Presentation Due? Don’t Forget These 3 Common HR Metrics

Surveys show that HR professionals are more data driven than ever before. Thanks to human resource information systems (HRIS), it’s never been easier to analyze and draw insights from employee information. Leveraging the right data can show how your team’s initiatives are performing and help prove HR’s impact across the entire organization.

If you’re looking to incorporate more data into your role, here are some common HR productivity metrics to get you started.

Employee Headcount

Employee headcount is the total number of employees at your organization. Since people are always coming and going, it’s best practice to look at average headcount for a given period.

To calculate average headcount, take the number of employees you had at the beginning of your measurement period and subtract the number of employees you have at the end of the period.

( # of Employees at Period Start + # of Employees at Period End ) / 2 = Avg. Employee Headcount

For example, if you had 100 employees at the start of Q1 and end the quarter with 90 employees, add 100 and 90 and divide their sum by two.

(100 + 90) / 2 = 95

In this case, your average employee headcount would be 95.

Want even more HR metrics? Learn how to measure employee performance with these four productivity metrics.

Employee Turnover Rate

Turnover rate is the number of employees who leave a company during a certain period of time. It’s a common HR metric that’s often broken up into two parts: voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary turnover is the number of employees who leave the company on their own terms, either by retiring, moving away, or pursuing other opportunities. Involuntary turnover refers to the number of employees let go by an employer.

To calculate your overall employee turnover rate, use this formula:

Employee Turnover Rate Formula

( # of Employee Separations During This Period  / Avg. Employee Headcount During This Period ) X 100 = Turnover Rate

Step 1.

Figure out your average employee headcount.

Step 2.

Find the total number of employee separations, or the number of employees who left the company voluntarily or involuntarily during that period. Divide this number by the average employee headcount calculated in Step 1.

Ex. If you had four employees leave during this period, your equation would be:

(4 / 95) = .0421

Step 3.

Multiply your answer by 100 to get a percentage and now you have your employee turnover rate for your specified period.

.0421 x 100 = 4.2% Turnover Rate

Employee Satisfaction and eNPS

Employee satisfaction is a common HR metric measuring employee happiness at your organization. Happiness at work improves morale, makes employees more productive, and improves talent retention rates. How do you measure something intangible? The solution is employee net promoter score.  

To find out your company’s eNPS, send out a quarterly survey asking “What is the likelihood that you would recommend [company] to a friend or colleague?” Employees respond with a number from 0 to 10. A score of 0 to 6 qualifies an employee as a detractor, 7 to 8 as passive, and 9 to 10 as a promoter. Your company’s final score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.

Employee Satisfaction and eNPS Formula

( Percentage of Promoters - Percentage of Detractors ) = eNPS

Is your score not what you were hoping for? Check out our tips for increasing your company’s eNPS.

Now that you’re a data pro, the next step is presenting the findings to your leadership team. We’ve created a customizable presentation template so you can spend more time positively impacting your workplace and less time formatting slides. Download our free HR Metrics Report Template to guide your next common HR data and metrics presentation.