HR performance, or how to turn figures into success!

When we think of business performance, we immediately think of the sales or marketing departments. However, a professional organization is a complex machine, with every part playing a key role in its smooth running. The human resources department is no exception.

It has to face up to a number of challenges, since it has to work for both the efficiency and well-being of its employees.

Every company must therefore take steps to improve its HR performance, both in terms of monitoring results and implementing an action plan.

What are human resources performance indicators ? Why is it important to analyze them rigorously? Are there any tools that can help you in this task?

Find out in this article co-authored with human resources consultant Laure Guérin-Taquet 💡.

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What is human resources performance?

The notion of HR performance refers to the efficiency of a company's human resources function, and this through various aspects:

• employee productivity;
• employee commitment and satisfaction ;
• employee development and skills management;
• the attractiveness of the organization via its employer brand and recruitment, etc.

In short, the spectrum is wide, and so is the number of KPIs to be tracked. KPIs which are, of course, selected in line with the organization's overall strategy 😉.

Why is HR performance important?

What's at stake in HR performance?

Human resources performance is a key component of an organization's overall performance. Today, when it comes to people-related issues, we're dealing with much more than just an administrative function.

As its name suggests, the department is in charge of the company's resources... resources that are more than essential to its smooth operation!

In concrete terms, against a backdrop of a tense job market and changing employee aspirations, imagine an HR department that :

• struggles to recruit the right profiles ;
• doesn't pay enough attention to employees' well-being, with the risk of them going elsewhere;
• doesn't make proper use of employees' skills, etc.

☝️ Not to mention the fact that competition is rife not only at recruitment level, but also at business level, of course. So you need to be able to rely on efficient, qualified resources.

The benefits of a high-performance HR department

Good HR performance triggers a virtuous circle:

1. employees want to stay with the company and become fully involved in its project;
2. their job satisfaction shines through ;
3. which enhances the organization's good reputation;
4. which in turn facilitates recruitment.

In short, a well-functioning human resources department :

• has a positive impact on productivity, thanks in part to appropriate hiring and training measures;
• contributes to employee commitment, reducing turnover and promoting talent retention;
• reinforces alignment with strategic objectives, through regular performance monitoring.

But to improve HR efficiency, you still need to measure it 📏 !

A word from the expert

While HR performance is often measured by numbers and concrete results, integrating employee well-being into these assessments could revolutionize the way companies perceive their internal effectiveness.

Employee engagement and satisfaction are key factors that directly influence productivity and creativity. By including indicators relating to well-being at work, such as stress levels, job satisfaction and professional development opportunities in HR information systems, companies can gain a more holistic understanding of their performance.

This more inclusive approach not only helps to improve the working atmosphere, but also to predict potential bottlenecks and future challenges more effectively, leading to more robust and adaptive HR strategies.

Laure Guérin Taquet,

How do you measure HR department performance?

1 - Determine your objectives

Measuring HR performance is no easy task: you're dealing with a huge variety of activities, from administrative management to skills management, from recruitment to quality of working life.

In other words, you have to make choices!

Start by determining the department's objectives, taking into account both :

• the organization's needs and priorities
• the structure of the human resources department ;
• the challenges it faces.

👉 F or example, a technology company with ambitions to increase its market share by developing an innovative product will rely heavily on HR to recruit and/or train a sufficiently qualified team.

💡 Worth knowing: to be viable and motivating, an objective must be SMART:

• Specific ;
• Measurable ;
• Attainable;
• Realistic;
• Temporally defined.

2 - Define your KPIs

Examples of HR indicators

The next step in HR performance management is to define more precisely your KPIs, the ones you'll be monitoring under the microscope to make sure you're achieving the objectives you've set 🔎.

But then, what are HR KPIs ?

As there are a bunch of them, here are a few examples:

• KPIs on recruitment:
  • number of recruitments ;
  • average duration of a recruitment campaign;
  • recruitment quality index, etc.
• KPIs on absenteeism:
  • absenteeism rate ;
  • cost of absenteeism;
  • frequency rate, etc.
• KPIs on training and skills development :
  • number of training courses provided ;
  • training success rate;
  • internal recruitment rate, etc.
• KPIs on social climate :
  • turnover rate ;
  • average seniority ;
  • employee Net Promoter Score, etc.

👉 Find all these metrics, and many more, in our article on HR indicators.

How to choose the right KPIs?

Since it's counterproductive (and relatively impossible 🫠 ) to carefully monitor all potential HR indicators, how do you choose yours?

Quite simply, by ensuring their :

• alignment with the company's ambitions ;
• measurability, using reliable, easy-to-access data;
• representative of the objectives and activities of the HR function as a whole;
• ability to evolve rapidly in line with the actions and initiatives you plan to implement.

