Ultimate Performance: Measuring Human Resources at Work

The Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) versus Other C-Level Executives

The 2006 HRMetrics.org survey of C-level executives helps to illustrate the difference between the tools that HR needs to manage their teams versus what other C-level executives want to see from HR.

When asked which metrics are most important to each group in the survey (CHRO and other C-level executives), their top five metrics look like those show in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1.

	CHRO	Other C-Level
1	HR Employee to Total Employee Ratio	New Hire Quality
2	Cost-per-Hire	Line Manager Satisfaction
3	Time-to-Fill	Recruiting Efficiency Ratio
4	Vacancy Rate	Time-to-Start
5	Turnover Ratio	Vacancy Rate

The CHRO and other C-level managers share only one metric in their top five metrics. Does this mean that HR is just wrong and they are not aligned with the business? Of course not. What it does mean is that the CHRO is responsible for not only managing up to the executive team, but also down to their staff and out to their constituents. The CHRO top five list is far more spread out against the three audiences that they are responsible for managing. And that’s the key to solving a core problem in presenting to executive management: Many times the CHRO is presenting the wrong metrics to the executive audience.

Metrics to manage the executive team are notoriously difficult. Shifting priorities, business decisions, and the events of a quarter will impact what piques the interest of executives on any given day. However, when the entire list of ...