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INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION FOR HUMAN RESOURCES
2010
Benchmarking Committee Report
HR METRICS
1 6 1 7 D U K E S T R E E T , A L E X A N D R I A V I R G I N I A 2 2 3 1 4
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Table of Contents
I. Summary
II. Case Studies a. City of Miramar, Florida b. Larimer County, Colorado c. City of El Paso, Texas d. City of Hopkins, Minnesota e. Minneapolis, Minnesota f. City of Coral Springs, Florida g. Johnson County, Kansas h. State of Washington i. City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska
Thanks to our sponsor
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Summary
In these tough economic times when HR is asked to do more with less and is tasked with
making difficult decisions about layoffs, RIFs and furloughs, the IPMA‐HR Benchmarking
committee, in conjunction with the membership, decided to focus the 2010 survey on HR
Metrics. Budgeting and the economy were also top priorities for the membership and the
committee developed several questions specifically on these issues.
The committee set out to find what public agencies are measuring in terms of HR. How can HR
prove its value? Several years ago HR practitioners talked about “getting a seat at the table.”
Now that we are at the table, how do we contribute to the organization’s strategic objectives?
How do we measure the “people” function to show value?
Background
The survey was conducted during June 2010 and 584 individuals participated in the survey.
Most survey respondents were from local government and most work for agencies that employ
fewer than 500 employees.
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As the chart below shows, most respondents indicated that their workforce was either not at all
unionized (35%) or were 76 to 99 percent unionized (26%).
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The Basics
IPMA‐HR members were asked several background questions about their practices and the
survey results show that over two‐thirds of respondents collect HR metrics (69%).
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Most respondents said they have been collecting metrics for a significant amount of time, with
20 percent saying they have been collecting the data for ten years or more.
Most have a human resources information system (HRIS) – 68%. This number is similar to the
survey results in the 2005 Technology Committee survey where two‐thirds of respondents said
they had an HRIS. And half of those individuals (51%) said that their HRIS allows them to collect
HR metrics.
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“What gets measured gets attention”
James Tsugawa, Senior Research Analyst at the Merit Systems Protection Board noted that
metrics fall into several categories:
Workforce demographics, such as the number of employees, pay levels, and diversity
Workforce utilization such as salary, expenses, leave use and hours worked
HR resources and activities including HR staff to employee ratios and cost per hire
HR outcomes such as quality of hire, retention of high‐performing employees
Strategic, workforce or HR metrics linked to an organizational performance metric
As the above chart reveals, the most frequently collected metrics tend to be simple and workforce based rather than strategic. Survey respondents were asked about metrics relating to cost per hire and 14 percent reported using this measure. Nearly eight percent said they measure quality of new hires and 10 percent said they measure employee engagement.
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Jeanette O'Quin, Benchmarking Committee member suggested a follow up survey be conducted of the respondents who measure employee engagement. Since this metric is not as common of a data measurement used it may be of interest to find out more information about the types of metrics used by agencies to measure employee engagement. In follow‐up questions asked of survey respondents who measure employee engagement, many indicated that they use employee surveys and exit interviews. Karen Kurt, HR Manager for the City of Eden Prairie, Minnesota said that they a conduct biennial employee survey and analyze the results city‐wide as well as by department and division.
They use the survey to assess the strength of their leaders and to develop action plans for improvement. They also track responses to exit interview questions. The engagement survey and the exit interview survey represent two of the city’s twenty four organization‐wide performance measures, said Kurt.
When asked how they measure quality of new hires, several respondents said that they look at how many new hires pass their probationary period and how many receive high performance ratings at a specific point in time. Another method is to survey the new hire’s manager.
At the end of this report are nine case studies provided by organizations that are using HR metrics, describing their programs and how the measures are used. The organizations use different approaches and each might be useful to an organization just getting started with a program.
The state of Washington, for instance groups their metrics into six categories: (1) plan and align the workforce, (2) hire the workforce, (3) deploy the workforce, (4) develop the workforce, (5) reinforce performance and (6) miscellaneous. This method of grouping the metrics may be useful to other agencies just getting started because it provides a quick explanation of the purpose of the metrics.
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HRIS and Metrics
“The survey responses may be telling us that we need to upgrade our HRIS or better utilize our
current systems,” noted Steve Martinez, formerly with the San Francisco Redevelopment
Agency.
The answers to the two questions, “What metrics do you use?” and “What metrics does your HRIS allow you to collect?” reveal a gap. As seen in the chart below, of those respondents who use cost per hire as a HR metric only about half are able to use their HRIS to collect this data and the same goes for cost of benefits.
These measures are very important. Cost per hire is used by recruiters to measure the cost of new hires as well as lost productivity due to the amount of time it takes to back fill a vacancy. Cost of benefits is important because it is frequently reviewed for cost containment strategies.
Nearly all respondents with an HRIS are able to measure absenteeism, length of service, and headcount electronically. These categories should easily be captured through the payroll or time keeping system without requiring the use of a separate HRIS.
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More than half of the respondents are able to capture turnover rate electronically but less than half of the respondents with HRIS are able to measure time to fill vacancies, service awards, and metrics related to wellness programs.
Are HRIS falling short in measuring important HR metrics or are they being underutilized?
The two charts compared:
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
What HR metrics do you use? Check all that apply
What HR Metrics does your HRIS allow you to collect? Check all that apply.
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Using the Metrics
The above chart shows that metrics relating to hiring such as cost per hire and turnover (49%)
are the most important to top management.
