Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Sample Answers to Discussion Questions
Chapter 14: HR Metrics and Workforce Analytics
1. What factors have led to increased organizational interest in HR metrics and
workforce analytics?
Although the use of HR metrics and workforce analytics is not new, various
factors have driven increased interest during the previous decade. The most
important driver has been the implementation of integrated HRIS in response to
2. When might the information from numeric information systems such as HR metrics
and workforce analytics not generate any return on investment (ROI)?
When the HR metrics and workforce analytics do not lead to different and better
Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
3. What relationships should exist between the metrics an organization chooses to calculate and
report and the types of analyses it conducts?
The primary objective of developing capabilities in HR metrics and workforce analytics
4. What are some of the limitations of the traditional HR metrics?
The limitations of traditional HR metrics can be seen by examining the Saratoga metrics
listed in Table 6.1. They focus on readily available data, most of which came from
5. Discuss the historical role of HR benchmarking and its strengths and weaknesses as part of a
metrics and analytics program in organizations today.
The Saratoga Institute’s benchmarking efforts were the first to develop information on
6. What roles might more recent analysis activities, such as data mining, predictive statistical
analyses, and operational experiments, play in increasing organizational effectiveness?
Data mining identifies these causal mechanism within data by using correlation and
Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
7. What differences exist between metrics and analytics that focus on HR efficiency, operational
effectiveness, and organizational realignment? Offer examples of each.
Most metrics focus on the third set of expertise: administrative process efficiency (Figure
6.1). These metrics focus on how well the HR department accomplishes its critical
HR metrics and workforce analytics focused on organizational process improvement are
Strategic realignment involves the set of activities most commonly known today as
human resource planning (HRP; for more detail, see Chapter 11). These planning efforts
8. Describe which characteristics of HR metrics and workforce analytics are likely to
result in greater organizational impact.
HR managers must to be able to demonstrate their capacity to use metrics and
analytics to manage their own operations well, and then, others will be more
Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
likely to listen to their recommendations. HR managers and professionals must