Measure Outcomes and Goal Achievement, not Work Processes
Human Resources is responsible for the organization's achievement of the overall goals. HR is also responsible for identifying and measuring goals specific to HR.
Paul Toulson and Philip Dewe of the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand, compiled a list of 32 possible measures that organizations use to measure human resources. They then performed a benchmark study across multiple organizations to identify Human Resources measures.
"Rank ordering across the whole sample they took, the six most frequently used measures were:
- accident frequency rates (60.3 percent),
- client satisfaction surveys (60.1 percent),
- absenteeism rates (56.3 percent),
- training and education costs (56.3 percent),
- cost of people (53.9 percent) and[/li}
- competencies (53.2 percent).
"Not surprisingly, the most infrequently used measures may well reflect some of the difficulties associated with developing appropriate methods and perhaps, the significance given to the human resource function and the idea that its activities should be measured in someway. Most of the organizations surveyed do not, for example, measure training cost, return on investment in human capital, value added per employee, time to fill jobs, return on training and seniority."
These are the results measurements, not process measures (number of people trained) crucial to demonstrating HR success - the success that will land you at the executive table.
Remember the People in Human Resources
Is your office a magnet for people who need help, advice, or a sounding board? Are some of your visitors senior managers? Even the CEO? If so, you're remembering that you are there to serve the people so they can meet the business goals.
At Southwest Airlines, the Human Resources function is called the Office for People and the senior HR person has a similar title. First and foremost, you are there to serve the people. I judge my success by a day when the maintenance technician, a production worker, the Engineering Director, and the CEO all stop by for advice or just general discussion. How do you assess yours?
Express Thoughtful Opinions Backed With Data and Study
You have to understand the numbers. How else can you offer a solid, intelligent opinion about business direction? Learn everything you can so you have opinions and your opinions are backed up with data. You need to understand the effect of decisions your office makes on the work of the rest of the company. (e.g. Don't schedule meetings with plant personnel on the last day of their shipping month.)
