Table of Contents:-
- Meaning of HR Metrics
- Need for HR Metrics
- Importance of HR Metrics
Meaning of HR Metrics
HR metrics provide a data system that measures HR and its relationship with the company’s performance. HR metrics can focus on a variety of other specifics. It can be used to help uncover areas that the HR department or other departments are excelling at or those areas that they need improvement in. It can be extremely complex or deceptively simple and can help companies boost their profits, cut their losses, and much more. In short, HR metrics are an essential part of the company.
HR metrics and measurements can be powerful in showing us areas where HR could improve and better meet the needs of the organisation and its employees. They can also provide meaningful data to help us make good decisions for our business and department. There are endless arrays of HR metrics that can be used spanning payroll, compensation, benefits, engagement, retention, training, and more which can provide incredible insight into how HR function is performing.
The goal of HR metrics is to assess the HR programmes and their effectiveness in fulfilling desired goals and objectives. We create these goals and objectives while keeping the company’s overarching mission in mind. Additionally, HR metrics can pinpoint areas of deficiency, indicating where additional HR efforts are required. The primary areas of HR where metrics are most commonly implemented are employee productivity, employee attendance, employee engagement, communication, turnover, recruiting efficiency, rewards system and measurement, and retention.
Need for HR Metrics
We use HR metrics for the following reasons:
1) Business Process Improvement Sets the Trend
The second driver of metrics in the success of supply chain management. The supply chain process has transformed a “backwater” operation (warehousing ordering and shipping) into a widely talked about profit centre. The supply chain succeeded mostly because shifted to 100 per cent metric-based decision making. Other overhead functions have also noted this significant change, and they also have started to move toward fact-based decision-making. The effectiveness of these data-driven programs has left a strong impression on managers, primarily because they replaced subjective decisions with data-based ones.
2) Globalisation and Mergers Force Managers to Shift to Fact-Based Decisions
Globalization and consolidation of companies through mergers means that firms are now much larger and their workforce is spread over huge geographic areas. Globalisation and mergers and have made it difficult to get to know geographically dispersed managers, much less to trust them to make informed decisions. When smaller firms lose the advantage of face-to-face contact, it becomes clear that assessing performance remotely requires metrics and quantifiable goals. Global competition means one must make fast decisions and, in most cases, fast “fact-based” decisions are more consistent than fast “gut” executive decisions. The data from measurements and metrics empowers experienced handymen to make informed decisions.
3) Technology Makes Fact-Based Decisions Possible
As the use of technology spreads, capturing and analysing data in all fields becomes easier. When more HR. departments become paperless and mom managers and employees have access to computers and the web, the ability to sort data and distribute reports becomes easier As it does, the pressure to make metrics-based decisions will also increase.
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Importance of HR Metrics
Metrics help to manage better. They tell managers what to do more of and less of and the day allows HR managers to focus their limited resources on tools and strategies that have the most business impact. HR metrics are beneficial in the following ways:
1) Allows Focusing on High Priority Issues
Metrics tell everyone what is a high priority. Metrics help focus everyone’s attention on critical issues. If the measurement closely aligns with the budgeting process and rewards, the company is moving in the right direction.
2) Helps to Drive Continuous Improvement
Comparing metrics between different periods tells whether and how fast the company is improving. Metrics help to focus recognition and attention on those programmes that are continuously improving. It also gives stagnant programmes a benchmark to compare themselves against.
3) Helps in Changing the Behaviour of Managers
Instead of solely relying on the corporate culture to drive actions, one should instead rely on metrics and rewards to send the message about how one expects people to behave in certain situations. One will find that simply changing the metrics and rewards can quickly change the behaviour of almost everyone. In contrast, most find that changing organisational culture is extremely difficult and slow, which inevitably slows the needed chore in behaviour.
4) Eliminates Confusion
Employees and managers receive so many mixed communications and messages that deciphering what is necessary can be complex. Metrics define what is important and provide a clear indication of the expected level of performance without the need for speeches or memos.
5) Helps to Change Individual Behaviour
Only rewards change behaviour faster than distributing ranked metrics to all. By ranking and distributing the results metrics, the manager provides visible side-by-side comparisons that can be embraced by some and rewarding to others. Both spur employees and managers into action.
6) Builds Coordination
Metrics can encourage cooperation When work is broken up so that two or more functional units independently handle parts of it, there is often conflict and a lack of cooperation, However, cooperation between the groups can be increased by using a metric (and a reward) that measures tine final output, after all parties complete their work. Cooperation increases because both units eventually realise that neither unit can succeed unless the other unit also does its part. This “Superordinate” goal or metric demonstrates the level of interdependence between both units.
7) Tells what to Stop Doing
HR managers use quantification and comparison of program success to pinpoint where resource reduction is necessary and identify individuals who may face disciplinary actions or termination. Rapidly cutting underperforming assets (and shifting them to high ROI programmes) is an effective way of improving efficiency and strategic performance.
8) It assists in maintaining customer satisfaction
It is easy to assume that your internal customers a happy with you but it is better to find out for sure. Customer satisfaction metrics allow managers to in who is happy and who is not. In addition, if you provide senior management with a year-end report proving that you have met your yearly goals, you send a quick but clear message that you did what you promised.
9) Tells what to Reward
If they work under a pay-for-performance system (we all should) metrics tell managers who and what to reward and punish. Incidentally, rewarding what to measure makes things happen much faster.
10) Helps to Build Self-Confidence
Assigning a “passing score” to a task allows the manager to compare the work to a standard. Individuals can easily assess their performance by comparing their work to the passing score. For the best performers, comparison helps to build their self-confidence. Metrics can also give legitimate bragging rights if employees appear on top.
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