Summarise with AI
The metrics that earn their place
Most HR metric lists run to thirty entries. These are the ones that reliably change a decision in a shift-based business.
- Turnover rate — leavers ÷ average headcount × 100, for the period
- Absenteeism rate — unplanned absences ÷ scheduled shifts × 100
- Labour cost percentage — wages ÷ revenue × 100
- Overtime concentration — what share of overtime goes to the top 10% of earners of it
- 90-day turnover — leavers within their first 90 days, as a share of starters
- Time to fill — days from vacancy approved to offer accepted
Metrics versus analytics
A metric is a number. HR analytics is the practice of asking why the number moved and what to do about it. The distinction matters because a business can have excellent metrics and no analytics — a dashboard nobody acts on.
The test is simple: if the number moved 20% next month, would anyone do anything differently? If not, it is a report, not a metric worth tracking.
Calculate them consistently
Most arguments about HR metrics are actually arguments about definitions. Does turnover include casuals who did not work a shift for three months? Does absenteeism include approved leave? Does headcount count people or full-time equivalents?
None of those has one right answer, but each needs one answer, written down and applied the same way every period. A metric compared against an inconsistently calculated version of itself is worse than no metric.
Benchmarks are less useful than trends
Published industry benchmarks are tempting and usually unhelpful, because the definitions behind them are rarely disclosed and the industry averages hide enormous variation by size, region and business model.
Your own trend, and the variation between your own sites, is the comparison that will actually tell you something.
Key takeaways
- Six metrics carry most of the value in a shift-based business
- A metric is a number; analytics is what you do with it
- Define each calculation once and apply it consistently
- Compare against your own trend and your own sites, not a published benchmark
Track hours, wage cost, absence and turnover from the system that builds the roster — so the metric and the pay run agree.
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