If respondents had to pick one, they were more evenly distributed among the top three:
metrics relating to hiring, metrics relating to open positions and metrics relating to productivity
and performance.
When asked how important HR metrics are to the organization, 37 percent of respondents said,
“slightly important,” 33 percent said “important,” 12 percent said “very important,” and 6
percent said “not all important” (the remainder said “does not apply.” )
In using metrics, the benchmarking committee wanted to find out what HR does with the
numbers once they have them. Respondents were asked who they share their metrics with and
91 percent said top management, half said governing bodies (such as city councils), 38 percent
said employees, 27 percent unions and 18 percent said citizens, while 8 percent said, “no one.”
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Metrics are generally shared through regular reports (50%), presentations (37%), annual
reports (36%), a website (14%) and newsletters (10%).
Survey respondents were also asked if they benchmark against other organizations or not and
175 organizations said that they did (out of 493 organizations answering the question). Ninety
six organizations said that they participate in a formal benchmarking program.
In the budget setting process, only five percent of organizations said that metrics were given a
great amount of weight while nearly 30 percent said “does not apply,” indicating that HR
metrics are not used for budgeting purposes.
Metrics and the Economy
Most organizations are not using metrics to address the current economic downturn. Only 27%
of respondents said that they were. Twenty‐seven percent also said they used metrics to
determine reductions in staff. Respondents were asked how metrics were used and 33 percent
said provided information to top management, 21 percent said provided data needed to justify
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reducing staff and 10 percent said that metrics were not used. (The remaining respondents
answered “does not apply” or “don’t know”).
If minimum staffing levels were established for a department, the levels were adjusted to meet
budgetary constraints by 30 percent of respondents, while 45 percent of respondents said they
do not have minimum staffing levels, 13 percent said the levels were not adjusted and the
remainder did not know.
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Most organizations (56%) said they were receiving more qualified applicants for positions than
before the recession, 27 percent said about the same, one percent said the number actually
declined and 16 percent said they don’t track this type of information.
Most organizations – 63 percent – said that they did not have an increase in overtime pay or
compensation hours earned by employees due to staffing reductions during the current fiscal
year. Only 15 percent said that they increased the amount of overtime pay while the remaining
22 percent responded “don’t know.”
The following two charts involve questions relating to retirement. Respondents were asked
how the number of employees who have retired or are scheduled to retire by the end of the
fiscal year compared to the two prior fiscal years. Thirty eight percent of respondents said the
number was about the same while 29 percent said the number was slightly or much higher and
16 percent said slightly or much less. The chart below provides the breakdown.
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However, when asked if retirement eligible employees were delaying retirement due to the
economy , a greater number, 45 percent, said yes, while only 14 percent said no and the
remaining respondents either didn’t know or don’t track this type of information.
The apparent discrepancy between the two results could be because respondents interpreted
the questions differently. The first question could be interpreted in a very general way, while
the second question could be interpreted to apply even if only one or two employees actually
delayed retirement.
Another possible explanation is the aging workforce. While the number of retirement‐eligible
employees may be increasing with every birthday, the number of those individuals actually
retiring remains about the same.
Respondents were also asked about early retirement incentives. Eighteen percent of
organizations said that their organizations are offering early retirement incentives in order to
avoid laying‐off employees who are not retirement eligible, while 79 percent said they were not
and 4 percent said “don’t know.” (Numbers do not equal 100 due to rounding.)
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Specific Metrics: Staffing Ratios
Below are a series of charts showing staffing ratios. The one immediately below is for all survey
respondents. The data show that the ranges vary greatly with the most common ratio being
one HR professional for 76 to 100 employees followed by one HR professional for 101 to 125
employees.
The charts below show the breakdown by size of the workforce. Larger workforces are more
likely to have a higher HR staff to employee ratio, most likely due to the larger number of
employees overall.
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By size of government:
1 to 499 employees:
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500 to 999 employees
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1,000 to 4,999 employees
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Conclusion
The results of the report show that overall, public employers view metrics as important – nearly 70
percent of organizations collect the data, and 45 percent of respondents said they were either
important or very important. Despite the encouraging numbers, there is room for improvement.
Linda Bjornberg, HR Director for University Services for the University of Minnesota said, “We as HR
professionals have developed HR competencies and expanded our capabilities as business partners to
enhance our performance and increase our effectiveness.
This has not always resulted in being at the "table" for strategy discussions, a role that is often afforded
to our finance counterparts who bring data to the discussion. We wonder why, when we are working
with the largest asset in our organization, its people, we have been less effective than our finance
counterparts in promoting our role in strategy discussions. I believe the answer is in data, specifically,
data which aligns with the goals of the organization.”
Bjornberg continued, “Selecting appropriate HR metrics that support business strategy, then using the
data consistently to improve workforce performance and productivity is the next growth area for HR
professionals.”
How to move into that new growth area could be a challenge. “Engaged leadership, and the support of
top management is important in establishing an HR metrics program,” said Lynn Hellinger, Director of
Management, National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health. “In conducting the
follow‐up interviews, I found that there were two key factors, support from leadership and the ability to
tie‐in the metrics to the budget. Tying the metrics to the budget shows how HR contributes to the
success of an organization.”
