Employee Turnover is Most Commonly Analyzed Metric, According to Survey

HR departments are involved in analyzing HR metrics at 91% of organizations that analyze at least one HR metric, according to XpertHR’s 2020 HR Metrics Survey of 420 U.S. employers representing an estimated 769,809 employees. However, just 15% of these HR departments have a data analyst or data scientist dedicated to this task.

“While HR is almost always involved in analyzing HR metrics, data analyst positions focused on HR metrics are the exception rather than the rule,” says Andrew Hellwege, Surveys Editor, XpertHR. “As data and analytics continue to grow in importance, investing in this type of analyst position may help organizations strengthen their workforce management and ultimately better achieve their business objectives.”

While HR is almost always involved in analyzing HR metrics, sometimes other departments may be involved as well. Among responding organizations that analyze at least one HR metric, 48% noted the finance department is involved in this task, followed by 28% reported for operations staff. Few organizations indicated senior leadership (4%), an outside firm (4%), or IT (3%) analyze HR metrics. (Respondents could choose more than one option.)

The survey covered nearly 20 HR metrics and found the most commonly analyzed is employee turnover, with 70% of all 420 participating organizations noting they analyze this metric. Rounding out the top five metrics are: time to fill a position (49%), employee absence (44%), training costs (37%), and cost per hire (36%).

“It comes as no surprise that employee turnover is the most popular HR metric,” says Hellwege, “as it is a key indicator of the stability of the workforce and is critical to know in both good and bad economic times alike.”

XpertHR’s 2020 Survey on HR Metrics was conducted from April 28, 2020, to May 22, 2020, and published on June 26, 2020. The survey includes the responses from 420 US employers of various industries and workforce sizes. The total estimated number of employees of responding organizations is 769,809.

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