What are HR dashboards? How to create and use them

Imagine an HR department that is at its best: engaged employees, minimal staff turnover, and a perfect budget. But without a clear picture of all processes, you will never be able to assess the overall situation.

This is where an HR dashboard comes into play. It serves as a kind of compass that helps you navigate the changing business environment and ensure that your HR department achieves its goals.

HR dashboards are interactive visual tools that are used to present key performance indicators (KPIs) and other people-related data in a convenient and easily accessible format. Dashboards can include information on hiring, retention, productivity, salary, benefits, training and development, and other aspects of people management.

Why are They Important?

HR dashboards in Excel are important tools for HR professionals, managers, and other stakeholders for several reasons:

• Improve decision-making: they provide a clear and concise view of important data, allowing professionals to make informed decisions about hiring, retention, and development.
• Enhance communication and collaboration: can be used to share information with all stakeholders.
• Contribute to goal achievement: help professionals and managers track progress toward goals and make necessary adjustments.
• Most importantly, HR dashboards automate data collection and analysis, which saves time and resources for HR professionals.

Benefits Of Using Hr Dashboards

A Clear And Concise View Of The Data

Visualization: charts, graphs, and maps to present data in a convenient and easily accessible format.

Interactivity

This allows users to explore the data and get additional information in a convenient format.

Personalization

HR dashboards can be personalized to display information that is most relevant to each user.

Accessibility

Access through a browser or mobile device makes HR dashboards easily accessible to all parties.

Types of HR Dashboards

Operational

Focus on the day-to-day work of the HR department. They usually contain information about:

• the number of open vacancies
• time required to fill vacancies
• staff turnover rate
• attendance
• productivity
• salary and benefits

Analytical

Use more advanced data analysis techniques to identify trends and patterns in HR data. It may include the following data:

• reasons for employee turnover
• the impact of training and development programs on productivity
• employee satisfaction
• demographic data on the workforce

Strategic

Relates HR data to the overall goals and strategy of the organization. They include:

• the impact of HR initiatives on financial performance
• level of readiness for change
• positioning in the labor market

Key HR Dashboard's Metrics

Employee turnover

What it means: The percentage of employees who leave the company within a certain period of time.

Why it matters: High employee turnover rates can lead to significant costs, including hiring, training, and lost productivity.

How to measure it: Calculate the percentage of employees who have left the company over a certain period of time. For example, if 100 employees left the company out of 500 hired during the year, the employee turnover rate would be 20%.

Targets: Employee turnover rates vary by industry and company size. However, the recommended turnover rate is below 15%.

Time to Fill

What it means: The average time it takes to fill a position.

Why it matters: The longer a position remains open, the more you lose productivity and incur costs.

How to measure it: Calculate the average time it takes to fill vacancies over a certain period of time. For example, if you filled 10 vacancies over the course of a year, and it took 300 days to fill them, your closure rate would be 30 days.

Targets: The speed of closing a job varies depending on the industry and the level of the position. However, in general, aim for a closing rate of less than 30 days.

Ratio of the Number of HR and Employees

What it is: The number of HR employees for every 100 rank-and-file employees.

Why it matters: An appropriate HR to employee ratio ensures that the HR department has enough resources to support the needs of the organization.

How to measure it: Calculate the number of HR employees for every 100 employees. For example, if you have 10 HR professionals and 500 employees, your HR to employee ratio is 2:100.

Targets: HR to employee ratios vary by industry and company size. The optimal HR to employee ratio is between 1:50 and 1:100.

Coefficient Of Career Development

What it means: The percentage of employees who get promoted or move to new positions within a certain period of time.

Why it matters: A high career development rate indicates that the company offers opportunities for the development and growth of its employees. This can lead to increased employee loyalty, job satisfaction, and productivity.

How to measure it: Calculate the percentage of employees who have been promoted or moved to new positions over a certain period of time. For example, if 10 employees were promoted or moved to new positions out of 500 hired during the year, your career growth rate would be 2%.

Targets: The target career growth rate varies by industry and company size. An effective career growth rate is more than 1%.

Revenue per Employee

What it means: The total revenue of a company divided by the number of employees.

Why it matters: This metric can help you understand how productive your employees are and how their productivity affects the company's overall profitability.

How to measure it: Calculate the total revenue of the company over a certain period of time and divide it by the number of employees during the same period. For example, if your revenue was $100 million during the year and the number of employees was 500, your revenue per employee would be $200,000.

Targets: Revenue per employee varies by industry and company size. Aim for revenue per employee that meets or exceeds the average for your industry.

Employee Loyalty

What it is: An assessment of how loyal and satisfied employees are with their company.

Why it matters: Loyal employees are more likely to stay with the company, be productive, and recommend the company to others.

How to measure it: Conduct a survey of employees to assess their loyalty. The survey usually includes questions such as “Would I recommend this company as a place to work?” and “Am I proud to work for this company?”

Targets: The target employee loyalty index varies by industry and company size. The recommended employee loyalty index is above 70%.

How to Create an HR Dashboard: Step-By-Step Guide

Step 1

The first step in creating an HR dashboard is to define its goals and purpose. What do you want to achieve with this dashboard? What data do you need to make better decisions?

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Which HR KPIs are most important to me?
• How can I use this data to improve my people's performance?
• Who will use this dashboard?
• How often will they use this dashboard?

Step 2

Once you've defined your goals and purpose, you can choose the data you want to visualize on your dashboard.

Here are some examples of HR KPIs you can visualize:

• employee turnover rate
• average time required to fill vacancies
• the amount of costs associated with hiring a new employee
• level of job satisfaction
• productivity
• level of participation in training and development programs, training and development costs, ROI of training and development programs
• salary and benefits

Step 3

Now you can start creating data visualizations, for example, make an HR dashboard in Excel:

• use the right type of visualization
• make clear and concise titles and labels
• use the appropriate scale for your visualizations
• avoid overloading your visualizations with data

Step 4

Finalize your dashboard by adjusting it to your needs.

• Add filters and controls, so users can explore the data in more detail
• Create links to reports and other resources
• customize your dashboard branding

Step 5

It's important to test your HR dashboard with users to make sure it's easy to use and informative.

You can ask users for feedback on the design and functionality of the dashboard.

Once you've created, tested, and finalized your HR dashboard, you can distribute it to your employees.

Final Thoughts

If you want to improve your work with people and achieve your organization's goals, an HR dashboard is an essential tool.

Try to create an effective HR dashboard in HURMA System and you will see significant improvements in your work with people.