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Case Studies
Best Practice: HR Metrics
City of Miramar, Florida Contact: Carolyn Cervantti Assistant HR Director City of Miramar 2300 Civic Center Place Miramar, Florida 33025 Email: [email protected] Phone: 954‐602‐3813 The City of Miramar employs between 800 and 1000 employees with between 100,000 and 150,000 individuals within the jurisdiction. This local municipality has a combination of civil service and at will employees with between 50 and 75% of them covered by union agreements. The City of Miramar has recently adopted a performance based budgeting process. Each department has been asked to come up with programs that they are responsible for and to track the value of each program through the use of metrics relating to productivity and performance. At the end of each quarter there is a large executive committee meeting established by the city manager’s office. This committee has the responsibility for analyzing the different programs to determine if the performance goals established at the beginning of the year are efficient and effective, whether they have resulted in cost savings and whether the programs should be continued. Cost savings are re‐applied to other initiatives that will make a difference to the residents and employees. The city manager’s office conducts two visioning sessions; one with elected officials and one where all residents can attend. The city manager’s staff does a presentation of ongoing programs, areas where money has been saved and possible future projects that can now be funded from the savings. These sessions are designed to get input on future initiatives. HR has been tracking annual transactions for several years now. These include an array of areas such as numbers of staff, promotions, resignations, retirements, terminations, grievances and statistics relative to the level of activity and timing of the staffing process (numbers hired internally vs. externally, applications received, candidates tested, phone calls taken, etc.). They do not have a formalized Human Resources Information System but do utilize an internally designed database in which the analysts input weekly totals for transactions which can be exported to excel spreadsheets for further analysis. These metrics have allowed HR to determine where they are spending most of their time and workloads of different areas to determine how they can be more efficient and effective.
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One of the benefits of their strategy is it allows them to use factual information and data to make educated programmatic decisions. What makes this program so successful? It is transparent and there is heavy employee engagement. Staff understood the difficulties of the financial crises and under normal circumstances might have felt threatened that the data might support loss of jobs. However, management was quite clear that they were looking for ways to cut programs rather than people with an eye towards greater effectiveness and efficiency. Nothing was overlooked to save money. Employees are given awards for ideas that result in major savings. This transparency and openness resulted in buy in and engagement of the employees. Some examples of metrics they looked at and how they used them include:
1. They evaluated the use of sick leave since the time they implemented a 4 day week and found that the use of sick leave had come down.
2. They went out and solicited bids from health insurance companies and were able to implement plans at a 10% reduced cost to the city.
3. They provided training on a new HR database created in house called, “HR4U” for HR work orders (issues/projects) that can be entered by any employee with access to a computer and then checked data to see if the training had been effective.
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Best Practice: HR Metrics
Larimer County, Colorado
Contact: Bridget Paris
Compensation Specialist
Larimer County
Fort Collins, Colorado 80525
Phone: (970) 498‐5976
Email : [email protected]
Size of agency/workforce: 1,650 regular; 800 temporary employees
Describe the HR Metrics program for Larimer County, What is measured?
The county collects data relating to the following:
Annual Workforce metrics ‐ Annual trending in the following areas: New hires, terminations, applicant tracking, posting, unemployment, turnover, cost of separation, leave utilization, benefits utilization, wellness program, employee survey, employee performance.
Human Resources Performance Measures‐ in the areas of administrative support, payroll, benefits, compensation and classification, and employee relations.
How does the county measure the above metrics?
Oracle HRMS is our HRIS system. The majority of the data is entered into Oracle via payroll actions; however, there is a significant amount data maintained through other software, such as NEOGOV, and unemployment data base, and in some cases manual tracking. Analysis occurs primarily in excel.
How do you use the metrics?
Annual workforce metrics are reported annually into a Workforce report that is published and distributed, for use in workforce planning at the department/division level. The information provided allows departments to identify trends, for example, there is a decline in employee survey scores, and an increase in sick leave utilization. Departments can utilize the workforce
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information to implement programs to address specific needs. Another example is the metric of potential retirement eligibility; departments utilize the information to assure they have the necessary training for current staff, and begin potential succession plans in series where staff will potentially be exiting the organization. The annual workforce report is also used by Divisions/departments for organization information to report into grant applications, and other reports completed at the Division/Department levels.
Human Resources measurements are used internally to identify areas of success and improvement. In addition the HR performance measures are used for short and long term planning for the Department. The County also using a method of budgeting for outcomes, where each budget area within HR is required to align the services provided (funded) with a measure to evaluate performance trends tied to funding.
Do metrics play a role in budgeting?
As mentioned above the HR measurements are used in the budgeting for outcomes. The annual workforce reporting helps departments identify trends in costs and staffing in order support short and long terming planning of salary costs.
Why did you start a metrics program?
We started by reporting the workforce metrics as a service to our Departments/Divisions. The workforce metrics helped support decisions made at the leadership level.
The next step was the internal HR performance measures which allowed for evaluation of our
own services, as well as, the tie to budgeting for outcomes.
What is the benefit of the metrics, how does it help your organization?
The workforce metrics have given our customers information about their staff and workforce at their finger tips allowing them to make more informed staffing decisions. For example, decisions about cross training staff, evaluation of employee morale, increased communication with staff, reducing FTEs, evaluating processes.
HR performance measures focus the measurement internally, creating a review of processes, identifying purposeful outcomes, instead of focusing only on outputs. Assure the work performed
aligns with purpose, not just activity. For example, part of the compensation philosophy is to assure a market based compensation system, HR performance measures assigned to this would be to assure at 60% of all jobs have survey data to support their position in the salary structure. This metric helps support the 'outcome' of having a market based pay system. Each area in HR has similar outcome (some output) metrics.
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What lessons have you learned?
