ILRHR555
Measuring HR's Impact
Develop metrics to demonstrate HR's impact on financial, customer, process, and people outcomes. Build a model that links metrics to organizational goals and priorities.
Description
HR leaders have the ability to drive business performance by defining, designing, developing, and delivering competitive advantage through people. A key component of their ability to do so is a solid understanding of the organization's business drivers and a demonstrable competence in matching human capital to strategic initiatives. Metrics enable HR to demonstrate its competence in terms of its business literacy and adopt a data-driven approach to management and leadership.
This course focuses on identifying and developing key measures of HR's impact on business outcomes. It distinguishes between business metrics and HR metrics and relates them in terms of how to measure and communicate HR's value. Metrics must support the organization's business model. This course provides models for matching metrics to organizational outcomes and developing business-based metrics including the use of the balanced scorecard tied to financial, customer, process, and people outcomes. This course also provides frameworks for categorizing and analyzing metrics according the business value they measure, analyzing HR metrics, and building a model to link metrics to organizational goals and priorities.
Who Should Take This Course?
This course is designed for manager-, director-, and executive-level HR professionals who are charged with improving HR's ability to contribute to organizational strategy and success. It is also appropriate for HR professionals seeking the strategic skills required for advancement to management and leadership positions.
Course Format
All eCornell courses are delivered online and are self-paced. An eCornell instructor leads the online discussions, grades any course projects, and is available to answer specific questions about the course content.
This course contains the following modules:
- Metrics for HR Leaders
- Meeting Challenges and Making Decisions
- Metrics That Support the Business Model
- Metrics for Business Literacy
- Developing a Strategy Map
- Using the Balanced Scorecard
- Metrics for Business Value
- Categorizing Metrics for Value
- Building Your Metrics Model
Benefits to the Learner
Participants who complete this course will be able to:
- Use metrics to make better HR decisions
- Account for the limitations of metrics for analyzing and managing the HR function
- Use the balanced scorecard to measure financial, customer, process, and people outcomes
- Avoid the potential misuses of metrics
- Categorize and evaluate metrics to make better use of them
Authoring Faculty
Patrick M. Wright, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Center for Advanced Human Resources Studies
Sponsoring School
Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Total Learning Time
Approximately five to six hours over a period of two weeks.
Certificate Information
This course can be applied toward the following certificate:
HRCI Recertification

This course been approved for six (6) Strategic Management recertification credit hours toward SPHR and GPHR recertification and six (6) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute. Please contact the Human Resource Certificate Institute (HRCI) for further information about certification or recertification.
With all eCornell courses, access is easy. Participants only need a computer and an Internet connection. To view specific technology requirements, visit our Technology Requirements page.