Reference
A working glossary of the HR KPIs that show up most often in executive conversations. Each entry has a plain-English definition, a formula you can actually implement, and the systems the data usually comes from.
Built as a companion to our HR analytics strategy guide. Read that first for how to sequence the work, then use this page as a reference when you are building the metrics themselves.
Section 01
The metrics HR leaders get asked about most often. Reconcile them with Finance before you publish anything else.
Share of the workforce that leaves over a rolling 12 months. The headline retention number.
Employees who chose to leave. The controllable portion of turnover.
Voluntary exits the company would have preferred to keep. The number that actually maps to business risk.
Share of new hires who leave within 12 months of start. A leading indicator for hiring and onboarding quality.
The inverse framing of turnover, useful for tenure-band reporting.
Section 02
Recruiter and hiring-manager metrics. Most of these live in the ATS but only make sense when joined to HRIS outcomes.
Calendar days from requisition open to offer accepted. The most common recruiting KPI.
Calendar days from candidate application to offer accepted. A cleaner measure of the recruiting process itself.
Fully loaded cost of filling a role. Include recruiter comp, agency fees, sourcing spend, and referral bonuses.
How well hires perform once they arrive. Usually indexed on early performance and retention.
Share of offers extended that candidates accept. A signal for comp competitiveness and candidate experience.
Distribution of hires across sourcing channels. Used to steer recruiting spend.
Section 03
The metrics HRBPs use in talent reviews and manager conversations. Cleaner when performance data is centralized.
Retention specifically among top performers. Usually the number that matters most to the CEO.
Share of employees at each rating tier. A calibration and fairness check across managers and business units.
Composite index from an engagement survey. Trended over time and by segment.
Employee Net Promoter Score. Willingness to recommend the company as a place to work.
Share of open roles filled by internal candidates. A signal for career growth and internal talent supply.
Section 04
The metrics that come up in comp cycles, board reviews, and pay-equity discussions.
Employee base pay relative to the midpoint of the pay range for their role.
Difference in median pay between demographic groups, controlled for role and level.
Average merit increase awarded during a cycle. Compared to budget and performance.
Whether higher performers receive materially larger increases. A test of whether comp actually rewards performance.
Section 05
The operational and financial framing. This is where HR analytics meets Finance and Operations.
Active employees at a point in time. Usually reported as a period-end snapshot and a period-average.
Full-time equivalent. Normalizes part-time and contingent workers into a comparable capacity number.
Average number of direct reports per manager. A structural signal for organizational efficiency.
Company revenue divided by average headcount. A high-level productivity metric.
Total employee cost including base, bonus, equity, benefits, and payroll taxes.
Share of scheduled hours lost to unplanned absence. Operationally important in shift-based workforces.
Keep reading
A glossary is useful, but definitions do not build capability. Our HR analytics strategy guide covers how to sequence the work, and the workforce analytics guide frames the same practice from the operations and finance side.
We build these KPIs on the HR, payroll, and ATS systems you already own, and hand the practice back to your team.