By Helen Luketic, CHRP 

Editor’s Note: This is the final article of a six-part series.

This is the final instalment of a six-part series through which the research function of BC HRMA has provided a high-level outline of how to get started measuring HR.  The previous articles have walked through each step in the process and explored the issues that you should think of as well as tasks that you need to do. Here is a list of the information provided::

1. Be your own personal cheerleader
2. Develop your measurement vision
3. What your organization’s strategy is telling you about your choice of metrics
4. Figuring out the gap between where you are and where you want to be
5. Moving from planning to implementation
6. After implementation there is more implementation 

   About the Author:
   Helen Luketic is the HR Knowledge and Research Associate at BC HRMA. She is the winner of the 2007/2008 Rising Star award for her significant contribution to the developing field of HR measurement. Helen is focused on sharing this knowledge with BC HRMA members through a range of activities and services.

PART SIX:
After Implementation There is More Implementation

Start small, build the infrastructure, grow. Then, get rid of what isn’t working, refresh what can be saved and build better where you can. Planning and implementation is never truly over when you’re building greatness.

A great example of this is Las Vegas. Those of you who have been there or seen the city on TV, know the enormity of it all and can only imagine the amount of money that built it into the grandeur it is today. Only a little over 100 years ago it started off as a small settlement that grew only when major infrastructure was introduced – first the railway and then the Hoover Dam, then a major highway to access the rest of the U.S.  Vegas became known for it’s casinos in the mid-40s on Freemont Street but eventually this “old Vegas” was replaced with the mega-resorts on what is now known as the Las Vegas strip.  What started as a few minor casinos has grown, with the original casinos being rebuilt into something newer and flashier today.

Let’s apply the moral of this story to your HR metrics implementation. You’ve decided on the metrics you’ll report, you’ve assigned accountabilities, documented your processes, tracked and cleaned your data and figured out your ideal reporting tool.  But, you’re not ready to go just yet as you’ve still got to plan your roll-out and your life after implementation.

Plan the Roll-out Like an Ocean Eleven Heist

Rolling out your HR metrics program involves telling everyone what you’re doing including the benefits of your program, how staff will be impacted and defined roles.  With that goal in mind, consider how you will communicate, re-communicate and communicate 10 more times before everyone understands what you’re doing.  Communicate according to your audience and bring out your change management tool kit.

Part of your communications should include a handy reference tool for your audience. Not everyone who receives your metrics will necessarily know how they are calculated or how to interpret them.  Don’t make your audience ask for help – make it easy for them to read the report and understand the meaning behind the metrics and they will start to use them.

And finally, this report should not be just another piece of paper.  Find ways to make reporting and the report distribution process efficient.

If Neil Diamond Can Last, so Can Your Measures

Planning to keep your HR metrics program for the long haul?  Then plan how you will sustain it. Otherwise, plan to watch it peter out. Embed HR metrics into your department by planning who will action on the numbers.  For example, you discover that one particular department has a spike in resignations – who runs an intervention with the department manager to further assess and correct the situation?  Plan for different scenarios.

Another way to make HR metrics a daily part of life is to incorporate it into performance measures.  Set reasonable stretch targets for your staff to achieve. It’s a great way to make your performance reviews an objective process!

Like any new initiative, it can quickly get lost in the day-to-day operational shuffle.  By focusing on metrics, your work will become more focused on the strategic and on the activities that offer the biggest return for your investment buck.

Plan for the New Las Vegas

When should you check-in to ensure that your metrics are still relevant and are serving your audience?  A year after implementation is a good time-frame to work with since you get to see a full-cycle of data collection. You know eventually you’ll have to add/delete/update your metrics so be sure to schedule it in.

Plan to refresh but also plan to make your metrics bigger and better so you can get the most out of your program.  Search for ways to make the reporting more efficient and to place it in the hands of managers.  Compare yourself to your competitors by benchmarking.  Why not show the organization how to plan for their people needs?  HR metrics naturally feed a Strategic Workforce Planning process, the nirvana of each strategic HR’er.

By going bigger you can also be digging deeper into your data by answering the “why?” question.  Say your turnover is 20 per cent% – why?  Explore your numbers with onboarding, as well as exit and employee engagement surveys.  What better way to solve issues than to ask the employees “what’s up?”

The final word:  if you’re tired of being reactive, then plan for the present and the future.  Be humble – it’ll be easier to correct the errors as you learn your way.  Communicate often.  Leverage what you’ve got.  Involve the entire HR team.  Learn.  Build small then build bigger.  Scrap.  Improve.  Where you lack resources or tools, be innovative.  Start somewhere – and no, it doesn’t have to be the Hoover Dam but eventually it can be a Vegas.

Helen Luketic, CHRP brings more than nine years of HR experience to her current role as HRIS Analyst at Vancity, where she’s assisting the organization implement new HR systems and processes. For her innovative achievements at Vancity, Helen was the recipient of BC HRMA’s 2008 Rising Star Award. In her previous role as Manager, HR Metrics & Research at BC HRMA, she combined her CHRP, B.A. in Economics, HR information systems knowledge and experience in HR metrics to develop the HR Metrics Service and related workshops, presentations and webinars to teach HR professionals about HR metrics and benchmarking.