People Operations Metrics

The percentage of eligible users actively using an AI tool or feature within a given period (daily, weekly, or monthly). Measures whether AI investment is reaching real workflows — license counts and deployments alone don't.

In an hour-based agency, the billable utilisation serves as a crucial metric, representing the percentage of billable hours employees spend on billable client projects. A higher billable utilisation indicates optimal efficiency and resource allocation, while a lower rate may suggest under-utilisation or potential areas for workflow improvement.

Cost Per Hire (CPH) is a key recruitment metric that quantifies the total expenditure an organization incurs to hire a new employee. It provides a financial measure of the efficiency of a company's hiring process. The CPH metric is a crucial tool for human resources professionals and business leaders to budget for recruitment, justify spending, and assess the return on investment (ROI) of various hiring channels. By breaking down costs into internal and external categories, CPH offers a comprehensive overview of a company’s financial investment in attracting, sourcing, and securing talent.

Employee Growth by Function measures how each organizational function is forecasted over a 1-5 year period. This hiring plan is typically factored into the financial model.

Employee Retention Rate measures the percentage of employees who remain with an organization over a specified period, typically a year. It is a key metric for evaluating the effectiveness of a company's human resources strategies, management practices, and overall workplace culture. Unlike employee turnover, which focuses on departures, retention rate measures the company's ability to keep its talent. A high retention rate generally indicates a positive work environment, strong employee engagement, and effective talent management, while a low rate may signal underlying issues such as poor management, inadequate compensation, or lack of growth opportunities.

Employee Turnover Rate is a human resources metric that measures the percentage of employees who leave an organization over a specific time period, such as a month, quarter, or year. It includes both voluntary departures, where an employee chooses to leave, and involuntary departures, such as termination or layoffs. The metric helps organizations understand the stability of their workforce, identify potential issues in the workplace, and assess the effectiveness of their retention strategies. A high turnover rate can signal underlying problems within the company, while a low rate generally indicates a stable and engaged workforce.

Expenses per Employee is a measure of the Operating Expenses for the last twelve months (LTM) divided by the current number of Full-Time Equivalent employees. Just like Revenue per Employee, this ratio is often used to compare companies within the same industry.

Full-Time Employees are permanent staff members who typically work more than 30 hours per week or four days weekly, depending on your organisation's definition and local labour standards. Unlike temporary, seasonal, or contract workers, full-time employees represent your core workforce with ongoing employment relationships. In most jurisdictions, full-time employees are entitled to comprehensive benefits including healthcare coverage, vacation pay, statutory holidays, and other employment standards protections as defined by local labour laws.

Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) is a standardised workforce measurement that converts all employee types—full-time, part-time, contractors, interns, and temporary workers—into equivalent full-time positions. This calculated metric provides a unified view of your total workforce capacity by expressing everyone's contribution as fractions of a standard full-time schedule (typically 40 hours per week or 5 days). Unlike simply counting heads, FTE gives you the true picture of your organisational capacity and enables accurate cross-company comparisons regardless of employment structure.

The General and Administrative to Revenue Ratio measures the percentage of total revenue consumed by corporate overhead and administrative functions that support overall business operations but don't directly generate revenue. This metric encompasses executive compensation, legal and professional services, accounting and audit fees, insurance, corporate facilities, administrative technology systems, and governance-related expenses. For CEOs, this ratio represents operational efficiency and the company's ability to scale without proportional increases in overhead burden. Finance leaders view this as a critical profitability driver, while HR leaders must balance necessary support functions with cost optimization pressures. This ratio is particularly complex because it often includes irregular, one-time expenses such as legal settlements, restructuring costs, acquisition-related fees, or extraordinary professional services that can significantly distort underlying operational trends. Unlike other expense ratios that correlate with business growth or strategic initiatives, G&A expenses ideally should grow slower than revenue as companies achieve operational leverage and economies of scale. The challenge lies in distinguishing between necessary infrastructure investments that support future growth and inefficient overhead accumulation that erodes profitability without strategic benefit.

Payroll Expenses represents the total cost incurred by a business to compensate its employees and independent contractors. This includes direct payments such as salaries, wages, and bonuses, as well as associated costs like employer-paid taxes, health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and other benefits. This metric is a key indicator of a company’s operational costs and is typically a significant portion of a business’s overall expenses. Understanding Payroll Expenses is crucial for financial planning, budgeting, and evaluating profitability

Payroll to Revenue Ratio, frequently referred to as Salary to Revenue Ratio, is a productivity metric that measures how effective a business is at utilizing its labour costs to produce revenue. As with any ratio, it's always important to understand both the numerator and the denominator and how changes to either will impact the number.