Communicate: do not draw inappropriate cause and effect conclusions
Be cautious of adverse impact data found in researching metrics
It takes time to make sure you have the appropriate set of data and to make sure your data is accurate
When benchmarking assure appropriate metric alignment
Understand the purpose behind your metrics
What advice do you have for others getting started?
Consider your audience
Involve appropriate employee groups (via focus groups)
You won’t get everything you want on the first try
Provide information your customers can use (i.e. FAQ)
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Best Practice: HR Metrics
City of El Paso, Texas Contact: J. Cleve Brooks HR Assistant Director El Paso, Texas 79901 Phone: (915) 541-4991 Email [email protected] Size of agency/workforce: 5,000 to 9,999 employees Describe the HR Metrics program. What is measured? The City measures the following:
Cost per hire/ HRIS
Time to fill vacancies
Headcount/HRIS
Employee engagement
Training hours per employee
Length of service/HRIS
Turnover/HRIS
Service Awards
Days to resolve employee relations issues
Data entry error rate
How is it measured? Current metrics are measured via the PeopleSoft system. Employee engagement survey was issued for the first time via third party vendor. There was 24% return rate for the first survey and City‐wide communication of results through departments. Do metrics play a role in budgeting? Yes. Metric data is provided to the Office of Management and Budget as part of the support material for departmental budget requests. Why did you start a metrics program? The City started the program over ten years ago. The metrics program has provided City leaders with a score card of sorts for the various departments in key areas of service delivery.
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The utilization of metrics lays the ground work for establishing priorities and a performance based budget. What is the benefit of the metrics, how does it help your organization? The metrics allow for year over year comparisons of data. The data analysis also assists in future planning at the departmental levels as well as justifying (ROI) expense for PeopleSoft system. Performance metrics are required for the Annual Budget Book produced by the Office of Management and Budget.
How does it all tie together? The City of El Paso is able to gather and analyze HR metrics data through its PeopleSoft system. Data is continuously gathered in certain areas such as cost per hire, headcount, length of service, turnover, and other areas. Additional matrices are gathered in areas such as training hours per employee, service awards, data entry error rate, and days to resolve employee relations issues. Recently in the area of employee engagement the City of El Paso has worked with a third party administrator to issue an Employment Engagement Survey to its employees. During the first survey targeted questions focused on succession planning; data from the employee survey will be analyzed against historical and forecasted retirements. The Return on Investment for HR Metrics is gained through the gathering of quality and frequent (quarterly) metric information. Data that is gathered and analyzed is provided to the Office of Management and Budget for tracking purposes, reporting to public officials, the public for work transparency and for internal human resources staff to see if any trends are forming that may need to be addressed. The use of reliable data (metrics information) also fosters human resources as the place to go for information. Human Resources metric information blends itself to providing a profile of the current workforce, the volume of employees being recruited and hired, as well as the rate at which employees are separating from City service. Other areas where HR metrics (information) can be leveraged are with other jurisdictions. The county in which El Paso resides has approached the City of El Paso’s Human Resources Department with a request to see how some PeopleSoft and HR functions may be shared to reduce cost. Internally the HR metrics data assists the Human Resources Department in keeping aligned with service delivery. Trended metric data provides internal staff with information for forecasting and meeting current and future service delivery needs.
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Best Practice: HR Metrics
City of Hopkins, Minnesota Contact: Jim Genellie Assistant City Manager Hopkins, Minnesota 55343 Phone: (952) 548‐6303 Email : [email protected] Size of agency/workforce 1‐499 employees Describe the HR Metrics program. What is measured?
Time to Fill Vacancies
Employee Engagement
Cost of Benefits
Length of Service
Turnover
Service Awards
Crime rates a. How is it measured? (HRIS? Other?) Other
How do you use the metrics?
We use the metrics in budgeting and to improve our organization. We do a survey City‐wide for 400‐500 respondents, and those are different from the respondents to our employee engagement survey. In one instance we used the results of our employee engagement survey to improve our new hire orientation program. In our city‐wide survey, we track crime rates and programs to address that and we have seen improvements in areas where we have dedicated resources and police programs.
Do metrics play a role in budgeting? Yes – we use cost of benefits, service awards, and vacancy data in anticipating budget needs and implications. We haven’t had salary increases or many vacancies in recent times due to the poor economy.
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Why did you start a metrics program? Because though having metrics is not infallible, it is a starting point and better than guesswork. We wanted a better sense of how our City services were perceived, what was important to the city, what was the ‘pulse of the people’, and in regards to the employee engagement survey, how our organization was performing and what we could do to improve.
What is the benefit of the metrics, how does it help your organization? We have used metrics to improve our new hire orientation program as a result of survey data received. We have been able to start to get a sense of what is important and how things are going as we review data over time.
What lessons have you learned? The difficulty with using metrics is that while it is worthwhile to track responses and review data over time, we cannot necessarily have 100% confidence that “Input X” was the reason for “Output Y”. We recognize that other factors may have had an influence. For example, in areas of our city that border other cities, those other city programs may have influenced the people living in that area. With regards to employee engagement, we would like to be able to better determine productivity, but we are not a manufacturer – we are a service provider, so we are at the mercy of our supervisors being able to capture and track productivity. If we had more resources, we would like to do more in the areas of metrics and further develop these tools. Metrics have been helpful in utilizing our resources and deciding where to put more effort and resources to gain improvements. We have used an Employee Engagement survey for the last three years and we do face the challenge of getting employees to respond – where they may face survey fatigue. We do not offer any incentives to do the survey and it is completely voluntary, but we try to make it easy for people to respond and give them time at work to complete it. All in all, employees appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback and we always allow for an area where they can make comments, so we look for trends in that and take into account where we might improve. We have found it to be worthwhile over all. We also have to determine at what point we need to take action on an item – if we are consistently up and down a few points but still in the 90s for example, that probably isn’t a cause for concern because the overall response is still so high. So at some point it’s like where do you go with that? Where else should we be looking? We also are trying to determine how much economic factors play into these results from year to year. We would take turnover and new hires into consideration as well, but there hasn’t been very much of either in recent years.
