HR and People Analytics Cheat Sheet

Updated 2026-05-23

Next Topic: IBM Cognos Analytics Cheat Sheet

🧠Study flashcards on this topic120 cards · spaced repetition→

HR and People Analytics applies statistical methods, data science, and business intelligence techniques to workforce data — transforming headcount records, survey responses, payroll figures, and collaboration logs into evidence-based decisions about hiring, retention, compensation, development, and organisational design. The field spans descriptive reporting (what happened), diagnostic analysis (why it happened), predictive modelling (what will happen), and prescriptive analytics (what should we do). Coverage below moves from foundational workforce metrics through advanced retention modelling and organisational network analysis.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 14 focused tables and 120 indexed concepts, 120 flashcards. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Headcount and Workforce Composition MetricsTable 2: Employee Turnover and Attrition AnalyticsTable 3: Talent Acquisition and Recruiting MetricsTable 4: Compensation Equity and Pay Gap AnalysisTable 5: Employee Engagement Survey AnalyticsTable 6: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) MetricsTable 7: Performance Distribution and Talent AnalyticsTable 8: Succession Planning AnalyticsTable 9: Learning and Development AnalyticsTable 10: Workforce Planning ModelsTable 11: Retention Modeling and Predictive AnalyticsTable 12: Organisational Network Analysis (ONA)Table 13: Employee Wellbeing and Absence AnalyticsTable 14: HR Analytics Maturity and Technology

Quick IndexSubscribe to unlock

A jump-to index of every table row in this cheat sheet.

Mind MapSubscribe to unlock

An interactive map of every table and concept in this topic.

Table 1: Headcount and Workforce Composition Metrics

Before any deeper analysis is possible you need a clean picture of who is on the payroll and how the organisation is shaped. These are the foundational counts and structural ratios — active versus on-leave headcount, FTE normalisation, span of control, hierarchy depth — that nearly every downstream metric divides by. Fix the snapshot date and the denominators here and the rest of your reporting stays comparable across periods.

Concept	Formula / Syntax	Notes
Total Headcount	`All active employees` `on snapshot date`	• Point-in-time count; distinguish active vs on leave vs contractors • Use consistent snapshot date (e.g., last day of month) across periods
Active Headcount	`Headcount − (on leave` `+ inactive records)`	• Excludes employees on extended unpaid leave • Used as denominator for per-employee KPIs
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)	`FTE = Σ(hours worked per week` `÷ standard full-time hours)`	• E.g., two 20-hr/wk employees = 1.0 FTE • Normalises part-time workforce for cost and productivity comparisons
Headcount by Employment Type	`Full-time / Part-time /` `Contractor / Temporary`	• Segment workforce mix by employment category • High contractor ratio signals cost-flexibility strategy or classification risk
Headcount by Level	`IC / Manager / Director /` `VP / C-Suite counts`	• Track pyramid shape over time • Widening base relative to top = healthy growth; shrinking middle = management compression
Span of Control	`Span = Direct reports` `÷ managers`	• Optimal range typically 6–10 for operational roles • Low spans (<4) inflate management cost; high spans (>15) strain manager capacity
Layers / Hierarchy Depth	`Count of org-chart levels` `from CEO to IC`	• Fewer layers = faster decisions, lower overhead • Track per division; delayering initiatives reduce layers to 5–7 for most organisations
Internal vs External Hire Ratio	`Internal hires ÷ total hires × 100`	• Higher internal ratio signals strong talent development culture • Benchmark: 30–40% internal fill rate is common in mature talent markets
Headcount Growth Rate	`(End headcount − Start headcount)` `÷ Start headcount × 100`	• Compare against revenue growth to gauge workforce scalability • Declining ratio may signal automation or productivity gains

Table 2: Employee Turnover and Attrition Analytics

People leaving is the single most scrutinised signal in HR, and the vocabulary around it trips up a lot of teams — turnover backfills the seat, attrition leaves it empty, and voluntary departures are the ones you can actually act on. The metrics below let you slice exits the way they matter: voluntary versus involuntary, regrettable versus not, and by cohort so you can see exactly when in the employee lifecycle people walk.

