Move beyond intuition. Track the 9 measures that define workforce health and efficiency.
In today’s data-driven workplace, HR professionals must go beyond intuition and measure what truly matters.
But with so many metrics available, which ones are essential? Here are the 9 HR metrics that help you and organizations track employee performance, engagement, and overall business impact.
Revenue per employee
To get a broad picture of how well your team is operating
Formula: Revenue / Total number of employees
Talent turnover rate
To track the percentage of high-potential employees who leave their jobs.
Formula: Total number of high potential leavers in a period / (Total number of employees in a period) * 100
Cost per hire
To measure how much it costs to hire new employees.
Formula: Total cost of hiring / Number of new hires
Total labor cost
For planning and budgeting purposes
Formula: All employee wages + Benefits + Payroll & other taxes
Training efficiency
To get maximum value out of your L&D budget.
Formula: Training expenses per employee / Training effectiveness index
Engagement rating
To understand how engaged your employees.
Formula: by using annual engagement surveys, pulse surveys, or Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS).
Time to hire
To track recruiting efficiency and candidate experience.
Formula: Day candidate accepted an offer - Day candidate applied
Employee happiness
To understand your employees' commitment to the organization and to the job.
Formula: by using the eNPS, weekly pulse surveys, or employee satisfaction index.
Performance & potential
To see which employees are underperformers, valued specialists, high potentials and top performers.
Formula: by tracking relevant employee performance metrics and using psychometric assessments.
When to Use These Metrics
- Budget Season: Use Total Labor Cost and Cost Per Hire to justify headcount requests.
- Strategic Planning: Use Revenue Per Employee to benchmark against competitors.
- Crisis Management: If Talent Turnover spikes, investigate Engagement Ratings immediately to find the root cause.
Takeaway
You cannot manage what you do not measure.
By tracking these 9 metrics, you transform HR from a support function into a strategic business partner. Start with the data, and the decisions will follow.