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What advice do you have for others getting started?
Jump in and start – some survey indications are better than guesswork.
Be aware additional factors outside the organization and outside the scope of the survey may be impacting results.
Try to ask the same questions each year and do follow‐up surveys each year so that you get a sense of things over time.
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Best Practice: HR Metrics
City of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Contact:
Charles Bernardy
HR Manager
City of Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55345
Phone: 612.673.3103
Email: [email protected]
Describe the HR Metrics program.
The “program” we are currently using is part of Results Minneapolis. It is a performance
management tool designed to make the City of Minneapolis to become a more results‐driven
and transparent municipality seeking to continuously improve service delivery.
What is measured?
1. Workforce Diversity a. Female – 1) Workforce Utilization Comparison with Labor Market and 2)
Applicant Flow, Hires, etc. b. People of Color – 1) Workforce Utilization Comparison with Labor Market and 2)
Applicant Flow, Hires, etc.
2. Hiring and Retention a. Average Number of Days to Fill a Vacant Position b. Hard to Fill Positions & Reasons for Positions Being Hard to Fill c. Hard to Keep Filled Positions d. Job Bank Success
3. Others
a. Employees with Completed Performance Reviews
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b. Wellness Program Participation and Progress c. Health Insurance Costs, Wellness Participant Risk Level, Cost vs. Trend d. Training & Development Initiatives and Value of Investment
4. Past Measures
a. Turnaround Time on Classification Studies b. Turnaround Time for Creating an Eligible List c. Satisfaction with the Staffing Process
5. Future Measures Under Discussion
a. Quality of Hire (Post Hire Assessment) b. Percentage of Positions filled internally (Manager and above, Supervisor and
above, etc.)
How is it measured?
1. Information for Workforce Utilization, Applicant Flow (Classified Service), Hires, Average number of days to fill, Hard to Fill, Hard to Keep Filled, Job Bank Success, Employees with completed performance reviews is obtained from HRIS.
2. Information for Wellness Program Participation and Progress, Health Insurance Costs, Wellness Participant Risk Level and Cost vs. Trend is obtained in part from our medical insurance provider Medica, internal sources (Finance) and external sources (Buck Consulting).
How do you use the metrics?
1. Internal Performance Measurement Tracking progress and changes 2. Benchmarking (Health Insurance Costs)
Do metrics play a role in budgeting?
Yes. We have tried to show that budget cuts to certain service areas will likely negatively
impact established performance measures.
Why did you start a metrics program?
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1. Efforts started in 2002 when a group of employees were doing research and came across Citistat in the City of Baltimore. Citistat was modeled after I believe CompStat an initiative undertaken by the New York Police Department to fight crime. Similar efforts were also undertaken in the Minneapolis Police Department CODEFOR
2. When the most recent City Coordinator started, Results Minneapolis became part of the way we did business. The first HR Results Minneapolis session was done in March of 2007. Subsequent sessions have occurred on a biannual basis since that time.
3. Assess progress and strive for continuous improvement on activities that are linked to City and department goals and that are important to our internal customers and City residents and stakeholders.
What is the benefit of the metrics, how does it help your organization?
1. Provides information to policy makers about the different service activities and associated measures which lead to an increased understanding of how departments are measuring progress on measures deemed important to the success of the organization.
2. Results Minneapolis sessions lead to great dialogue about the meaning of the information.
3. City Coordinator follows up with memo summarizing discussion, thoughts for future action and changes to current measures.
4. About a month before the next HR Results Minneapolis, a pre‐meeting is held with the City Coordinator, HR Director and staff to plan for the next session and to discuss what needs to be changed/improved.
5. HR Generalists are expected to attend assigned department Results Minneapolis sessions so they can get an increased understanding of the department’s business and identify opportunities where HR can partner in those instances that have workforce implications.
6. The old adage of “what’s measured gets done” holds true.
What lessons have you learned?
1. Important Link performance measures to department and organizational goals. 2. If you are not going to use the information resulting from the analyses/metric, don’t
expend the resources to measure it. 3. Utilize a continuous improvement philosophy in terms of refining measures. 4. Data integrity is critical
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What advice do you have for others getting started?
1. Link performance measures to department and organizational goals. 2. Clear and certain definitions for each metric (Employee Turnover Voluntary,
Involuntary or both?) 3. Start small. 4. Metric is important to Executives/Policy Makers
Building your Metric (Source: SHRM HR Metrics Conference):
1. What? Describe the meaning 2. Why? Confirm its value 3. How? Specify the measurement 4. Goals Create goals or standards 5. If‐Then Identify specific implications 6. Who? Establish the audience
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Case Studies
Best Practice: Employee Engagement
Coral Springs, Florida
Contact: Dale Pazdra Human Resource Manager
City of Coral Springs, Florida
Email : [email protected]
Size of agency/workforce City of Coral Springs, Florida has 772 full‐time employees.
