Learning to identify and leverage the right metrics is key to improving talent management practices. In this article, we’ll discuss 25 metrics for evaluating employee performance that every organization should consider tracking. You don’t necessarily have to monitor each one, but by choosing a healthy mix of these metrics, you’ll measure employee performance and growth more effectively.
Table of Content
1. Why Use Metrics to Evaluate Employee Performance?
2. 25 Employee Performance Metrics by Category: What to Track and Why
3. Selecting the Right Metrics for Your Team
4. 5 Tips for Effectively Tracking Performance Metrics
Why Use Metrics to Evaluate Employee Performance?
Continuous performance management relies on accurate measurement of success. Using strong metrics will help you monitor and improve organizational effectiveness.
Objectivity and Fairness
Using metrics reduces the possibility of bias in employee evaluations. Furthermore, this will let you consistently track performance over time. As you make fair and accurate assessments, employees will feel appropriately recognized for their efforts, increasing morale and engagement.
Clarity and Focus
Using metrics for evaluating employee performance improves clarity of expectations and goals. Giving employees access to these metrics enlists them as your partner in monitoring their own progress. As they do so, they’ll learn to more effectively prioritize tasks.
Performance Improvement
Metrics highlight areas for development and growth—as well as the success of efforts to overcome challenges. You’ll track employee progress and measure the effectiveness of training initiatives with the help of key metrics. You can also track the ROI of performance improvement plans in this way.
Consider that top performers are 800% more productive than average performers in the same position, according to McKinsey. Creating a high-performance culture can support employees in reaching a new level of effectiveness—and good metrics are central to this task.
Data-Driven Decisions
Strong metrics will foster decision-making grounded in data, helping you identify top-performers and those who are struggling. You’ll then promote the most qualified people, offer raises when appropriate, and allocate resources more effectively. Rather than making talent management decisions based on subjective evaluations, you’ll be using objectivity to guide your choices.
25 Employee Performance Metrics by Category: What to Track and Why
Let’s discuss what to measure in various dimensions of employee performance, along with why it matters.
Productivity
Productivity involves efficiency and work output. Let’s discuss several of its key components now.
1. Task and Project Completion
When measuring productivity, be careful not to just measure “busy-ness.” You want to measure the actual accomplishment of tasks and meeting of deadlines, not just whether employees are using their computer. In a recent survey, Deloitte found that just 17% of organizations say they can accurately track the value created by individual employees. Fortunately, today’s sophisticated analytics tools can effectively track productivity in a meaningful way, assessing completion of deliverables.
2. Output Levels
Output involves the quantity of work produced in a given period. Over time, you can track whether an individual’s output is rising, falling, or staying the same. Keep in mind that if output is already high, you don’t need to push for it to increase, which could cause burnout.
3. Time-Management and Efficiency
This metric monitors how effectively employees use their time to produce work. This metric is important for avoiding overwhelm, burnout, and lower productivity—if someone isn’t working efficiently, they’ll be more prone to all three.
Goal Achievement
Let’s review several aspects of progress toward individual, team, or company goals that organizations should measure.
4. Progress Toward Goals
Look at employees’ progress toward their established key performance indicators (KPIs) or objectives and key results (OKRs). Both KPIs and OKRs should state concrete, measurable objectives, using numeric targets to quantify success. Consider how ambitious these targets are as you evaluate success, too. If employees are fully achieving all their OKRs, these targets might not be difficult enough. An achievement rate of 70% or higher can typically be considered a success, if employees are stretching their abilities.
5. Goal Completion Rates
Similarly, track the percentage of goals fully achieved within a given timeframe. Also consider the importance of each goal. Good tools will add greater weight to bigger goals with more far-reaching impacts.
6. Alignment with Strategic Priorities
Look at the extent to which individual efforts support broader business goals. Examine your company’s cascading goals, considering whether individual goals reflect these higher-level priorities. Analytical tools can aid in assessing goal alignment.
Skills & Competencies
Look at expansion of employee capabilities and growth during a given period.
7. Core Competency Assessments
Evaluate employees’ growth in essential job skills and behaviours. Do they demonstrate reliability and trustworthiness, for instance? Do they show mastery of the technical and human skills needed in their role? Assess whether their performance upholds the company’s core values and meets the demands of the position.
8. Skill Development Over Time
Examine employees’ development of specialized knowledge, skills, or expertise. Here are a few examples of such growth:
- Cultivation of higher-level technical skills.
- Enhancement of key employee strengths.
- Transformation of blind spots from weaknesses into competencies.
- Development of skill adjacencies—skills that overlap with existing abilities.
Utilizing software that assesses use of new skills will help you accurately measure these areas.
9. Training Participation and Effectiveness
Look at individuals’ engagement in learning opportunities and how this shapes their performance. Do they successfully complete training modules? Do they proactively work through the steps outlined in their personal development plan? Track their percentage of successful training completion.
Collaboration & Communication
Let’s take a look at several dimensions of effectiveness in working with others.
10. Teamwork and Cooperation
Track employees’ level of contribution to group efforts. Do they proactively engage in meetings and group projects? Assess their human skills like collaboration, creative thinking, and adaptability.
11. Communication Quality
Evaluate employees’ clarity, tone, and effectiveness in both written and verbal communication. Consider whether they share ideas and listen to others effectively.
