not, and how to make a strategic plan for the future of your workforce.

Employers who understand the importance of human resources metrics often see improvements like:

Tracking HR metrics is essential for employers to evaluate the effectiveness of their HR initiatives and make informed decisions. Here are six best practices for tracking common HR metrics:

Intentionally track metrics that are aligned with your organization's strategic objectives. This will help you focus on the most relevant data points and avoid time spent assessing metrics that may not be related to your target outcomes.

Be clear about the definitions and calculation methods for each metric. Consistency is crucial for accurate comparisons and trend analysis over time.

Utilize HR software and tools to automate data collection, analysis, and reporting for tasks such as background checks, candidate and employee messaging, and payroll.

Compare your HR metrics with industry benchmarks to understand how your organization is performing relative to others in your sector. This can help you set realistic targets, determine your competitive edge, and identify performance gaps.

Be mindful of data privacy and security when gathering, storing, and sharing HR metrics. Ensure that sensitive employee information is protected and that you stay compliant with relevant employee information regulations.

Engage with key stakeholders, such as senior management and employees, to ensure that your HR metrics are relevant and meaningful to the organization. This will help to build buy-in and support for your HR initiatives.

In addition to these, there are emerging trends that HR professionals should be aware of in 2024. These include a focus on a human-centric culture, which prioritizes employees' well-being, growth, and sense of belonging. There's also an increasing emphasis on AI automation and data decision-making, which can enhance efficiency, personalization, predictive analytics, and result in cost savings.

Remember, the importance of each of these types of metric can vary depending on the specific goals and context of your organization. Therefore, it's crucial to select and focus on the metrics that align best with your strategic objectives.

Here are a few commonly asked questions about measuring and analyzing HR performance, how often important HR metrics are measured, and how to resolve staffing issues with information from HR analysis.

HR metrics provide the raw data and measurements related to human resources performance, while HR analytics interpret this data to provide actionable insights and predictions. 

Metrics are specific measurements, in this case related to human resources performance areas such as recruitment, performance management, and employee satisfaction. They help track and measure the effectiveness of HR practices over time. After the data is collected, HR analytics help employers use statistical methods to interpret HR metrics, understand why certain trends are occurring, and predict future outcomes.

As a general rule, most HR metrics should be measured on a consistent monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis to ensure timely insights and enable proactive decision-making. 

Metrics such as turnover rates or recruitment metrics might be measured monthly to quickly identify and address any issues. Other metrics, like employee engagement or training effectiveness, might be measured quarterly or annually to track long-term trends and impacts. It's important to establish a consistent schedule for measuring and reviewing each HR metric, and to adjust this schedule as needed based on changes in the organization or its strategic objectives.

Yes, HR metrics can help address staffing issues. By tracking key HR metrics such as turnover rate, time to fill, and recruitment source effectiveness, employers can gain insights into the effectiveness of their staffing strategies. For instance, a high turnover rate might indicate issues with employee satisfaction or retention, prompting a review of workplace policies or compensation packages. Similarly, a long time to fill might suggest inefficiencies in the recruitment process that need to be addressed. 

By regularly monitoring these metrics, employers can identify and address staffing issues in a timely manner, leading to improved staffing strategies and better organizational outcomes.

Tracking the right HR metrics in 2024 can help your team drive organizational success and optimize your HR strategies. By focusing on recruitment, performance management, employee-specific metrics, revenue, and HR operations, employers can make data-driven decisions and enhance their organization's performance. 

Employers that partner with Checkr to run fast, accurate background checks often see a difference in key HR metrics like time to hire, candidate experience, cost per hire, and more. Our easy-to-use, customizable adjudication workflows can help reduce bias in hiring, simplify compliance, and support DEI goals. With over 100 ATS integrations, it’s easy to add Checkr to your HR tech stack and existing workflows, ensuring a seamless process for both your HR team and job candidates. Get started with Checkr.

About the author

As Content Marketing Manager at Checkr, Kate is passionate about developing resources that educate employers and job candidates about background checks, hiring insights, and the opportunity to build a better future through fair chance hiring.