Workforce Measurement and Business Reporting - Case Study Example

Introduction Organization XYZ is a business enterprise in the Information Technology sector. It has many employees working at its various departments. In this regard, the human resource management is a vital component in the company. One of the human resource elements that the department finds useful is the workforce measurement and business reporting. Moore points out that “for human resource (HR) professionals to have a real impact in their organizations and be recognized as value-added business partners, they must appreciate that data collection, reporting and analysis need to become an integral function within the human resource department” (pg 42). This document, therefore, is an exploration of the workforce and business reporting that organization XYZ undertakes, while emphasizing on the following points: Workforce key performance indicators, Workforce performance reports that are generated, HR return on investment measurement required, Benchmarking undertaken, Continuous improvement that has been initiated as a result of the benchmarking data, HR measurement and reporting, Alignment of workforce reporting with organizational performance and strategic objectives, Any gaps in measurement and reporting that you have identified and recommendations for change/improvement, The value and benefits of a comprehensive, integrated human resources measurement and reporting system. Organization XYZ emphasizes on workforce performance measurements including measurement on workforce and management profiles. On these measurements, various indicators are evaluated in relation to their contribution to the productivity of the organization. 1. Workforce key performance indicators Organization XYZ looks at several indicators in the measurements of its workforce performance against the company’s goals and initiatives. These metrics revolve mostly around the management and engagement of the workforce. They include Employees’ turnover, absenteeism, training, employee relations, recruitment, talent management, workforce planning, exit interviews, grievances and discipline, workforce diversity and satisfaction , occupational health and safety, and performance management (Moore, pg 42). The management realizes that employees' turnover could be detrimental to the general productivity of organization XYZ (Billikopf). This ratio (employees turnover), which compares the number of staff exit from the organization to the total number of staff within a given period, points out to the costs that the organization incur when employees terminate their work. The costs resulting from this factor stem out from the staff selection process, staff orientation, and training these new employees. A study by Morrowa, et. al. reveals that there is a relationship between employees’ turnover and the productivity of an organization (p. 373). Absenteeism is another significant workforce metric that affects both the performance of individual employees and the overall performance of an organization. Absenteeism might be considered a qualitative measure; nonetheless, in measurement of workforce performance, numerical elements such as number of days absent are considered. This indicator further involves numerical figures indicating factors such as percentage of lost time, the cost to the company in figures. . Exit interview refers to a typical meeting involving an employee leaving an organization, usually voluntarily, and a human resource personnel or a representative. Such interviews or rather surveys allow organizations to collect data that would be useful in enhancing the working environment as well as in retaining staffs. Additionally, this process allows organizations to mitigate litigations, which are usually costly to organizations. Collecting data on staff training is important in an organization’s human resource department. It is possible to, sometime, have organizations conduct staff training and still have no effect to its performance. This is because training maybe not what the organization needed to boost its productivity. In this regard, therefore, it is vital to collect data on staff training for analysis to establish areas that need developed. Employee relations entail the efforts related to keeping good relationships between the employer and the employees in order to allow motivation, morale and adequate productivity in the organization. Employee relations aim at resolving issues that arise within an organization, and that affect negatively the work climate. Measurement of this factor is crucial to the operation and productivity of an organization. 2. Workforce performance reports Workforce performance reports are generated out of the workforce performance survey and measurements; it is reporting what has been measured after analysis and making inferences. Therefore, these reports “provide more comprehensive data via numbers, percentages and dollar values” (Moore p. 42). Areas that are reported against include “turnover, absenteeism, training, employee relations, recruitment, talent management, workforce planning, exit interviews, grievances and discipline, workforce diversity and satisfaction , occupational health and safety, and performance management” (Moore p. 42). These reports area generated in accordance with the existing structure of the organization XYZ, which is departments. In particular, these reports are referred to as performance indicator management reports, performance indicator individual reports, workforce information report, human resource performance reports, or employees profile performance. 3. HR return on investment measurement required Organization XYZ also undertakes measurements on HR return on investment ROI). This involves evaluating various human resource performance metrics revolving around HR function performance. These include HR staffing ratios and costs, analysis of time spent on HR activities, perceived effectiveness of the HR team and the cost of recruitment and training. Traditionally measurements on ROI involved dividing the generated profits in the organization by the value of assets used in generating the profit. Nonetheless, measuring ROI on human resource is not as straight forward as the traditional ROI. Its measurement requires an evaluation of the activities that the department is doing to add to the performance of the organization. The metrics evaluated include, for instance, the number of days the human resource is delivering in terms of training, the number of experienced workforce in the organization, cost of the training programs to the organization, and the cost of retaining employees to the organization. While some values can be established with relative certainty, it is not easy to identify others. For instance, getting the cost of providing training to the employees is relatively easy. On the other hand, costs