HR metrics
It’s your workforce data… You should use it
There’s lots of talk about Big Data—and in the past 6 months, there has been a noticeable increase in the dialogue related to Big Workforce Data.
Introducing our newest guest blogger QuIRC
We are very pleased to announce that QuIRC, will be sharing their expertise with our readers on First Reference Talks. They will be covering issues surrounding workforce analytics (also known as HR metrics).
People analytics for business: In high heels and backwards
Business measurement and analytics has been growing in importance for many years. It has spawned a whole new type of management thinking about evidence-based strategy and decisions. The sophistication levels keep increasing. Here is an example; an online retailer takes real-time data from their customers browsing habits. They pass this to their suppliers who can then can anticipate sales volumes. The suppliers link this to production schedules and to raw material purchasing leading to a a truly integrated supply chain. There is a real elegance to these systems. They move like a dancer in perfect time and balance, leading to performance excellence.
The winds of change: Making HR measurement happen
The momentum behind measurement in HR is growing and what I learned from the trip indicates that one of the drivers of change has shifted.
HR Metrics: “Data suppresses anti-bodies”
I came across the title of today’s piece in Guy Kawasaki’s book “the Art of the Start”. It has made me smile for the last week. The quote elegantly expresses why HR practitioners need to be measuring. Here is why
HR metrics: Linking qualitative and quantitative measurement
Last month I promised a description of a metric which starts to take organizations deeper into the insight they need to be successful and to show real results. True to my promise here it is:
Start with firm foundations to obtain stable HR data
I am often contacted by human resources groups and analysts looking to take their work to the next level and discover the next great insight. Often they are seeking some holy grail or mystic equation that will simply answer the complex questions that human systems create. This is a worthy and powerful quest and one which is moving human resources groups and the organizations they serve into a better and more productive position. Unfortunately…
Neither too little nor too much: HR spending and resignations
Here is one of the first interesting results produced from the Human Resources Metrics Service database. There is a clear relationship between what an organization spends on HR and the level of resignations it experiences…
The HR long game
For many in the human resources function, every day is a series of reactions and responses to events. The experience of work is the constant juggle of urgent demands to hire people, sort out employment issues, deal with grievances or conflicts, resolve pay demands or other requests. All of these activities are important and urgent and place an immediate call on our attention and action. This experience creates a habit, where new information is reviewed with a bias to action or crisis. If there is nothing urgent or important here then the information can be ignored—there is nothing to do…
Perception is reality
Last night, I was presenting to an MBA class at the University of British Columbia. For interest’s sake, I started with the question, “what are your perceptions of HR?”
The negative answers I got back were not surprising…
The future is in our hands – and in the data!
For my last post of 2011, I will follow the age old tradition of predictions for 2012. The slight twist is that the post will feature someone else’s predictions—much easier than gazing into my own crystal ball.
The standards challenge
How do you measure turnover? Most people think they understand turnover. It is a simple and useful concept when it comes to understanding the flow of people through your organization. It is an important marker for determining overall organizational health and likely productivity impacts. If turnover is too high, your business stalls due to constant re-training; if turnover is too low, it can stagnate, leading to mediocre performance.
Absenteeism is on the rise
We have just reported our Q2 2011 results. We have gone through the time consuming and detailed process of auditing and are now in the process of letting folks know what happened in Q2 2011 on a range of metrics. One measure that we have been keeping a close eye on is absenteeism. Absenteeism keeps going up and the Q2 results are continuing that trend.
Is three a magic number?
The joy of numbers and tracking activity through a consistent and repeatable system is that it gets past the biases of perception and limits of cognition which can skew the decisions we make about people and organizational practices.
Let me compare thee…
To achieve the best of both worlds it is important to align your data with common standards that are most likely to provide the opportunity for like with like comparison and like with unlike comparison. This creates the capability to compare in a way that confirms your performance or compare in a way that pushes your performance. As with all data and analytic practices the right thing to do is the one which moves the performance needle for your organization. The more HR can do this AND demonstrate this the better.
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