3 - Collect and analyze the necessary data

Once you've selected your indicators, you need to :

• identify where your data can be found;
• collect the relevant data;
• analyze them in order to assess the effectiveness of the HR function. The aim? Identify trends, strengths and potential areas for improvement.

Of course, an effective HR department is one... that doesn't devote hours a week to this task 😮‍💨! That's why we recommend automating these operations as much as possible with the help of suitable tools, such as HRIS (Human Resources Management Information Systems) or specialized data analysis solutions.

💡 Easy-to-use business intelligence software such as MyReport will be perfect for this job. How does it work? Quite simply, by connecting to all your data sources to automatically retrieve and qualify the necessary information. You can then create reports for analysis in just a few clicks. And thanks to MyReport's data visualization functions, you can build visual dashboards, updated in real time, to simplify the sharing of HR performance data with management.

4 - Present the results... in the right way!

By their very nature, HR performance results need to be shared, especially with management. And for good reason, the strategies that will result from these reflections must be co-constructed in order to maintain common interests.

As a result, the way in which you present your analyses should be carefully thought out, with particular attention to the following components:

• vocabulary. Avoid overly specific jargon that only HR understands!
• typography and aesthetics in general, since an attractive rendering captures the reader's attention ;
• the way the data itself is presented.

For this last point, a number of rules apply:

• choose your graphics intelligently, according to the type of information to be conveyed. For example, a comparison between categories requires a bar chart. The famous pie chart, on the other hand, is perfect for representing the distribution of data as a percentage of a total;
• don't include too many indicators to avoid overloading the elements;
• prioritize data in order of importance and consistency. You can also group related indicators together;
• provide contextual information (descriptions, annotations, etc.) to facilitate understanding.

5 - Monitor your HR indicators regularly

To perform well, you need to monitor your indicators regularly.

Here too, automation is the key to saving time and ensuring data reliability.

🤩 The tools presented above (HRIS and business intelligence software) integrate dashboards capable of updating data in real time. This means that every player involved in HR efficiency can quickly access the information they need, when they need it.

How to improve HR performance? Our 3 tips

#1 Set up an action plan

Monitoring HR performance is pointless if you don't follow it up with an action plan designed to improve your weak points.

When it comes to taking action, you're spoilt for choice. Focus on the objectives of the human resources department.

This may involve :

• setting up skills development programs ;
• improving the recruitment process;
• enhancing well-being at work and career progression, with a view to retaining talent;
• increasing employee performance;
• promote diversity and inclusion, etc.

☝️Qu hatever the direction of your HR strategy, the success of the associated projects involves :

• assigning clear responsibilities to each team member and to the stakeholders involved ;
• setting (realistic!) deadlines for each action.

#2 Take care of your process at every stage of the employee journey

The employee journey within a company is made up of multiple stages, from recruitment to offboarding, onboarding, development and retention.

It's essential to improve your HR performance at each of these stages, without favoring one over another. The result is a positive overall experience for employees, which has a positive impact on :

• their commitment and therefore their performance ;
• talent retention ;
• the attractiveness of the company when recruiting.

👉 F or example, the integration phase is crucial (yet still neglected by many organizations), because if the new recruit doesn't feel welcome, he or she will probably decide not to continue the adventure. In fact, according to Combo, 6 out of 10 employees terminate their probationary period themselves.

#3 Involve all players in HR performance

HR improvement is the business of the human resources department... but not the only one!

Many other company players have a role to play:

• Employees. As the primary stakeholders, they contribute to the organization's overall performance through their commitment, productivity and collaboration. As a result, their valuable feedback feeds into human resources strategy.
  
  
• Managers. They play a central role, acting as a link between management and operational staff. What's more, they play a key role in employees' sense of well-being at work.
  
  
• Management. Its directives and vision inspire HR objectives. What's more, its support remains paramount, among other things because it holds the reins of the budget 🤑.
  
  
• Technical department. It implements the tools that support human resources in their quest for performance (data management, process automation, smoother communication between employees, etc.).

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What does HR performance mean?

Today, the performance of human resources departments is just as closely scrutinized by top management as that of other departments. The stakes, in terms of both efficiency and costs, are high. The HR department can become a real lever for growth, by recruiting the right profiles and ensuring that they flourish within the company's project.

But performance means monitoring indicators. Nowadays, setting up and regularly observing various KPIs is an integral part of the HR department's tasks, which can of course count on the support of technology.

Thanks to this " data-centric " approach, they can draw invaluable lessons to deploy actions that benefit both the company and its talents!