Are You Using The Best HR Metrics To Secure Senior Management Buy-in?

In the past, the HR function had relied too heavily on experience and hunches to advise senior management and make talent decisions. However, over the last few years, there has been deliberate efforts and investment across the function to transition to data and evidence-based HR practices. 

While this is the case, the most commonly tracked HR metrics are efficiency measures which are quite useful for managing the productivity of the HR department. However, because these metrics measure core HR processes and are often unlinked with the core business metrics and organisational performance, they may be under-appreciated by senior management. 

HR must now go further than adopting efficiency metrics to deliberately create a direct connection between what we measure in HR and the business. This will position the HR function as a more static contributor to the business and help senior management better appreciate how HR practices "drive" the organisation's strategy's performance. 

The HR function will build better business cases and arguments for its programmes by using metrics that directly connect to the business performance, and using more compelling strategic and evidence-based metrics such as the workforce's quality, depth of organisational talent, Etc.

The infographics below provide a useful comparison of efficiency and strategic HR metrics:

Which of these HR metrics do you currently measure and which ones do you intend to start measuring?