Track key metrics to ensure efficient, effective staff management

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30436
• Published date: 01 April 2018
• Date: 01 April 2018

APRIL 2018 NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR

5

© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

DOI: 10.1002/nba

Human Resources

Track key metrics to ensure efcient, effective

staff management

While large charities with hundreds of employees

in chapters across the country might be on the fore-

front of human resources data analytics, most smaller

organizations with just a handful of employees likely

are not� Often, they are unsure of what HR data

analysis could do for their organizations, or even

where to start in collecting relevant information� As

a result, many small charities are missing out on valu-

able insight that could help them in their missions,

experts say�

According to Alicia Schoshinski of Nonprot

HR, even the smallest of nonprots can benet from

tracking just a few key metrics that help get an idea of

what HR issues are presenting the biggest challenges

for the organization, and whether deeper investments

in HR are worth the expense�

“No matter the size of the organization, there

are still things to track” that can be useful in setting

goals and driving decision-making in the organiza-

tion, she said�

In a blog post on this topic, Schoshinski explained

that tracking HR metrics helps an organization:

• Identify problems or opportunities�

• Develop workforce goals and objectives aligned

with your organization’s strategic plan�

• Develop methods to achieve them�

• Determine how to assess and monitor future

performance�

These metrics—which range from staff turnover

and offer acceptance rates to the cost of HR per

employee and even diversity ratios for new hires—all

can help guide decision-making and thereby improve

organizational development, employee effectiveness

and the organization’s competitiveness as an em-

ployer, Schoshinski said�

For smaller charities, Schoshinski said, some data

might not be as useful as it is for larger organiza-

tions—for example, hard numbers on staff turnover

rates might not be as meaningful when you only

have ve employees, and in such a small ofce, no

complicated data analytics are needed to see and

understand the impact of employee turnover� But

in other cases, some baseline data can help identify

issues of concern, she said, especially in light of the

difculties nonprots of all sizes and types report

when it comes to employee recruitment and retention�

“Are they able to compete with other organizations

in attracting top talent? And if they are able to attract

qualied employees, how good are they at keeping

them there?” she asked�

Schoshinski explained that there are two general

types of metrics to track—human capital metrics,

like recruitment metrics, benets and compensa-

tion metrics, employee demographic metrics and

employee engagement metrics; and human resource

productivity measures, which assess the efciency and

effectiveness of the HR department itself—in essence,

an evaluation of the return on investment for the HR

function� Determining which of these to focus on

depends on what the ultimate goal is, she said�

“They should ask, what is it that the CEO, the

board and their donors need to know in order to

make better decisions?” she said�

Some metrics can help identify which HR-related

issues nonprots are facing, while other data are

needed to support a solution to that challenge� For

example, low offer acceptance rates can signal the

organization is having trouble recruiting top talent,

while a look at compensation rates—and how they

compare to other organizations of the same size in

their eld—can show whether it’s a matter of sal-

ary and benets or something else that’s turning off

potential hires�

On its website, Nonprot HR lists a wide variety

of metrics that organizations should be tracking—in-

cluding average tenure of employees, average promo-

tion wait time, promotion ratio, rst-year resignation

ratio, one-year involuntary turnover ratio and total

cost of HR per employee—although Schoshinski

said it’s not necessary for smaller nonprots to cover

all of these—at least not yet� If they are just starting

out, it’s best to focus on just two or three key data

points to get an understanding of where they stand

in comparison to their peers�

Schoshinski recommended collecting data on com-

pensation and benets and offer acceptance rates, at

the least, and checking it against benchmark survey

data from sources such as the Bureau of Labor Sta-

tistics, the Bureau for National Affairs, Nonprot

(See METRICS on page 8)