HR Analytics 101

There has been a buzz recently over the words HR Analytics. People are excited about Big Data and how they can serve us in the Human Resources world.

The Human Resources department is responsible for the strategic HR management, for equal employment opportunities, diversity and inclusion, recruitment, talent and performance management, risk management and employee protection as well as employee and labor relations.

With so much on their plate, seeking the help of data makes a lot of sense. In small companies, information can be easily collected and organized. However, as companies grow, they face the challenges of managing a larger workforce.

What is HR analytics?

HR analytics is the collection, analysis, and reporting of relevant HR information to make data-driven decisions that will improve business outcomes and employee experience. This data is based on KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that measure various HR activities and the collection and reporting of big data is done with the help of relevant software.

However as HR stands for Human Resources, it means we should never forget the HUMANE element of our job. And no software can work without our input. Numbers mean nothing without variables and indicators to interpret them. Humans need to clearly define their goals to create relevant reports so depending on your HR activity, identify the best metrics that serve your company’s needs.

How can I start using KPIs?

When you work on recruitment, focus on indicators related to how the company is sourcing talents and how quickly new employees are hired, like:

• Time to fill: to measure the time between the posting of a job advertisement and the position being filled.
• Time to hire: to measure the time a candidate spends on the entire recruitment process, from the minute they apply until they accept your offer.

When you work on employee performance, you need to identify areas of improvement and potential problems that could hinder employees’ productivity. So you need to focus on relevant indicators. For example:

• Task completion rate: to measure how often and how quickly employees finish their tasks successfully.
• Absenteeism rate: to measure how often employees take sick days.

If you identify issues, then you need to work on your Training and Development strategy to provide opportunities for professional growth and to increase engagement. When you want to understand if you have implemented a successful training program, you need to monitor indicators, such as:

• Training completion rate: the percentage of employees who completed a specific training.
• Advancement rate: the percentage of employees who are promoted to higher positions within the company.

Last but not least in this list of examples, if you want to find out how your employees feel about your organization, focus on the indicators below:

• Employee NPS: to determine your Employee Net Promoter Score (NPS) and understand how much they rate you as an employer and whether they would recommend a job at your company to a friend or family member.
• Turnover/Retention: to measure how many employees stay with you or quit.

As you understand, there are many areas you can monitor and measure and even more KPIs to watch closely, further to these aforementioned.

Keep up with the latest developments, set goals and start measuring with concrete KPIs to keep your people happy and your organizational performance higher than ever!