I. Describe the HR Metrics program For the past fifteen years, the City of Coral Springs, Florida, has collected trend data and benefitted from an overall metrics program. Three key factors of the metrics program are 1) the employee’s relationship with their manager 2) employees’ feelings of value and recognition, and 3) the question of would employees recommend the City to their friends as a great place to work. (A recent survey proved 97% would!) The program emphasizes employee satisfaction; employee suggestions and active engagement in real decision‐making; continuous productivity and taxpayer efficiency improvement that is statistically verifiable; goal focus on national award programs such as the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (Coral Springs is the first city or local government in the USA to earn this award) and the Sterling Award.
a. What is measured? Specific sections measure aspects and perceptions of employee recognition, satisfaction with supervisor, working environment, communication, empowerment, conflict resolution, organizational climate leadership and managerial effectiveness.
b. How is it measured? A combination of national award criteria such as the Governor’s Award (twice a winner),
Malcolm Baldridge (winner) and Sterling Awards, in combination with previous and current statistics from employee surveys for a running comparison.
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II. How do you use the metrics?
Metrics is used for overall taxpayer service delivery and employee work satisfaction, which really translates into all areas of city services. Once you reach a level of higher efficiency, employees take greater pride and ownership of total service delivery.
III. Do metrics play a role in budgeting? Yes. Because tracking and proving efficiency translates into cost effectiveness, metrics has allowed Coral Springs to weather budget issues and wisely use tax dollars.
IV. Why did you start a metrics program? Metrics was started fifteen years ago as a means of improving service efficiency at a lower cost and possibly having more funds for more services.
V. What is the benefit of the metrics, how does it help your organization? Because the two‐way aspect of trust has been established for some time, metrics has improved morale, attendance, education, recruitment, retention, efficiency, public perception, union relationships and financial effectiveness. VI. What lessons have you learned? Positive: Involve employees and make sure their input is actually used; put employees in a strategic (future) , not just a tactical (present) role; as an employer, do not just give lip service regarding surveys or focus groups – allow employees to make full decisions and carry them out to fruition; removal of layers of management has helped the budget and employee satisfaction/performance; always do the right thing for the customer, not just the fastest, cheapest or easiest; be completely customer driven; employees are an active partner in running the city; Coral Springs is very family focused and compassionate toward all employees and employees respond with increased loyalty and efficiency; allow sick leave donations, go beyond FMLA; give second chances for failed drug tests; have a high level of employer‐to‐employee trust; data is only good if you actually use it – do not simply gather and forget the data; if current employee or work issues lead to more focus groups, so much the better – employee input has proven to be very beneficial; unless the satisfaction percentage is 90‐ish or better, Coral Springs seeks to improve. It isn’t the winning of state or national awards but the increase in effectiveness to the citizenry. Coral Springs takes best practices from the private sector and uses or adapts them. It is all about giving back to the community greater effectiveness and making things happen that would not have happened with a less‐effective system. The City’s services are a proven and recognized good value for the tax dollars. Employees who did not want to be here have left; if others working around you are focused and in‐tune, then those who are not are the outsiders.
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As an employer, be totally open and honest with information and reality checks to earn mutual cooperation and agreement from the unions. Challenges: It can be difficult when always striving for a higher quality; employees may burn out but they will try hard; the highest level of productivity is based on the employee population – hire, train, motivate, reward and keep the best. Those not committed to the program will voluntarily leave or will be edged out by better performers.
VII. What advice do you have for others getting started? Start with a quality program from the state level where you can obtain support, benchmarks, guidelines, resources, etc. Have a business model. The Executive Team MUST champion the whole program (not just give lip service to it and always do what they always did.) Executives at the top must realize they do not have the answers and be willing to listen to and trust employees, then adapt employee’s ideas. Once this is solidified, employees will consistently perform quality work with a keener sense of responsibility and commitment.
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Best Practice: Employee Engagement Johnson County, Kansas
Contact: Mary Biere HR Manager Johnson County Government Olathe, Kansas 66061 Phone: (913) 714‐1417 Email : [email protected]
Size of agency/workforce: 1,000‐4,999 employees
Background on Employee Engagement Metrics:
The program was initiated in 2005 in response to one of the four strategic goals adopted by the Board of
County Commissioners which focuses on creating a positive work environment and empowering the
workforce.
In order to do measure progress on this strategic goal, the Human Resources Department conducted
research and determined it would be more beneficial to measure employee engagement rather than
employee satisfaction. Through additional research of various validated survey tools, the County
decided to use the”E3” survey from Development Dimensions International (DDI), which is a private
company that has a validated tool for measuring employee engagement. The survey instrument is 18
questions long and the County added a few organization‐specific questions.
A description of DDI’s survey is available on their website: http://www.ddiworld.com/ and encompasses
five broad areas:
1. Align efforts with strategy 2. Empowerment 3. Teamwork and collaboration 4. Growth and development 5. Support and recognition
The County surveys employees every other year and has results from 2005, 2007 and 2009. Results and Action
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DDI’s tool allows a comparison against normative data and allows for the comparison of data over the past years. HR provides a breakdown of the results by department if the department had at least 10 respondents. Results are not provided if fewer than 10 people responded in order to maintain confidentiality. The County has made progress in employee engagement with each survey since beginning in 2005. The results show that supervisors have a tremendous impact on employee morale and the exit surveys bear that out. As a result the County has incorporated employee engagement into supervisory training. The survey also revealed that failing to address poor performers harms employee engagement. This year the County launched a new performance management system that will hold supervisors accountable for poor performance. The individual departments have also started projects based on the survey results including job shadowing, career pathing, and streamlined meetings. Sharing and reporting results: In 2005, the first year of the project, the county conducted presentations for the board on the survey and results. As mentioned above, the results are broken down by department and shared with those departments if there were sufficient responses. In addition, senior leaders meet quarterly to share best practices. One county agency used its engagement results in its strategic planning process.
