Management information dashboards – an alternative to proving talent ROI
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In today’s economic climate it’s more important than ever that you can make the financial case for any investment. Yet this is notoriously hard for HR departments to do, because objective measures of success are hard to come by, and true proof may take years to deliver.
An example is what we have seen recently, with Graduate Schemes. As the recession bit, many organisations cut down on the number of graduates they recruited, or suspended the scheme. It is easy to understand why; a graduate scheme is one of the biggest spends within HR, and it’s hard for the top team to justify recruitment when redundancies may be in the pipeline.
This means that every year, HR have to go to the Board to ask for money to continue the graduate programme. There is pressure to prove ROI for the investment, and yet (unless you are a consultancy who can charge them out by the day) this is very difficult, as each graduate adds value in a very different way. The true value may only be revealed 5 years down the track when you get a sudden shortage of good candidates for those higher level roles.
Of course you need to track the progression of graduates to prove you are feeding the talent pipeline in later years – it may be a slow burn, but it needs to be started now. But there is a creative alternative to attempting the almost impossible task of presenting a bullet-proof argument on ROI at the point where you are asking for investment.
Consider creating a Management Information Dashboard.
The essential thinking behind a Dashboard, is to change the focus from proving ROI, to an ongoing process of stakeholder engagement and proving delivery on agreed goals. The aim is that the Executive Team are continuously engaged, and results are dripfed on a regular basis.
First you need to agree with senior management why they feel (in this instance) a graduate scheme would benefit the business. Then together identify measures that would show the graduate scheme is working well. Examples might be retention, progression, graduates bringing new ideas or initiatives that add value to the business, and graduates spreading the word that your organisation is great to work for (employer brand).
Once you have agreed goals, report on them every month via a 1-page ‘dashboard’ to your key senior stakeholders. Provide data updates, success stories of added value, reports from surveys. This will show the value you’re delivering through the graduate scheme, and when you get to the Board to ask for budget next year – they will already be knowledgeable and convinced.
Take Away
A stream of concise information on how you are delivering on agreed goals may protect your talent budget better than an attempt to prove ROI in cash terms.