PART TWO – Getting Started: Developing Your Dashboard and Metrics Function
By Helen Luketic, CHRP
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a six-part series.
In this six-part series, the research function of BC HRMA will provide a high-level outline of how to get started measuring HR. The subsequent articles will delve deeper into each step in the process and explore issues that you should think of as well as tasks that you need to do. Here is a highlight of information to come:
- Be your own personal cheerleader
- Develop your measurement vision
- What your organization’s strategy is telling you about your choice of metrics
- Figuring out the gap between where you are and where you want to be
- Moving from planning to implementation
- After implementation there is more implementation
PART TWO:
Develop Your Measurement Vision
The fall of the Berlin Wall. The end of apartheid in South Africa. Women’s suffrage in Canada. The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Richard Simmons videos. Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy CD release.
What do these events all have in common? They all started with a vision. If you want a core shift in the work HR does – from transactional to strategic – start with a measurement vision.
You’ve already been a cheerleader for metrics, for both yourself and others. The next step is to declare your vision, create a draft strategy and generally answer the questions “why bother measuring?” and “what will measurement look like in the organization in five years?”
Think five years from now. How do you envision your organization applying HR metrics? Think big and edit for content later. Some ideas to consider are:
- develop measurable and actionable targets for HR and management
- benchmark externally to gauge how the organization is faring against competitors and within the economy
- introduce an HR dashboard that tracks the effectiveness of HR
- add HR measures to the Corporate Scorecard to display the impact of HR to the bottom line
- create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each HR function to track the efficiency and effectiveness of activities and processes
- implement a business intelligence tool to put reporting tools and metrics into the hands of each manager
- introduce a comprehensive annual HR report for the state of human capital in your organization, to compliment the financial annual report
- practice strategic workforce planning
Now take your ideas and start writing them down. You’ll want to include the following content but don’t be limited to this list:
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Content |
Example |
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Objectives |
Give the background as you know it. State your goals and overall vision with a due date. Focus on outcomes. |
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Scope |
What is included or excluded from your measurement vision. For example, in scope could be “create an HR dashboard” and out of scope could be “streamline federal reporting requirements” |
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Major Deliverables |
If your goals were met, what tangible result would you see? Ensure your goals are SMART. |
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Approach |
Who do you want to involve and how? For example, do you want to include the executive team? Do you want to lead focus groups to collect feedback? |
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Risks & Mitigating Action for Risks |
You know there are risks involved. Identify those risks and brainstorm how you plan on dealing with them. Estimate the likelihood of the risk occurring (low, medium, high) and the severity of the risk (low, medium, high). |
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Assumptions & Dependencies |
Assumptions could include that you are working with the resources you already have (technical, people, budget). |
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Benefits |
The benefits can be quantitative or qualitative. List them all! |
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Potential Resources |
Identify what types of resources you think may need. Be prepared for changes as this list could be altered significantly once you delve deeper into this project. |
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Schedule |
The estimated schedule to achieve each of your goals. No need to go for the gold in the first year (remember that it took 10 years for Guns ‘N Roses to release their last CD) |
Now that you’ve recorded your vision at the highest level, it’s time to include others in the discussion and have them add their two cents to your vision. Include the people whom the vision will impact and consider involving those who’ve done this before: Marketing, Finance, and IT. The goal here is to take your vision and work with others to create a more detailed project charter.
After the discussions, the creation of the detailed charter, and a formal declaration of the vision, it’s time to assign accountability – even to yourself. Handing accountability to a specific person or group of people is key to making any of this happen. The lead individual should see to it that out of the charter, a project plan is developed and implemented. This person should be familiar with project management principles, be a great team player, negotiator, and influencer. Where their HR metrics knowledge lags behind their enthusiasm, be sure to give them the resources to learn. Ultimately, this person should start small and build the empire from there.
If this sounds overwhelming and resource intensive, remember that it’s up to you how big you want to go and how fast you want to get there. Once you have the big vision, the detailed plan can be built from there. Start simply and simply start.
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.