Quality of Work
Examine the accuracy and consistency of deliverables, with a focus on these three aspects of work quality.
12. Work Accuracy
Look at the degree to which work is error-free and meets established standards. To make this determination, refer to a clearly defined set of criteria for success.
13. Rework or Error Frequency
Consider how often work needs corrections or revision. Do employees submit work with a high percentage of errors, or are mistakes relatively infrequent?
14. Customer or Stakeholder Satisfaction
Collect feedback from clients or internal stakeholders on work quality. Then, consider how satisfied they are with employees’ quality of work. Also assess whether this satisfaction rate is improving or declining over time.
Reliability & Attendance
Assess employees’ dependability and presence during working hours in the following ways.
15. Attendance and Punctuality
Track employees’ rate of attendance and punctuality at work. Do they typically show up on time, or do they frequently arrive late? Look at trends for both individuals, teams, and the whole organization.
16. Absenteeism Trends
Evaluate patterns of unplanned or excessive time off. Do particular individuals engage in excessive absenteeism over a period of time? Look at team- and organization-wide trends as well.
Engagement & Satisfaction
Gauge employees’ level of motivation and commitment to their work through the following metrics.
17. Engagement Survey Results
Look at scores from employee engagement surveys measuring enthusiasm and involvement. This data will provide insights on employees’ motivation and satisfaction in their role.
18. Retention Risk Indicators
Stay alert to data or behaviours that suggest an employee may be at risk of leaving. For example, lower group participation or a less optimistic attitude could suggest an employee might be likely to depart.
19. Contribution of Creative Ideas
How often do individuals share ideas that enhance team success? Those who regularly voice innovative ideas—even if you don’t always adopt them—boost team ingenuity.
Leadership
Measure managerial effectiveness by assessing leadership capabilities. This will allow you to track the success of your leadership development initiatives as well.
20. Team Performance Outcomes
Evaluate the results achieved by a manager’s direct team. Are they setting and achieving more ambitious team KPIs or OKRs?
21. Employee Development and Growth
Consider whether team members are improving or advancing in their roles. What percentage of them have completed their training and development goals?
22. Retention of Direct Reports
Look at a manager’s ability to retain and engage team members over time. Do direct reports from any particular team tend to depart the organization at higher levels? Or are certain teams more engaged than others? This reflects on their manager’s abilities.
23. Indicators of Bias
Use analytics software that assesses bias in performance reviews. Such tools will help you evaluate managers’ fairness in their ratings of direct reports.
Feedback & Performance Reviews
Use feedback from coworkers to provide ongoing performance and growth insights.
24. 360-Degree Feedback Results
Gather feedback from peers, managers, and direct reports to help evaluate employee performance. This feedback proves particularly useful for assessing interpersonal abilities. Track employees’ scores on 360 reviews to evaluate many of these areas.
If you conduct regular 360 reviews, look at changes in communication and collaboration over time. The perspectives of peers and other colleagues will shed light on their use of these skills.
25. Review Ratings from Managers
Look at scores from periodic performance reviews, too. In these appraisals, managers share important insights on employees’ personal and professional development.
Selecting the Right Metrics for Your Team
Choose employee performance metrics tailored to your organization’s needs.
Align Metrics with Job Roles and Responsibilities
Tailor performance metrics to specific roles, in terms of the types of KPIs measured as well as competency development. Metrics for sales and marketing will differ from customer service metrics, for instance. The former may focus highly on KPIs for sales campaigns, while the latter may centre on customer satisfaction.
Consider Team and Organizational Goals
Ensure that individual metrics support team and company objectives. If a metric doesn’t advance these goals, don’t waste effort in tracking it. Instead, look at cascading goals and choose individual-level metrics that align with them.
Balance Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Use both measurable data and subjective feedback to gauge employee performance. Subjective feedback includes performance evaluations and data from 360 reviews. Meanwhile, hard data includes data from a performance management system or people analytics software. Using a mix of both will ensure objectivity while employing a human approach.
Keep It Simple and Focused
Don’t overwhelm employees—or your HR department—with too many metrics. Choose a mix of those listed above rather than trying to track each one. In particular, focus on tracking KPIs for each employee and team.
5 Tips for Effectively Tracking Performance Metrics
By following these five tips, you’ll gain a more accurate understanding of employee performance.
- Use performance management software to consistently monitor your selected metrics.
- Pair metric-tracking with regular one-on-ones and coaching. Hold weekly check-ins in which you discuss progress in key areas.
- Set benchmarks for each metric. This means breaking it down into core steps and setting target dates for each of them.
- Be transparent. Share relevant metrics with employees, so they’ll know how they’re being evaluated. This will empower them to take ownership of their own success.
- Avoid micromanaging or over-measuring. Don’t discuss every metric during each one-on-one session; just reflect on two or three critical ones.
As you grow proficient in using metrics for evaluating employee performance, you’ll support people in achieving higher-level objectives. These metrics will help employees better understand their own progress. As they learn to track these metrics with the help of the right tools, they’ll grow more motivated, engaged, and effective in their roles.
Learn how our top-of-the-line HR solutions will help you strengthen employee performance—request a demo of Primalogik’s performance management solution today.
