HUMAN RESOURCE METRICS GUIDE

There are a variety of human resources and business focused metrics that can be analyzed or tracked.

Metrics should not be viewed in a vacuum and should be considered with other factors in mind. For

example, a higher than average turnover rate for one company might be an industry standard at

another business. When a business tracks these data points it can better accomplish its key strategic

goals.

The metrics below are generally intended for a non-specific time period. Most of these metrics could

be tracked over a week, month, year or other time period. Some of the metrics will provide more

insight if tracked over an extended time period. Parentheses indicate that the calculation should be

completed before the next operation. Some ratios or metrics will result in a decimal format and can be

multiplied by 100 to get a percentage value. Metrics related to employee count can incorporate only

full-time employees, all employees or employees expressed in values proportional to the percentage of

a workweek worked (e.g. Full Time Equivalent Employees). However different employment laws may

dictate other terms for employee count and employee classifications.

When a business has a problem in a key performance indicator, one of the first steps in addressing it is

to evaluate the impact of the issues or progress towards the goal. Organizations that track and

evaluate metrics like these are more successful in achieving their strategic goals or vision.

Metric Topic How to calculate it Why it is important

Benefits Cost per

employee Benefits

Cost of all, one type or some

employer provided benefits

divided by the number of

employees

This can show the total value

of various benefits provided

to employees

Benefits

Utilization Rate Benefits

Number of employees who

report having utilized an

employer offered benefit

divided by the number of

employees offered that

benefit

Knowing the usage of a

benefits can help evaluate

whether the particular

benefit is valuable to

employees

Paid Time Off

Utilization Benefits

Total Amount of paid leave

used divided by the amount

of paid leave granted during

that period

This ratio tells how much

employees are using the time

off that is offered

Paid Time Off

Liability Benefits

Total dollar value of all paid

leave accrued by employees

Excess accrued time off banks

can present a significant

liability to an organization

Employee Benefits

as a percent of

payroll

Benefits

Value of total benefit costs

made by an employer divided

by total gross payroll

Examines the cost of benefits

as a percentage of the payroll

Individual

Compra-Ratio Compensation

A e ployee’s ages di ided by the market rate for their

role

This is a standard metric that

shows how an e ployee’s wages compare to the

marketplace

Average Compra-

Ratio Compensation

Sum of all compra-ratios for a

group divided by the number

of individuals

This gives a broader picture

of the organization or a group

of employees pay rates

relative to the overall

marketplace

Pay Range Compensation

Difference between

maximum and minimum pay

rates for a specific role or set

of jobs

The pay range is important as

it needs to be tied to the type

of job, skill level and

compensation strategy

Range Penetration Compensation

(Salary – range minimum)

divided by (range maximum-

range minimum)

The degree to which an

e ployee’s pay rate has expanded in their current pay

range

Prorating Merit

Increases Compensation

(Number of months actually

worked divided by the

number of months under the

current increase policy) times

the increase percentage the

person would otherwise be

entitled to receive

Way to calculate an

e ployee’s pay i crease appropriate to the period of

time the employee worked

Total number of

separations

Employee

Relations

Total number of

terminations, layoffs and

resignations for a specified

time period

This is important mainly

because it is used in other

calculations.

Average number

of employees

Employee

Relations

(Number of employees at

start of period plus number of

employees at end period)

divided by 2

This can also be calculated

over multiple periods

increasing the 2 to the

number of periods included

Turnover Rate Employee

Relations

Number of separations

divided by the average

number of employees in the

period being analyzed

This is a metric that can be

critical to the success of a

business and one that HR

may have the ability to

greatly influence

Employee

Engagement

Employee

Relations

Percentage of employees

who report positively or

highly to employee

engagement surveys or

questionnaires

There are many ways to

calculate this metric with no

established formula

Revenue Per

Employee Finance

Total Revenue of the

organization divided by the

total number of employees

This can be a measure of

profitability or efficiency of

the organization

Return on

Investment (ROI) Finance

(The total gain from an

investment minus the cost of

the investment) divided by

the cost of the investment

A high ROI shows the

efficiency of an investment in

the workforce or business

Total Employee

Cost per Hour Finance

Total cost of all payroll,

benefits and other personal

costs for a time period

divided by the hours worked

in that time period

This gives the business a

better idea of its total

average hourly labor costs

Human Capital ROI Finance

[Company revenue minus

(operations expense minus

{cost of compensation plus

benefit cost})] divided by

(compensation plus benefits

costs)

The return on investment for

workforce costs is a human

resources focused way to

look at profitability

Cost Per Hire Hiring and

Recruitment

(Add together advertising,

agency fees, employee

referral fees, travel costs

from applicants and staff,

relocation costs, recruiter pay

and benefits) divided by

number of hires

Provides the total cost of a

new hire

Time to fill Hiring and

Recruitment

Number of days spent to fill

job requisitions divided by

numbered of people hired

This calculates the efficiency,

time periods and productivity

of the co pa y’s recruit e t process.

Turnover Cost Hiring and

Recruitment

Total costs of separation plus

the cost per hire plus training

and the cost of vacancy

Provides the total costs from

employee turnover

Yield Ratio Hiring and

Recruitment

Percentage of job applicants

from a specific source that

proceed to the next stage of

the hiring process

This compares the number of

applicants among different

stages of the hiring process

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HR to Employee

Ratio

HR

Administration

Number of HR employees or

roles divided by total number

of employees in company

Provides a way to compare

the amount of HR staffing

between organizations

HR Expense Factor HR

Administration

Total HR expenses divided by

total operating expenses

This supplies where the HR

budget falls in relation to

other operating expenses of

the company

Attendance Rate Leaves of

absence

Total days actually worked by

employee divided by the total

workdays in that period

A business should understand

its overall attendance picture,

having a baseline average can

help assess employee

attendance

Training hours per

hours worked

Training and

Development

Total number of training

hours divided by the number

of hours worked in that

period

An organization should

understand how much time is

spent on training

Training

Investment Factor

Training and

Development

Total cost of training divided

by total headcount of

employees

This looks at the efficiency of

training in conjunction with

the product output and

functionality

Training ROI Training and

Development

(Total amount of training

benefit minus total training

costs) divided by training cost

Determines the amount of

financial benefit and

efficiency accrued from a

specific training program

Career Path Ratio Training and

Development

Total number of promotions

divided by (total promotions

plus total number of

transfers)

This calculates employee

mobility and total of

promotions within the

company juxtaposed with

lateral transfers