From engagement to productivity: Is HR measuring what matters?

It’s time to call out the deception in modern HR: the myth of engagement. We’ve been sold a story that if we just make employees "happy" then productivity, innovation, success, will follow. This is a comfortable lie. We've spent decades obsessing over "engagement scores" and "satisfaction surveys," deluding ourselves into thinking we understood our workforce. But a high engagement score doesn't pay the bills and is just a feel-good metric that tells you nothing about what truly matters.

Stop chasing the ghost of engagement and start measuring what actually drives your business forward: productivity - specifically task-based productivity that's tied directly to impact and results. The kind that acknowledges that a quiet, focused team member might be ten times more valuable than the loudest voice in the room. It’s time to stop measuring feelings and start measuring outcomes, because engagement and productivity are not the same.

The Engagement-productivity disconnect

An employee can be thrilled to come to work and still suck at their job. Conversely, someone might hate the office coffee but deliver killer results. HR’s job is to bridge that gap and not pretend that this gap does not exist by focusing on outputs, (what they achieve) instead of just the inputs how employees feel i.e. from inputs to outputs

The disconnect happens because many HR initiatives focus on questions like "Do you feel valued?" rather than "Are you delivering value?" To correct this, HR should shift its focus to metrics and questions that measure concrete outcomes, such as:

Are employees clear on their goals?
Do they have the resources needed to succeed?
Are they empowered to make decisions?

Happy employees are only valuable if their happiness fuels results. HR needs to be ruthless about cutting any program that doesn't drive performance.

Are your metrics lying to you?

HR loves data surveys, pulse checks, turnover rates. But data can be a liar if you’re measuring the wrong stuff. Engagement scores might tell you people love the free snacks, but they won’t tell you if your team’s output is tanking. So, what should you measure?

Output quality: Are deliverables meeting or exceeding expectations? Track client feedback, project success rates, or error rates.
Time to completion: How long does it take to get key tasks done? If projects drag, something’s broken. Invest in targeted training, measure progress with clear benchmarks, and tie it to business outcomes like faster innovation or better customer service.
Resource utilization: Are people working on what matters, or are they stuck in busy work? Audit how time and talent are spent, and cut off the bugs in the system.

Focusing on these metrics forces HR to step up. You’re not just keeping people happy - by tying metrics directly to business outcomes, like revenue, customer satisfaction, or innovation you are proving your department is a profit driver and not a cost center. Engagement is a piece of the puzzle, but output and skills are what make HR indispensable.

The feedback loop that actually works

Feedback in HR is often a one-way street: employees fill out surveys, HR pats itself on the back, and nothing changes. If you want to measure what matters, start by building a feedback loop that’s a two-way conversation.

Collect data: Use your metrics to identify a problem, such as low productivity in a specific team.
Dig deeper: Don't stop at the data. Investigate the root cause by asking questions: Is it a training issue? A resource problem? A bad manager?
Take action: Implement a solution based on your findings when needed. If these findings are ignored, then employee trust erodes.
Communicate and track: Tell employees what you are doing to fix the problem and then track if your solution is successful. This transparency builds trust and shows employees that their feedback is valued.

This feedback loop applies to everyone in the organization, including HR. You should regularly seek feedback from the C-suite and managers to ensure your initiatives are effective. Without closing the loop with action, your data is just for show.

Use technology to support people, not replace them

HR tech is most effective when it is a tool for efficiency and insight. Instead of letting dashboards dictate your strategy, you should start with what matters to the business and then find the technology to support those goals. To avoid becoming a "soulless robot overlord," HR should follow these best practices:

Focus on what matters: Don't choose metrics just because your software can track them. Instead, identify the key business outcomes you want to improve, then find technology that can measure and support them.
Prioritize user-friendliness: Technology should make work easier, not harder. Before rolling out new tools, test them with real users and get feedback. If employees need a PhD to log their hours, the technology is counterproductive.
Choose wisely: Not every flashy new tool is right for your company. Select tools that fit your company's size, budget, and culture, and make sure the tech is serving you, not the other way around.

Strategic HR: Stop being the office party planner

Strategic HR is about aligning people, processes, and goals to make the business win, not as the office part planner; Strategic HR requires a deep understanding of what the business needs to win. Instead of focusing on vague feelings, every HR initiative should be designed to support business objectives:

Track performance metrics to identify what’s working for top performers.
Analyze workflow efficiency to pinpoint bottlenecks and areas for improvement.
Make smarter decisions based on facts, rather than intuition.
Speak the language of business: When pitching a new program use data to demonstrate how your initiative will boost output, reduce costs, or improve key performance indicators.

The shift from vague feelings to hard data, is using facts to make smarter decisions. It involves a serious commitment to data and analytics, which allows HR to become a strategic business partner.

This is not micromanagement but using data and technology to make HR more effective and valuable. By using data, HR can identify a team that's struggling before it's too late and solve the problem. This is how HR goes from being a "people person" to a strategic business partner.

The myth of “One-size-fits-all” metrics

The "one-size-fits-all" approach to HR metrics is a myth and a trap - this approach is meaningless unless it is tailored to a company's specific goals and business model. What works for a tech startup is irrelevant for a manufacturing firm. To avoid this pitfall, you must develop custom metrics that fit your business. Start by defining what success looks like for your organization.

Custom metrics:

Custom metrics sound like a pain, but they’re worth it. Every organization and business is different. Start by defining what success looks like for your organization and business. Tailor your measurements to your goals, and stop chasing industry averages that don’t apply.

Metrics must lead to action

Metrics are useless unless they lead to action. Every measurement should be a starting point for improvement. If you discover a problem, like high turnover in a specific department or wasted time on redundant tasks, use that information to investigate the root cause and implement a solution. Metrics without follow-through are just noise.

Productivity isn’t just “working harder”, it’s working smarter

Productivity is about working smarter, not harder. HR's role is to create efficient systems, tools, and processes that allow employees' efforts to count.

HR's role in boosting productivity

Cutting bureaucracy and fluff: Streamline processes and eliminate pointless meetings that bog employees down.
Providing the right tools: Ensure employees have the software and resources they need to get their jobs done efficiently.
Measuring outcomes: Shift your focus from hours logged and emails sent to tracking projects completed, revenue generated, and problems solved.

If your employees are "engaged" but are constantly battling with inefficiencies, you are failing them. The real productivity gains are found by measuring and eliminating time wasted on low-value tasks.

Wrapping it up:

HR is at a crossroads. You can keep playing the engagement game, throwing pizza parties and hoping for the best or you can step up, focus on productivity, and prove you’re a strategic player. This is hard, but as simple as it gets. The future points toward making everyone effective by rethinking the metrics. Align every HR initiative with company goals for outcomes that drive the business.

Stop pretending that a high engagement score is the same as a successful business. It's time to stop measuring what's comfortable and start measuring what truly matters.

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