Research from XpertHR reveals that 67 percent of organisations say that their HR department does not currently gather enough meaningful data to measure HR performance within their business.
As a direct indicator of staff engagement and performance, measuring HR data is fundamental to business success, particularly against the backdrop of the ongoing Great Resignation.
The research found that on average, HR departments spend just 4.1 percent of their time collecting and analysing data, and 20 percent of their time on administration. These stats will be a cause of much frustration among HR professionals who tend to prefer to spend more of their time on data that can have a positive impact on the business and far less on administration.
The data allows organisations to identify which areas of the business need examination, reallocation of resources, or improvement.
The most and least common HR metrics measured
The most common HR metric that is captured by HR teams is absence management data, with 86.8 percent of the companies surveyed doing so.
This is closely followed by staff turnover data, with 84.7 percent doing so.
One of the lowest recorded data is reward inequalities, with only 45.9 percent of companies reporting to do so.
The least recorded data, however, is measures of organisational performance, with just 44.2 percent of organisations doing so.
This is significant; Murphy warns against not doing so, saying that “[c]ollecting and benchmarking against other organisations is vital in creating a better overall employee experience”.
With 60 percent of organisations not currently benchmarking their HR data against other organisations, many companies are unable to measure performance across competitors and sectors and ensure that factors like pay are in line with the rest of the market.
What are the main barriers to measuring data?
Predictably, the most common barrier to measuring or analysing data is simply a lack of time. The same research showed that unsurprisingly, 7 percent of overall HR time is spent on their business’ response to the pandemic.
However, this has decreased from an average of 13.5 percent of time.
Data demonstrates value
Good quality data will reinforce HR’s strategic position within their organisation and allow them to clearly demonstrate the value they are adding to business performance.
“At a time when there is more pressure than ever to build better, more attractive propositions for current and potential employees, it’s a stark reminder that more companies need to be collecting and leveraging these insights,” says Senior HR Practice Editor at XpertHR, Noelle Murphy.
Collecting valuable data can also aid the recruitment and retention processes. Murphy highlights that there is a “a huge opportunity for HR to harness data around the employee experience that feeds directly into the recruitment and retention process – such as time and cost to hire and time to competence – to ensure the challenge of the great resignation can be met head on and employers can position themselves as employers of choice.”
“Understanding how your business ranks against competitors through data, amidst this period of intense disruption, will not only help retain staff, but also map out the future direction of your organisation,” adds Murphy.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
