Posts Tagged ‘hr performance’

Why It’s Important to Measure HR Performance with KPI

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

It is important to measure HR performance with KPI. The process keeps the company aligned towards achieving corporate goals and objectives.

It greatly helps to be familiar with KPI or key performance indicators. This is because it is important to measure HR performance with KPI. You have to understand that HR or human resource pertains to the human assets or the very workers that a certain company or organization has. To ensure the success and growth of the company, it is important to monitor and keep track of the performance of its workforce.

Thus, the reason behind measuring HR performance with KPI. With this procedure, the company can determine the strengths of the workforce and capitalize on them. This procedure also helps weed out the weaknesses in the workforce, and appropriate solutions can then be determined.

To further understand the importance of this procedure, the concept of KPI or key performance indicators should then be discussed. KPIs are actually metrics used in quantifying corporate objectives in line with the strategic performance of every worker and department in the workforce. These aspects are quite hard to quantify without the usage of KPIs, and this is primarily the reason behind the existence of KPIs. The figures being quantified here are actually used by the management to evaluate the present state of the organization against the corporate objectives and goals that were originally set.

KPIs also aid in determining the proper course of action when certain situations take place. In their most basic form, KPIs determine how the human assets of a company contribute to the overall performance of the company itself. Since this is the vital role played by KPIs, then it is very important to exert effort in determining the relevant KPIs to use. You have to understand that the needs of a company can shift at just about any time, so you have to be ready to implement changes as they are needed.

In any company, the workforce is indeed its most important asset. The workers are the frontliners, no matter what industry you belong to. The productivity of each employee has an impact on the company. If an employee is very productive at his job, then this would bring positive effects on the company. On the other hand, negative effects would arise when there is an employee who is not that productive.

The value of each employee is then quantified by HR departments. Oftentimes, the criteria used in quantifying the value of each employee include teamwork, initiative, quality of work, cooperation, and problem solving skills. These are the KPI used on the production side of the company. Other KPIs are used to determine the disposition employees have towards their jobs. These KPIs include job satisfaction and job security.

Other common KPIs used are training cost per employee, absence rate, turnover rate, resignation rate, average remuneration, revenue per employee, and the like.

Another thing to remember when you want to measure HR performance with KPI is the fact that the KPIs used can differ from one company to another. This is because companies have differences when it comes to corporate objectives, goals, and even their operations and mechanics. Thus, you cannot expect two companies to have the same KPIs, even if they are competitors in the same industry. However, if a company does develop an efficient system for their KPIs, then significant improvement and growth for the company can be noticed in good time.

Importance of Improving HR Performance with Balanced Scorecard

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Improving HR performance with balanced scorecard is very important in ensuring growth for the company. The key here is to develop a balanced scorecard that motivates workers to perform better.

Improving HR performance with balanced scorecard is indeed possible in any company or organization. You have to understand that the human aspect is very important in ensuring growth and success for the company. The productivity of each and every employee influences the success of the company as a whole. Thus, it is vital for companies to implement balanced scorecards containing relevant key performance indicators to usher in growth and success along the way.

It is actually quite difficult to control something that you cannot measure. Being human and very unique in nature, it can be so hard quantifying the worth of each employee so that you can come up with a balanced scorecard for your company. Still, this can be done, as long as the KPIs or key performance indicators being used here are indeed relevant to what is being measured. What’s more important here is that the KPIs should be in accordance with the goals and objectives set by the company.

It remains a strong fact that performance measurement systems can provide motivation for the workforce. Over the years, studies have been shown on how performance and productivity rates shoot up when workers know that they are being watched and evaluated. Call it human nature, but we really do want to appear in a positive light. Thus, when we know that we are being evaluated, we try our best to perform as productively as we can. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and this is no exception at all. But generally speaking, most workers are motivated to perform better when they know they are being observed and evaluated.

At present, the performance scorecard is a system employed by companies in pursuing key success factors. Both internal and external benchmarking has to be employed so that the scorecard can be as balanced as possible. For the scorecard to be motivational, the data here should then be accurate and timely. Simplicity is the underlying concept here, to ensure validity of measurements. The design for data collection should also be simple as well so that it would be convenient to maintain the databases involved in the process. This way, data integrity can be assured as well. Here are some tips that can help in developing the balanced scorecard.

First, you have to take on a no status-quo mindset. Sticking to the basics is very important here for there are no gray areas with this mindset. You are either black or white. If you are not winning, then you most certainly are losing. This is the mindset you have to take on when developing a balanced scorecard. This way, there would be no biases whatsoever.

Second, it is important to define the key success factors in the company. These may include speed, quality, and cost, just to name a few.

Third, define the stretch goals that are related to the key success factors of the company. More often than not, these goals would also be in line with corporate goals and objectives.

Improving HR performance with balanced scorecard is indeed possible with these tips. Just remember that the whole endeavor is important in ensuring the success and growth of the company as a whole.

Measuring the Performance of HR Department

Monday, January 21st, 2008

For a company to be successful in its operations, the performance of its HR department should also be monitored. There are aspects to remember in measuring such performance.

In any company, regardless of the industry you belong in, there are actually a lot of departments in existence. This is because there are many responsibilities and functions entailed in running a business, so you can never do without a little bureaucracy these days. And the performance, as well as the productivity, of each and every department is constantly monitored. This is to ensure the overall success of the company. When it comes to performance and productivity, it is actually the HR department that is responsible for assessing these. But even the HR department is not exempted from being monitored. This is because the performance of the HR department is also assessed.

A lot of people may think that the HR department is not one of the major departments in any company. But this is quite the opposite of what’s true, you know. The HR department primarily focuses on hiring the very people that would make up the workforce of the company. If this department is not productive or not performing up to par, then the mere act of hiring and recruiting will be questionable for any company. Thus, the HR department is indeed vital in the overall performance of the company.

There are certain aspects to keep in mind in measuring the performance of HR departments. These aspects are also known as indicators. One of these is workforce productivity. Now, it is very important to note here that how companies view workforce productivity can be different from one another. This is inevitable because companies have different visions, operations, and goals, to begin with. But when your employees are very productive, then your HR department is indeed performing well in this aspect.

Another aspect that you should bear in mind is employee engagement. This actually refers to the professional relationships your employees have amongst themselves, as well as with the different levels of management. If the score for this aspect is high, then this is a strong indicator that your employees do hold their jobs as very important. Employee satisfaction is the key concept here. For an employee to perform well at his job, he should be satisfied with everything his job entails. To determine the level of satisfaction of your employees, you can actually conduct surveys and interviews. These are the perfect avenues for your employees to share whatever thoughts they have.

Recruitment is an important thing to consider as well. To monitor this, you have to check out the performance appraisal scores of the employees that have been hired. It would be so much better if you see that a lot of your employees have been promoted to higher positions at a reasonable timeframe. This way, you are sure that your HR department is recruiting the right people for the job.

Employee retention is the last aspect to appraise. You should determine the turnover rate that your company experiences on the average. It cannot be helped because there are always better opportunities in the world of business and trade. But if your company’s turnover rate is low, this means that the employees hired are dedicated to their jobs and to the company itself. Low turnover rates actually mean that the HR department is performing satisfactorily.