Properly coordinating employees is an absolute must for any organization, but with the variety of tasks that contribute to human resource development, deciding which are the best HR metrics to monitor can be daunting. Simplify your approach with these top five HR metrics for strategic HR management.
Employee Engagement
It may seem like simple logic, but engagement level of employees can be an important indicator of efficiency. Surveying your employees’ level of engagement with and enthusiasm for their work can be the difference between a satisfied, dedicated worker and a disgruntled one. Honestly evaluating disengaged employees’ qualms with their work may be the key to increasing productivity where it has been lacking. Measuring employee engagement is also a tool to aid in the retention of your top employees; if your highest performers become unhappy in their work, you risk losing some of your organization’s greatest assets. Avoid taking engagement for granted by using simple, qualitative surveys that encourage your employees to be honest about the attitudes toward their work. Consider including one at the time of performance reviews.
Employee Referrals
Even if your organization uses an HR recruiting service, it is still important to have an employee referral program. Your employees themselves can be one of your greatest recruitment tools; they have first-hand experience in what it takes to properly perform the job everyday and may have connections to quality candidates outside of the HR recruiting services you use. Chances are, an employee referral has the added benefit of knowing the candidate on a professional level and a personal level. An employee who refers their friend is likely to know how this person will contribute to the group dynamic and this may make for a smoother incorporation of your new hire. An employee’s likelihood to refer a friend to a position is also demonstrative of employee satisfaction. Are your employees taking advantage of your referral policy? Using tools like NetPromoter within your company can help determine if and why your employees are “loyal enthusiasts” who would recommend their job to others. Don’t let this important program fall to the wayside—make it worthwhile for your employees so you can reap the benefit of excellent candidates! Check out this article from the Society for Human Resource Management on designing programs.
Retention Rates
You’re hiring great candidates, but are you keeping your quality employees? According to Globoforce, it is also important to look at the where and why of your employee departures: is there a specific department that tends to see a high turnover rate? Are there a large number of departures under a specific manager? Maybe your organization fell short measuring employee engagement early on. A good way to remedy this for the future is by surveying employee engagement at the time of departure. As much as possible, check for specific patterns of dissatisfaction among those who leave your company. Answering questions like these can be the sort of troubleshooting that ensures a happy, efficient workforce and the retention of your best employees.
Absenteeism
Employee absenteeism can yield plenty of important information: employee engagement/happiness, department efficiency and productivity—to name a few. Be sure to track for those employees and departments with high levels of absenteeism to detect potential trouble areas in productivity and the workplace environment. (See also, Manage Employee Time-Off Requests)
Revenue per Employee
Revenue certainly isn’t the only measure of an employee’s success, but it can’t be ignored when considering best practices of HR management. Be attentive to whether or not it is cost-effective to maintain the employees you have and be willing to reorganize to protect the viability of your group. Keep in mind that low revenue per employee doesn’t always cue an inevitable departure! It can be as simple as offering more training and guidance or relocating an employee to a sector of your organization that capitalizes on their strengths. The same is true for your employees who yield high revenue. If an employee is performing well where they are, consider whether they could accomplish even more in another position.
From hire to departure, your employees need to be nurtured properly to optimize the daily operations of your group. Be sure that your organization is keeping a close eye on these metrics to ensure high levels of productivity.
For more information on how Commonwealth Payroll & HR can work with you on your strategic human resources planning, call us today at 877-245-1159.
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