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Best Practice: HR Metrics State of Washington
Contact: Dave Stewart
HR Director
Washington Department of Labor and Industries
Olympia, Washington 98504
Phone (360) 902‐5698
Email: [email protected]
Describe the HR Metrics Program
The State of Washington installed a new payroll system in 2005. One specific objective for the new
system was to gather and report statewide data for the Washington state workforce. Washington state
government adopted a formal HR Strategic Framework. The specific metrics included were selected
based on the largest common application among state agencies, and upon the warehoused information
in the newly launched payroll application. Agencies are required to report these minimum metrics, but
are encouraged to report additional data they find strategically valuable.
The Department of Labor and Industries has collected and reported headcount, turnover, time‐to‐fill
and related metrics for a number of years, but collected the information manually and in simple
database applications. The reports had little strategic value in that they were viewed, but did not figure
significantly in executive‐level budget or legislative decisions. The new reporting mechanism added
sophistication to metrics reporting.
What is measured?
The HR Management Report contains five strategic objectives, with metrics sorted into those toics.
Plan and Align the Workforce
Structure and content of management
Ratio of management to staff
% of current job descriptions
Hire the Workforce
Average time to hire
Candidate quality rating
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Hiring balance (% inside, % promotion, % outside)
Number of probationary separations
Deploy the Workforce
% employees with current performance expectations
Overtime use
Sick leave use
Non‐disciplinary grievances
Non‐disciplinary appeals
Develop the Workforce
% employees with current individual development plans
Reinforce Performance
% employees with current performance evaluation
Number of disciplinary actions
Number of disciplinary grievances
Also reported
Turnover
Workforce profile (age, ethnicity, veteran status, disability)
Employee survey results
Part of every other reporting cycle is an employee survey that measures employee satisfaction. In 2009,
Labor and Industries decided to survey employee engagement directly. The results were surprising and
informative, but with no benchmark, the data stands as a first point, with no comparators. Results from
the survey are expected to influence program business plans as the agency strategic plan assumes its
published state in October, 2010.
How is it measured?
Information is collected in a data warehouse, updated monthly after our second payroll is posted. The
warehouse consists of payroll data, employee information related to payroll, limited position, class and
status information, appointment types, dates and future effective dates.
Specific information about performance, status dates not affecting payroll, addresses and other contact
information, position and classification history are kept in agency databases. For reporting, the
information is matched with warehoused data.
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How do you use metrics?
Annual reports permit comparisons among agencies and with statewide averages. Agencies use the
data to varying degrees. Labor and Industries uses performance evaluation completion data to hold
managers accountable; hire metrics and leave metrics for planning staffing levels and it uses staff levels
to compare average workload data. The strategic plan updates for 2011‐2013, however, is the first
written strategic plan to incorporate performance and staffing metrics as goals.
Do metrics play a role in budgeting?
Metrics do not play a significant role in budgeting at this time.
Why did you start a metrics program?
In 2005, the Governor mandated workforce management reporting. Our use of HR metrics conforms to
that mandate and expands upon the strategic use of workforce statistics.
What is the benefit of the metrics; how does it help your organization?
We have taken a fresh look at old reporting. What was rote reporting before now has meaning and
understanding because it has a demonstrated strategic purpose. With the establishment of data
standards and consolidations (see lessons learned, below) we have reliable data to report. With
statewide reporting, we have benchmarks for comparison.
At Labor and Industries, we have moved reporting to online for certain metrics. Performance
evaluations due versus completed, for example, is available to all supervisors, online. The Workforce
Profile (age, gender, race, veteran status, disability) is also available online in a format that allows
comparison to other programs, the agency as a whole, or to statewide numbers.
What lessons have you learned?
Metrics reporting required us to identify the information we needed to collect, where and how it was
collected, who used it and for what. We found redundant collections, failures to update, comparisons of
old and new data, inconsistent data entry, and absence of data standards. We are correcting those
inconsistencies, and standardizing collection and reporting so that the data we report is reliable,
reproducible and in demand.
What advice do you have for others getting started?
Report what you collect, but collect what you need.
Do not try to substitute data to a purpose for which it is not collected. It will prove unreliable over time.
Go slow. Plan your reporting.
Tell your story – grab people from your executive suite and show them the value of HR metrics.
