Metrics? Who needs them.

doakes January 16, 2008

Metrics or analytics are all about numbers. And numbers…you either like them or you don’t. There is typically no middle ground. Similar to individuals gravitating towards a career in recruiting versus a career as an HR Generalist. You either like recruiting, or you don’t. Lets see what camp you fall into.

Make the following numbers equal 2 using any mathematical symbols you like:

2 2 2 2 = 2

I like numbers. I never was truly great at Math (had to be tutored through High School and College), but I see the value in numbers in that they allow us to measure where we were, where we are, and where we want to be. It took me (and my 11 year old daughter) about 3/4’s of a performance at The Phoenix Symphony to figure this puzzle out; write me your answer and I will give you a thumbs up or down.

It’s important to recognize which camp you are in as those who don’t like numbers will be less interested in putting into place any type of measurement system. My experience over 18 years working with and for small to large companies is that we all want to measure something, but we don’t really understand what to measure, and probably more importantly, we don’t know what to do with numbers. Think back 5-7 years, and remember when you first began to hear the phrase “Quality of Hire.” I sat on a committee for Staffing.org who took many, many months to attempt to capture what this metric is, and what data points make up Quality of Hire. It was a great committee with team members who had incredible knowledge of numbers and recruiting. We eventually defined Quality of Hire. The actual definition is not the point of this - what is important is, how many of you embrace numbers and have moved the analytics/metrics bar to a new level?

Whether you like numbers or not, EVERY Recruiting and HR department needs metrics. It’s time to begin moving the metrics needle further and further and begin measuring your Recruiting and HR Effectiveness. Those who like numbers and feel challenged to solve a problem (like above) are more likely to have a head start on those who don’t like numbers. You may already have a Dashboard system and you may already be sitting at the table with senior leadership showing exactly how Recruiting is performing and the effect that is having on the company’s bottom line. But don’t stop there. Communicate and share with others what you are doing and what you are measuring. Eventually we may come up with a common set of metrics and analytics that become what the ERA (Earned Run Average) is to Baseball.

For those who don’t like numbers and find them irritating or boring, don’t despair. Recruiting is not rocket science, and the topic of measuring your recruiting and HR function is not new. Your challenge? Just do something. Find an analytical tool that is easy to deploy and even easier to do something with the results. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, but don’t be afraid to try something new. Numbers are not going away and the quicker you move to embrace numbers, the quicker you can help move the metrics needle for you, your company, and the recruiting industry.

Bottom line:  We all need numbers to validate where we were, where we are, and where we want to be. If you don’t like numbers, do what I did in high school and college…get tutored!!!

Posted in Human Resources Analytics, Hodes QTrac, HR Metrics, HR Analytics, HR Benchmarking, HR Consulting, Human Resources, Recruiting, HR Scorecards, Recruiting Consulting, Six Sigma and HR