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A Quick How-To Guide to HR Metrics

A Quick How-To Guide to HR Metrics

HR metrics can help your team provide a snapshot of the overall health of your organization. It’s not just about collecting the data; it’s important to use it to make more informed, data-driven decisions about your human resources functions.

What should you measure?

First, talk to your leadership team about what information is important to them. Be prepared to discuss what you can measure, how you will measure it, what it indicates, and how often you’re able to provide them with the information. Knowing the organization’s goals and concerns–and how data factors into understanding them–is key. Don’t bother collecting data on something if you’re not going to do anything with that information!

Below are some commonly used HR metrics, but keep in mind that one size does not fit all. What’s important to track depends on what’s important to your organization and leadership.

Recruiting Metrics

Common recruiting metrics include:

  • Time to Fill – the time between creating a job opening and the position being filled
  • Cost per Hire – the total cost to hire a candidate
  • Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) – the workload of an employee (may indicate a need to hire additional staff)
  • Acceptance Rate – the percentage of candidates that accept offers

Engagement and Retention Metrics

Metrics that help you measure employees’ engagement and retention include:

  • Turnover Rate – the percentage of employees that leave your organization; can also be broken into voluntary and involuntary separations
  • Average Tenure – how long employees typically stay with your organization
  • Retention Rate – the opposite of turnover rate; the percentage of employees who stayed over a period of time

Benefits Metrics

You can measure the success of your benefits program by tracking metrics like:

  • Benefits Participation Rate – the percentage of eligible employees who elect company benefits

HR Metrics at a Glance

MetricDefinitionCalculation
Time to FillThe time between opening a position and filling the positionDate position posted) – (Date offer accepted)
Cost per HireThe total cost to hire a candidate(Cost of recruiting) / (Number of hires)
Full Time Equivalents (FTEs)Number of working hours that represents one employee during a week(Total paid hours) / 40
Acceptance RateThe percentage of offers extended to candidates that were accepted(Number of candidates who accept the offer) / (Total offers extended to candidates) x 100
Turnover RateThe percentage of employees who leave the organization(Number of employees who left during a given period) / (Average number of employees in the given period) x 100
Average TenureHow long employees typically stay with your organization(Sum of the tenure of all employees) / (Number of employees)
Retention RateThe percentage of employees who stay with your organization in a given period(Number of employees who stayed during a given period) / (Average number of employees in the given period) x 100
Benefits Participation RateThe percentage of eligible employees who elect company benefits(Number of employees who are enrolled in your benefits program) / (Number of employees who are eligible for the program) x 100

Tracking the HR metrics that matter for your organization can help you understand how you’re doing and where you can be better. Then, you can watch as those numbers improve and celebrate your accomplishments as you take action to make your workplace more successful and JoyPowered®.

Need help creating an HR metrics strategy? Send us a message here, and we’ll guide you to the right path.