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Best Practice: HR Metrics – Employee Engagement
City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska Contact: Mila Cosgrove Human Resources & Risk Management Director City and Borough of Juneau 155 S. Seward St. Juneau, AK 99801 Phone: (907) 586‐0225 Email: [email protected] Size of agency / workforce: 910 Employees; City population is 30,000 Description of HR Metrics program, for Employee Engagement: HR metrics for capturing and measuring Employee Engagement began in 2002. The City engaged the services of a consultant to develop a survey to begin capturing employee feedback regarding employee engagement measures. The survey was again conducted in 2008. City Management then decided to make the Employee Engagement survey an annual measurement conducted in April of each year. The survey is administered through an online web‐based survey instrument, using Survey Monkey software. The HR Department is the Administrator of the survey. Of the 910 employees within the City, 525 employees (employees working greater than 20 hours per week) are given the survey and allowed 2 weeks to respond. The survey population represents 14 operating Departments; and survey results and reports are broken down by Department, and by divisions for large Departments. The response rates to the surveys are very high, routinely achieving an 86% response rate. The HR Office takes an active role in promoting participation. In addition, HR established a program whereby each department or agency has a designated “survey champion” within the workgroups to do onsite reminders for employees to complete the survey. As a little incentive, each “champion” is entered into a drawing at the end of the survey, and is eligible to win a small prize. As Mila Cosgrove states, “it’s important for everyone to know that the survey is out there and that it’s important.” Unions represent approximately 62 percent of the 525 surveyed employees. Unions represent Fire, Police, and General Government. The City worked very hard to establish good working relationships with the Unions that represent the workforce, and to‐date unions like and support the survey and process. The “Organizational Culture” survey questionnaire measures nine critical areas of an organization’s culture: (1) Teamwork, (2) Morale, (3) Information Flow, (4) Employee Involvement, (5) Supervision, (6) Meetings, (7) Customer Service, (8) Working with other work units in departments, and (9) Working with other work units in organizations. The overall cultural score is the average of seven of the nine
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dimensions. The eighth and ninth dimensions are used to track intra and inter departmental specific communication and collaboration issues. Scores are assigned from 0 – 5.0 (low‐high). The general City‐wide results are posted on the City’s website for all employees and constituents to see. The overall goal score is to achieve at least a 3.5 rating. The City Manager, Deputy City Manager, HR, and Department Directors have access to all departmental and agency scores, as well as any open comments that have been made on the surveys. Each Department has access to their own scores but comments are not distributed beyond the upper level of management in the department to protect employee confidentiality. The survey is anonymous, such that employee names are not captured nor recorded, however, the responses are identifiable by department (and division if the department is large enough) in order to generate meaningful operational statistics and feedback. Why did you start a metrics program? “The City Manager wants to create an environment where employees are engaged and doing their best work.” The general thought and vision is, “How do we move from good to excellent.” In order to have a high performing City, the employees need to be engaged and committed. To measure the City’s progress in creating and maintaining that work environment for success, the annual “organizational culture” survey is viewed as a tool to measure that outcome. In addition, the survey helps to bridge any gaps or disconnect between management and employee perceptions. What is the benefit of the metrics, how does it help your organization? In focusing on employee engagement and working to create a healthy work environment, not only are benefits realized in the work that is produced, but Juneau City government has achieved a good reputation as a place where people want to come to work. This also helps with recruitment and retention. Employees are committed and very “connected” to what they do. There is a healthy applicant pool for positions, and the average length of tenure is 15.2 years. As a management tool, the City Manager and Deputy City Manager meet with Department directors and identify 2‐3 sub‐metrics that they want to follow‐up on for improvement during the course of the year. Improvement goals are established in the beginning of the year and then progress and strategies are monitored during the year. Another benefit of the employee engagement program is that it establishes a common language to use in creating shared expectations for the City work environment. Two additional specific outcomes of the ongoing measurement of “organizational culture” has been the establishment of two programs: (1) A mandatory supervisory academy program, and (2) A “Coaching for Commitment” program, which is built around creating a culture based on trust and employee accountability. What lessons have been learned? If you are going to establish an employee engagement program and elicit input and feedback from employees and not do anything with the results, DON’T DO IT! This program must have purpose and not
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just be a “nice to do” management “tool”. If you don’t do anything with the input received, you will certainly lose employee trust. Trust is a keystone for employee engagement. The program will only work if you have Top Management support and commitment to hold people accountable for asking, listening, and doing something with the input and feedback. The “key” for success is follow‐through. What advice do you have for others getting started? Think carefully about your tool. Make sure your language is clear, and make sure that it matches your culture. If you don’t have a culture that embraces employee feedback and collaboration, you should first start by getting executive and middle management on‐board so that they understand its value. Let people know that the survey is confidential. Build on your credibility. Follow through is critical. Employees need access to the data once completed. “Post your results whether you like them or not.”
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About IPMA‐HR
The International Public Management Association for Human Resources is an organization that represents the interests of human resource professionals at the Federal, State and Local levels of government. IPMA‐HR members include all levels of public sector HR professionals. Our goal is to provide information and assistance to help HR professionals increase their job performance and overall agency function by providing cost effective products, services and educational opportunities.
About the Washington Department of Labor and Industries
The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) touches the lives of most people in Washington State. The
agency’s mission is to Keep Washington Safe and Working, and its programs serve workers, employers
and the general public. From workplaces, to home construction, to elevators, the common theme is
improving safety to protect people and property.
Our two major mandates are:
Make Washington’s workplaces safer.
Provide workers’ compensation coverage to employers and workers.
About the IPMA‐HR Benchmarking Committee
IPMA‐HR developed the following definition for benchmarking: A comparison of similar processes across public and private organization to identify best practices to improve organizational performance. The characteristics and attributes of benchmarking include measuring performance, systematically identifying best practices, learning from leading organizations, and adapting best practices as appropriate.
IPMA‐HR's benchmarking goals: Identify measure and share the best practices of leading HR organization. Information will be available so organizations can compare their practices to the benchmark HR organizations and identify opportunities to improve their own organizations.
The primary purpose of the benchmarking project is to provide human resource practitioners with tools, models, skills, methods, and data to improve the effectiveness of their human resource programs for their customers. This is not an awards program, but a chance for everyone to learn and share information.
