HR Metrics, Analytics, and Reporting
This section covers HR Metrics, Analytics, and Reporting. The exam tests metric definitions, formulas, data quality, dashboards, and ethical analysis. Expect questions that require choosing the right denominator and separating correlation from causation.
Core rules
- Turnover = separations / average headcount for the period. Split voluntary and involuntary, and regrettable and non-regrettable.
- Cost-per-hire = total recruiting costs / hires. State whether recruiter salaries, agency fees, and signing bonuses are included.
- Time-to-fill = days from requisition approval to offer acceptance; time-to-start runs to the first day.
- Absenteeism = lost days / scheduled workdays. Revenue per FTE = revenue / FTEs.
- Leading indicators predict, such as pipeline, engagement, and vacancy risk; lagging indicators confirm, such as turnover and cost.
- Analytics maturity: descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive.
- Correlation is not causation; segment before concluding; check definitions, missing values, and small samples.
Worked example
Average headcount is 200; separations are 30, so turnover = 30/200 = 15%. Voluntary = 18; involuntary = 12. If 10 of the 18 voluntary leavers were high performers, regrettable turnover = 10/200 = 5%. Recruiting costs are $240,000 for 30 hires, so cost-per-hire = $8,000. If the company reports only ending headcount of 210, turnover would be 14.3%, understating the rate; average headcount is the defensible denominator.
Traps
Using ending headcount; mixing monthly and annual rates; assuming all turnover is bad; excluding recruiter costs without disclosure; and presenting correlation as cause.