Key Measures – Workforce Composition

This article provides example key measures for monitoring and managing the composition of the workforce.  These are intended to inform considerations and will likely need to be adapted to meet the specific requirements of your organization.

With Orgvue, you can always get beyond overall, company-wide data to visualize differences across the organization subgroups to identify where key measures are diverging from established targets.

Talent Management and Succession Planning

Talent Bench Strength

• The number (and/ or percentage) of Employees operating – for example – ‘At level’, with ‘Advancement Potential’, or identified as ‘Future Leadership Talent/ HiPo’).  Each category is commonly split by key workforce demographic characteristics.
• Business question addressed:  Do we have a sufficient pipeline of internal talent with the potential for advancement to managerial and leadership levels?

Succession Risks

• The number (and/ or percentage) of positions without identified succession candidates.   Often based on critical positions, or leadership positions. 
• Business question addressed:  Do we face risks through a lack of succession candidates

Talent Bench/ Succession Profile

• The proportion of employees in each Talent Bench category, or the proportion of identified succession candidates, split by required DEI categories.
• Business question addressed:  What is the demographic profile across our Talent Bench/ population of succession candidates?  Is there risk of unconscious bias in talent decisions?

Future Leadership Talent Risks

• The number (or proportion) of employees identified as future leaders (e.g. ‘HiPos’ ‘In Leadership Program’, ‘Future Leadership Potential’) without an identified progression or development route
• Business question addressed: Do we face retention risks amongst our future leadership population through insufficient or unclear progression/ development routes theough the organization?

Tenure, Turnover, Performance and Progression

Internal/ External Appointment Rate

• The percentage of positions being filled by internal/ external candidates.  Often calculated excluding entry-level positions. 
• Business question addressed:  Do we have an efficient mix of internal and external recruitment?

Number (%) of Promotions

• The number (and/ or percentage) of employees being promoted.  This is distinct from the Internal Appointment Rate as the move meets specific criteria to be defined as a promotion (e.g. moving to a higher-grade position)
• Business question addressed:  Are employees being appropriately developed for advancement within the organization?

Internal Leadership Appointment Rate 

• The proportion of leadership positions filled through internal appointments.
• Business question addressed:  Is our internal talent pipeline supplying leadership candidates? Do we have an efficient mix of internally appointed and externally appointed leaders?

Number (%) of Voluntary Leavers

• The number (and/ or percentage) of employees choosing to leave the organization. 
• Business question addressed:  Do we face avoidable cost exposure through employee turnover. 

Number (%) of Involuntary Separations

• The number (and/ or percentage) of employees leaving the organization.  Typically reported by split by reason, for example, performance-related, conduct, redundancy, etc.
• Business question addressed:  Do we face avoidable cost exposure through employee turnover?

Average Tenure

• The average length of service across the workforce.  Length of service is calculated for each employee as the duration between the employment start date and today’s date.  In addition to Average Tenure, the proportion of employees in each duration category is typically reported.
• Business question addressed:  Do we have an appropriate blend of internal experience and external perspectives across the workforce?

Average Time in Position

• The average duration employees have been in their current position.  Time in Position for each employee is calculated as the duration their position entry date and today’s date. In addition to Average Time in Position, the proportion of employees in each duration is typically reported.  Often used as an input to flight risk analysis.
• Business question addressed:  Are there sufficient development opportunities for employees through lateral or vertical movement? 

Gender Diversity and Pay Differences

• Business question addressed:  Do we face risk through insufficient gender diversity or gender pay differences? 

Gender Diversity  

• The percentage split of female, male and non-binary employees in the workforce.

Gender Diversity at Leadership Layers

• The percentage split of female, male and non-binary employees in positions at the top (often 3) layers of the organization.

Leadership/ People Management Gender Diversity

• The percentage split of female, male and non-binary employees in leadership-level positions/ in people management positions.

Gender Pay Differences

• The mean average compensation for female, male and non-binary employees.  Commonly split by grade to reveal gender compensation differences across employees with the same grade.

Gender Pay Proportions

• The mean average compensation of female employees expressed as a percentage of male employees’ average compensation.

Age and Retirement RIsks

• Business question addressed:  Do we face risk through an aging workforce approaching retirement age?

Average Employee Age

• The average age of employees in the workforce.  In addition to Average Employee Age, the proportion of employees in each age category is typically reported.

Retirement Risk Exposure 

• The proportion of employees approaching retirement age within X years. 

See examples of other key measures:

• Key Measures – Workforce size and cost
• Key Measures – Organization structure

Related Articles:

• Establishing key measures which meet the business need for insight
• How to get from raw data to actionable insight