The Top Talent Management Trends To Watch in 2025
December 20, 2024
December 10th, 2024 – By Rebecca Taylor, CCO and Co-founder
HR teams face increasing pressure to demonstrate their impact, but with too many priorities, it’s easy to lose sight of what truly matters. Learning to connect HR metrics to others on the team can help solidify support for established and new HR initiatives.
The challenge lies in selecting key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with business goals and employee success, while avoiding data that looks impressive but offers little value.
For example, Gartner shows that when HR focuses talent investments on applying analytics to solve business problems, not just data, they can drive talent outcomes by up to 23%.
Clear strategies for prioritizing, measuring, and communicating these HR KPIs are essential to drive meaningful outcomes and secure leadership buy-in.
To better understand which HR metrics deliver the most value, let’s take a closer look at:
Connecting HR metrics and analytics to relevant business objectives can be tough. Too often, HR focuses on metrics that look impressive but fail to demonstrate a tangible impact on the organization’s priorities, such as revenue, cost reduction, or employee success.
Yet, according to research from McKinsey, companies that focus on both people and performance in their business strategy are more likely to show higher profitability and shareholder returns than their competitors, with lower earnings volatility.
Access to comprehensive business data or a clear understanding of overarching goals is necessary for HR leaders to link their efforts to measurable outcomes.
Incomplete or siloed HR data and analytics pose another hurdle. This data often needs stronger ties to other parts of the organization and overall outcomes. HR systems tend to have limitations, offering only part of the picture. For example, if you can’t track the relationship between employee skill development and business performance, it’s hard to make a compelling case for the value of HR initiatives.
To overcome this, HR must bridge the gap between what they measure and what the business prioritizes, ensuring their data is aligned and validated.
Start by focusing on the KPIs that align directly with your most pressing business objectives. Identify the company’s top priorities, such as cutting costs, driving growth, or entering a new market, and then select metrics that show how HR contributes to those goals.
Avoid spreading your attention across too many metrics. Instead, invest time in the ones most clearly impacting the organization’s success. Then, when reporting on progress to leadership, use those KPIs to show that your efforts support that larger top-line business objective.
For example, if reducing recruiting costs is a focus, you might prioritize retention rates and internal mobility metrics and use those to communicate achievements. Alternatively, if your main objective is to hire a lot of new people, saving money on recruiting costs likely won’t resonate with executives who need team members in new roles as soon as possible.
Keep in mind that critical KPIs will evolve. What matters today may not be the priority next quarter, much less next year. Regularly revisit your metrics to ensure they reflect current business needs, and stay connected with leadership to understand shifting priorities.
Better alignment between HR KPIs and leadership priorities starts with understanding the company’s financial and strategic objectives. Whether boosting revenue or improving customer experience, every business goal ultimately ties back to people.
HR leaders can unpack these goals by establishing which roles will be critical to achieving particular goals and what skills or support employees need to succeed in these roles.
For example, if increasing sales is a business goal, HR might focus on metrics like sales training completion rates or quota achievement among newly onboarded employees. If the priority is innovation, HR metrics and analytics might track how well product teams are equipped with new tools or methodologies.
The goal is to create a concrete connection where employee success directly supports business outcomes, ensuring that HR efforts are always tied to measurable value.
You can strengthen your strategic influence by prioritizing meaningful KPIs and telling a compelling story with your data. In fact, storytelling may be HR’s most valuable tool for presenting data to leadership.
Frame your metrics within a straightforward, three-part narrative:
This structure turns raw HR data and analytics into a compelling case for your initiatives, making it easier for leadership to see their value.
It’s also important to focus on impact rather than process. While detailed metrics can be helpful internally, executives care about high-level outcomes. Highlight how your efforts have contributed to making or saving money, improving employee performance, or driving other key business outcomes.
Finally, practice discernment — select one or two impactful success stories rather than overwhelming leadership with everything you’ve accomplished.
The most impactful HR KPIs show how HR contributes to the company’s financial and strategic goals. These often fall into two categories:
The right metrics will vary by organization and business objectives, but they should always communicate how HR makes or saves money for the organization. HR leaders can demonstrate their strategic value and gain greater support for their initiatives by focusing on metrics with clear business relevance.
Focusing on the right HR metrics is essential for demonstrating the value of your initiatives and aligning them with organizational goals. Schedule a demo with our team to learn more.
