Quantitative Indicators

Staff Turnover:

Refers to the separation rate within a firm and can be categorised as total turnover (both voluntary and involuntary) or voluntary turnover alone. Voluntary turnover is the most valuable indicator for HR within a firm; it indicates the level of satisfaction within a firm (pay, conditions, culture, roles, leadership).

• Push factors: influences within the firm driving staff to leave (management, safety)

• Pull factors: Influences outside of the firm luring staff out (promotions, opportunities)

Some industries have naturally higher rates of turnover (hospitality, seasonal industry)

High / Increasing levels of staff turnover is an indication of poor HR practices within a business, and could result from a negative workplace culture, poor leadership, tension and conflict in the workplace, or low pay and conditions. Staff turnover is expensive; HR must find ways to retain staff to build expertise and lower HR costs of replacing staff.

Accidents and Accident Rate:

The number of accidents and the cost of accidents to a firm. Accidents in a workplace are an indicator of processes and training of staff. Firms must adopt a systematic and legally compliant approach to WHS.

High / Increasing accident rates is a major cause of a negative workplace culture and can spill over into absenteeism, staff turnover and conflict. Lost productivity and costs associated with workers’ compensation and the administration of injured employee negatively impacts business performance.

Accident rates can be reduced through undertaking safety audits, programs, induction procedures, regular and ongoing training. Young males are most susceptible to workplace accidents. Type of accident and common locations is valuable information.

Absenteeism:

The number of days employees are not in a productive role at work; without sick leave or approved leave. 

High / increasing rates of absenteeism indicates employee dissatisfaction with their role in the firm, a negative culture, conflict / tension in the workplace, poor safety practices or bad leadership. It could also indicate an employee having a bad ‘fit’ with the culture of the firm due to poor recruitment practices.

Absenteeism results in operational challenges and higher costs for a firm; filling roles with extra work for other staff (increased dissatisfaction), hiring temporary workers (expensive), and the administrative costs of managing absent worker (training, meetings, performance management programs).

Levels of Disputation:

The rate, frequency and intensity of workplace conflict. 

High / Increasing rates of disputes within a firm is a major cause of a business poor culture, high rates of absenteeism, and high staff turnover.

Having grievance procedures in place and clear conflict resolution processes can reduce the level of disputes. HR must discover underlying causes of disputes to ensure that the corrosive and destructive nature of tension and conflict does not impact firm performance (customer service, revenue, profitability).

A holistic approach is needed by HR to address problems; each of the indicators tend to work in unison (but not always). Applying HR strategies to target specific elements of a firm’s HR management: high rates of disputes, absenteeism, turnover and accidents.