Human Resources Metrics
School Advisor, 2007 Issue No. 2

While school districts spend more than 80 percent of their budgets on people, they are well behind other industries in the use of metrics to assess the value and evaluate the performance of their Human Resources Departments.This observation is not a criticism, but rather, I believe represents an opportunity for school district Human Resources professionals.

Why Do We Care About Metrics?

Metrics tell us how we are doing. Metrics provide data, versus opinion, for objective analysis. It is often noted that what gets measured gets accomplished. Or conversely, what you do not measure, you do not improve. Metrics support proactive behavior and provide for accountability. Benchmarking against metrics affords the opportunity to identify potential areas for improvement. Metrics support planning, and planners out perform non-planners. Arguably, the best performing Human Resources Departments measure.

Human Resources Metrics for School Districts

Metrics typically focus on one of five dimensions:

• Quality
• Quantity
• Time
• Money
• Satisfaction

Key Human Resources metrics that are applicable to school districts include:

• Human Resources Department Budget – expressed as a percentage of the total district budget or Human Resources expenditures per district employee
• Human Resources Department Staffing – ratio of district employees to Human Resources Department staff
• Hiring
  • Time to fill vacancies or request for hires
  • Vacancy rate – number of vacant positions divided by the total budgeted number of positions
  • Number of hires per number of Human Resources Department staff or staff devoted to recruiting
  • Offer acceptance rate (batting average)
  • Internal promotions versus outside hires – make versus buy
  • Workforce diversity targets – employee demographics versus student demographics
  • Size of substitute pools – actual versus need or desired
  • Quality of hires – per surveys, performance documentation
  • Costs per hire – advertising, recruiting events, third-party fees, applicant travel costs, screening/ testing costs, online/Internet service costs, referral bonuses, signing bonuses, etc.
• Turnover
  • Terminations divided by headcount (voluntary, involuntary)
  • Turnover by length of service
• Retention – number of employees at the end of period divided by number of employees at beginning of period
• Attendance
  • Absenteeism – number of days absent divided by days available; number of days absent per employee
  • Substitutes – number of substitute days, cost of substitutes
  • Sick Leave – number of days used per employee
• Employee Relations
  • Grievances – number of grievances per employee group
  • Arbitration – number of arbitration proceedings per employee group
  • Negotiations – elapsed time or hours devoted to negotiate/settle contract
  • Number of employment-related complaints filed (EEO, DOL, etc.)
• Development
  • Training – hours per employee, costs per employee, percent of employees trained
  • Utilization of tuition assistance
  • Average educational level of staff
  • Average experience level of staff
• Employee Engagement
  • Employee engagement (satisfaction) surveys
  • Exit interviews
• Compensation
  • Workers compensation costs per employee
  • Unemployment costs per employee
  • Overtime costs – staffing implications
  • Competitive salary ratios
  • Comparative benefit costs
• Other
  • Adherence to Human Resources policies – frequency of non-compliance (per department, school, administrator)
  • Performance appraisals – distribution of ratings
  • Human Resources customer satisfaction surveys

Selecting Metrics

The right metrics for your school should reflect your culture (i.e., What do you value?), be directed at the district’s critical success factors, and be aligned with the school district’s strategic direction. As a word of caution, stay focused and do not adopt too many measures. Who will own the metrics is equally important to address, as actual performance for various metrics (e.g., turnover, absenteeism, employee satisfaction) will more likely be influenced by the district’s supervisors and administrators than the Human Resources Department.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking, which provides the picture as to how you are performing for a specific metric on a relative basis, includes looking externally and/or internally. The external view can be based upon using available, established data/standards or conducting customized, targeted surveys of comparable school districts. Internal benchmarking typically entails comparing performance between time periods or among employee groups.Recent surveys and other indicators report that greater attention is being given to human capital measurement in various industry sectors. Now should be the time for school district Human Resources leaders to follow suit.

This article was contributed by Jeffrey C. Rahmberg. He is a partner with Rahmberg, Stover & Associates, LLC (RS&A), a management consulting firm specializing in Human Resources. Mr. Rahmberg has been serving as an advisor to school districts for more than 30 years in the areas of Human Resources management, compensation systems, and organizational improvement. He can be reached at 248.203.7710 or jeff.rahmberg@rahmbergstover.com.