Concept	Formula / Syntax	Notes
Turnover Rate	`Turnover = (Departures` `÷ Avg headcount) × 100` `Avg HC = (Start + End) ÷ 2`	• Includes all separations in a period • Distinguish from attrition: turnover positions are backfilled; attrition positions are not

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 3: Talent Acquisition and Recruiting Metrics

Recruiting metrics answer two questions at once: how efficiently you fill a seat, and how good the person in it turns out to be. Speed measures like time-to-fill and time-to-hire sit alongside quality and experience measures — quality of hire, offer acceptance, candidate NPS — because optimising only for speed quietly fills roles with the wrong people. The funnel and source metrics here tell you where candidates drop off and which channels actually deliver hires worth keeping.

Concept	Formula / Syntax	Notes
Time-to-Fill	`Days from job opening` `to accepted offer`	• SHRM benchmark: 36–42 days; varies by role seniority • Longer TTF signals sourcing, assessment, or approval bottlenecks

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 4: Compensation Equity and Pay Gap Analysis

The crucial idea running through this table is the gap between a raw pay difference and a fair one. Compa-ratio and range penetration tell you where someone sits in their band, but the heart of pay equity work is the move from the unadjusted gap — which mixes in legitimate differences like job and seniority — to the regression-adjusted gap that isolates what's genuinely unexplained. That residual is what auditors, regulators, and increasingly the law care about.

Concept	Formula / Syntax	Notes
Compa-Ratio	`Compa-ratio =` `Employee salary ÷ Range midpoint × 100`	• 100 = at midpoint; <80 = below range; >120 = above range • New hires typically 80–90; tenured high performers 110–120

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 1: Headcount and Workforce Composition Metrics

Concept	Formula / Syntax	Notes
Total Headcount	`All active employees` `on snapshot date`	• Point-in-time count; distinguish active vs on leave vs contractors • Use consistent snapshot date (e.g., last day of month) across periods
Active Headcount	`Headcount − (on leave` `+ inactive records)`	• Excludes employees on extended unpaid leave • Used as denominator for per-employee KPIs
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)	`FTE = Σ(hours worked per week` `÷ standard full-time hours)`	• E.g., two 20-hr/wk employees = 1.0 FTE • Normalises part-time workforce for cost and productivity comparisons
Headcount by Employment Type	`Full-time / Part-time /` `Contractor / Temporary`	• Segment workforce mix by employment category • High contractor ratio signals cost-flexibility strategy or classification risk
Headcount by Level	`IC / Manager / Director /` `VP / C-Suite counts`	• Track pyramid shape over time • Widening base relative to top = healthy growth; shrinking middle = management compression
Span of Control	`Span = Direct reports` `÷ managers`	• Optimal range typically 6–10 for operational roles • Low spans (<4) inflate management cost; high spans (>15) strain manager capacity
Layers / Hierarchy Depth	`Count of org-chart levels` `from CEO to IC`	• Fewer layers = faster decisions, lower overhead • Track per division; delayering initiatives reduce layers to 5–7 for most organisations
Internal vs External Hire Ratio	`Internal hires ÷ total hires × 100`	• Higher internal ratio signals strong talent development culture • Benchmark: 30–40% internal fill rate is common in mature talent markets
Headcount Growth Rate	`(End headcount − Start headcount)` `÷ Start headcount × 100`	• Compare against revenue growth to gauge workforce scalability • Declining ratio may signal automation or productivity gains

Table 2: Employee Turnover and Attrition Analytics

Concept	Formula / Syntax	Notes
Turnover Rate	`Turnover = (Departures` `÷ Avg headcount) × 100` `Avg HC = (Start + End) ÷ 2`	• Includes all separations in a period • Distinguish from attrition: turnover positions are backfilled; attrition positions are not

Table 3: Talent Acquisition and Recruiting Metrics

Concept	Formula / Syntax	Notes
Time-to-Fill	`Days from job opening` `to accepted offer`	• SHRM benchmark: 36–42 days; varies by role seniority • Longer TTF signals sourcing, assessment, or approval bottlenecks

Table 4: Compensation Equity and Pay Gap Analysis

Concept	Formula / Syntax	Notes
Compa-Ratio	`Compa-ratio =` `Employee salary ÷ Range midpoint × 100`	• 100 = at midpoint; <80 = below range; >120 = above range • New hires typically 80–90; tenured high performers 110–120