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 business organisation is a complex machine, with every part playing a key role in its smooth running. The human resources department is no exception to the rule.

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 measures to improve its HR performance, both in terms of monitoring results and implementing an action plan.

What are the human resources performance indicators ? Why is it important to analyse 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 concept of HR performance refers to the effectiveness of a company' s human resources function, through various aspects:

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

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

Why is HR performance important?

What are the issues surrounding human resources performance?

Human resources performance is a key component of an organisation's overall performance. Today, when it comes to people-related issues, we are 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 running!

In practical terms, against a backdrop of a tight labour 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 that they will go 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 are keen to stay with the company and become fully involved in its project ;
2. their job satisfaction shines through ;
3. which enhances the organisation's good reputation;
4. which in turn makes recruitment easier.

In short, a well-functioning human resources department :

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

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

A word from the expert

While HR performance is often measured through figures and concrete results, incorporating employee well-being into these assessments could revolutionise the way companies perceive their internal effectiveness.

Employee engagement and satisfaction are key factors that directly influence their 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 improves the working environment, but also enables potential bottlenecks and future challenges to be predicted more effectively, leading to more robust and adaptive HR strategies.

Laure Guérin Taquet,

How can you measure the performance of your HR department?

1 - Define your objectives

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

In other words, you have to make choices!

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

• the organisation'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 skilled 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 your KPIs more precisely, those that you will monitor closely to ensure that you achieve the objectives you have set 🔎.

So what are the HR KPIs ?

There are lots of them, so here are a few examples:

• KPIs on recruitment:
  • number of recruitments ;
  • average length 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; etc;
  • internal recruitment rate, etc.
• KPIs on the social climate :
  • staff turnover rate ;
  • average length of service ;
  • employee Net Promoter Score, etc.

👉 You can find all these metrics, and many more, in our article on HR indicators.

How do you choose the right KPIs?

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

Quite simply, by ensuring that they :

• alignment with the company's ambitions ;
• measurable, using reliable data that is easy to access; and
• 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 analyse the necessary data

Once you have selected your indicators, you need to :

• identify where your data can be found;
• collect the relevant data
• analyse it 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 spend hours a week on this task 😮‍💨! That's why we recommend automating these operations as much as possible using suitable tools, such as HRIS (Human Resources Management Information Systems) or even specialist data analysis solutions.

💡 Easy-to-use business intelligence software like 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 draw up your reports for analysis in just a few clicks. And thanks to MyReport's data visualisation 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, particularly with management. And for good reason, the strategies that will emerge from these discussions need to be co-constructed in order to maintain common interests.

So take care in the way you present your analyses, by paying close attention to the following aspects:

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

For this last point, there are a number of rules to follow:

• 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 so as not to overload the elements;
• prioritise the data in order of importance and consistency. You can also group related indicators together;
• Provide contextual information (descriptions, annotations, etc.) to make it easier to understand.

5 - Monitor your HR indicators regularly

If you want 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) incorporate dashboards capable of updating data in real time. This means that every player involved in HR efficiency has rapid access to the information they are looking for, when they need it.

How can you improve HR performance? Our 3 tips

#1 Put an action plan in place

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 HR department.

This may involve :

• setting up skills development programmes ;
• improving the recruitment process
• improving well-being at work and career development, with the aim of retaining talent;
• increasing employee performance;
• promote diversity and inclusion, etc.

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

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

#2 Look after your process at every stage of the employee journey

There are many stages in an employee's journey through a company, from recruitment to onboarding, development, retention and offboarding.

It is essential to improve your HR performance at each of these stages, without favouring 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 induction phase is crucial (and yet still neglected by many organisations), 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 everyone in HR performance

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

Many other players in the company have a role to play:

• Employees. As the main stakeholders, they make a front-line contribution to the organisation's overall performance through their commitment, productivity and collaboration. As a result, their invaluable feedback feeds into the human resources strategy.
  
  
• Managers. They play a central role by acting as the link between management and operational staff. What's more, they play a major role in employees' sense of well-being at work.
  
  
• Management. Its directives and vision drive HR objectives. What's more, its support remains essential, not least because it holds the reins of the budget 🤑.
  
  
• The 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 can we learn from HR performance?

Today, the performance of the human resources department is as closely scrutinised by management as that of other departments. It has to be said that the stakes in terms of efficiency, as well as costs, are high. The HR department can become a real lever for growth by recruiting the right people and developing their skills within the company project.

But performance means monitoring indicators. Setting up and regularly monitoring a range of KPIs is now an integral part of HR's remit, which can of course count on the support of technology.

Thanks to this " data-centric " approach, they can learn valuable lessons that will enable them to roll out actions that are beneficial to both the company and its talent!