such as those incurred in convincing experienced and skilled staff to remain with an organization and not exit for another job offer. Therefore, calculating human resource ROI is characterized by identification of the metrics followed by ascription of value to the activities (metrics) rather than their cost. 4. Benchmarking undertaken In organization XYZ, benchmarking is an integral process in the more comprehensive process of workforce evaluation on their performances. It is undertaken by the human resource department, and is useful in evaluating staff activities, structure, practices, and results. Benchmarking may not indicate the contribution of the human resource to the organization but it is an effective approach to “set standards and improve processes” (Phillips, p. 229). This process has been instrumental in developing excellence standards in the organization. Benchmarking, moreover, has featured in various areas within organization XYZ. These include work processes, human resource function, human resource performance indicators, the organization strategy, and .service or product features. Nonetheless, emphasis is put on specific factors that are critical to the success of the organization; that is those elements that bring a difference to the organizations. These specific factors include the long-term and short-term goals; keys indicators pertinent to human resource programs such as costs, time aspects, quality indicators, output indicators of different functions and services in the human resource; as well as specific elements for work process and product/service features. The long-term and short-term goals of organization XYZ are compared to those of other organizations that match its caliber. Elsewhere, product features suggested by employees could be compared to establish differences and similarities. Moreover, “features of an employee assistance program could be explored”(Phillips, p. 231). Various components of the work processes such as time taken in processing request as well as the procedures used, and time needed in recruiting and selecting fresh professional staff are subjected to comparison. Alignment of workforce reporting with organizational performance and strategic objectives The management of organization XYZ also realizes that it crucial to align the workforce reporting with organizational performance and strategic objectives. The critical point addressed, therefore, is having the right number of employees who have the required skills, at the right time and place. The reporting system focuses on four elements to ensure a comprehensive coverage of the issues that surround the workforce and which are critical to the achievement of the organization’s strategic goals are addressed. Figure 1. A diagrammatic representation of the four elements of an integrated workforce measurement, analysis and reporting system. There are various gaps that come out in measurement and reporting. The gaps are defined by the differences between employees’ performance or output and the benchmark set. These differences are seen in the numbers of working hours and leave, training, recruitment, and other aspects explored in workforce measurement. The recommendation is that working hours and leave period need to be reviewed, training and recruitment is not necessary since the workforce available is sufficient and skilled. Benefits of the human resources measurement and reporting system. There are several benefits associated with the process of workforce measurement, analysis and reporting. Moore has indicated that “the collation and use of relevant workforce performance data” boost the credibility in any organization, whether small or big, public or private, and produce “opportunities for the human resource agenda”(p. 42). In addition, this process provides the organization and the human resource management with tangible evidence of existing performance levels, and allows the organization to detect the key issues related to the workforce that require the attention of the management. In this regard, data acquired through this process is useful in building business cases, forecasting returns on investments, and projecting future enhancements. Other benefits include “enhanced commercial skills and the development of a platform of business knowledge upon which you can more effectively engage and build relationships with key internal customers” (Moore, p. 43). The integrated system of reporting, which relies on the workforce measurement and analysis, is used in demonstrating mainly to the top management how human resource adds value to organization XYZ; the four elements of this reporting system covers various issues that are critical to the top management in decision making process as well as in developing policies for the organization. Conclusion Human resource professionals and department must engage their effort, time and resources to ensure an integrated system of workforce measurement, analysis and reporting (Moore, p. 42). Organization XYZ has put in place such a system to help in understanding the organization better, more so, the its workforce and mitigate problems that occur because they have not been detected early. Its workforce measurements, therefore, features identification of workforce performance indicators, which are assigned numerical value as well as establishing human resource, return on investments. These measurements result to production of corresponding reports. The organization also undertakes benchmarking on most of the factors that are considered in workforce measurement. It is worth to note that this process of measuring the workforce performance, analyzing and reporting on the same is a very crucial part of the organization operations, and presents several benefits to the organization as a whole. Works cited Billikopf, Gregorio. Employee turnover, 2006, 9 July 2009, . David, Parmenter, Key performance indicators. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2007. John, Graham. Employee Relations, The International Journal of Employee Relations, vol 31, no. 178, 1979. Employee Relations: what is employee relations? 2009, 9th July 2009, Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement. “The workforce model every organization should use”, Linking Employees to Organizational Performance: A Framework for Driving Success, 9 July 2009, . Gennard, John, Judge, Graham and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Employee relations, Rutledge Publishers, London, 2007. Morrowa, Paula C., McElroyb, James C., Laczniakc Kathleen S., FentondJames B. “Using absenteeism and performance to predict employee turnover: early detection through company records”, Journal of Vocational Behavior, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 358-374, 1999. Phillips, Jack J. Accountability in Human Resource Management, Gulf Professional Publishing, New York, 2006 Read More