7 of the Most Useful HR Reports, According to HR Pros

HR reports bring a wealth of benefits. If you’re not using HR reporting tools to further your business, we have to ask: why aren’t you?

You’ve finally gotten a handle on the mountain of paperwork and turned it into a molehill, but here’s the thing: data is useless if all you do is collect it and leave it alone. You know the next step is to invest time in HR data analysis and strategic human resource management. Using the data you’ve already gathered can help you work more efficiently, improve your processes, and prove your value to your organization.

An HR report can give you big-picture views of the data you control and let you compare different data points to reveal possible reasons behind past successes and failures. Reports grant insights that help you plan for the future, and they double-check your processes to help ensure you’ve completed a task.

When people ask you what metrics you’re using to measure your success, they’re asking whether you’ve compared past recorded numbers to the present. And when people question—as many do—whether HR is valuable beyond its legal necessity, reports prove how HR affects the bottom line as much as any other department.

Below, we’ll dive into the most useful HR reports, whether you’re just starting your HR career or a seasoned pro. Read on to see why HR data analysis is no longer just a good idea—it's a strategic requirement for organizations that want to succeed. Learn how to put your data to good use with BambooHR.

What Is an HR Report?

HR reports pull and showcase critical HR metrics and data. ‌An effective HR report can provide key information and details on the company’s workforce and HR, including turnover, performance, training, and more.

So, which HR reports are the best for you? Different situations call for different types of data analysis, but we’ve gathered the top seven most useful HR reports we feel grant immediately useful insights you can use to change your business for the better.

If you’re skeptical about the value of all those numbers, dates, and names you’ve entered over the years, these reports will make you a believer.

Employee Turnover Reports

Our recent compensation report revealed half (51%) of employees are actively looking for or considering looking for a new job—Millennials are the most likely to leave (62%), followed by Gen Z (54%), Gen X (48%), and Baby Boomers (31%). But compensation is only one reason good employees leave their jobs.

Considering the cost of hiring a new employee, employee turnover reports can give insight into how well you retain the people you hire. Every company experiences turnover, but many view it as a simple percentage offering little more than an idea of whether people enjoy working for them.

They’re not wrong, if all they look at are voluntary departures. Look deeper, however, and you’ll discover one of the best ways to analyze performance and improve workforce planning.

Breakdowns by department, age, reason for departure, and length of employment all reflect the many factors affecting your workforce and in turn, your bottom line. High first-year turnover, for example, might point to a problem with onboarding success.

Employee Retention Report

If employee turnover reports are a priority, you could have guessed an employee retention report is also essential. Just because you’re employees haven’t left doesn’t mean they won’t. According to our data, 78% of employees are watching job listings, and nearly half (44%) of employees who aren’t looking admit they’re staying with their current company for a secure salary.

An employee retention report can give an insight into why they’re staying, how they’re feeling, and how you can keep your top talent.

Applicant Source Reports

If you are using an applicant tracking system, chances are you’re also posting openings to myriad websites, job boards, social media outlets, and more. An applicant source report shows you where and when you’re getting the best results, which departments tend to attract candidates from which channels, and whether your head-hunters are worth the money.

Optimizing your job postings not only helps you attract not only more candidates, but better candidates; you’ll fill positions faster, and you’ll get the jump on your competition in the marketplace.

Performance Management Reports

A well-designed employee performance report makes it easy to see where efforts are lagging and which team members stand out in the rockstar category.

You should be able to swap views across departments and compare results over time, as well as drill down deeper into individual employees’ reviews to get a better idea of why they need help (or why they rule the school).

By looking at performance from different angles, you’ll gain a better idea of which departments and individuals could use extra attention, and where you can take cues from to help the entire organization achieve its best. And performance management reports could help you identify whether your performance reviews are effective.

Company Performance Reports

One of the critical lessons in performance management is the value of two-way and 360-degree feedback; it’s just as important to examine your organization’s performance in the eyes of employees as it is to look at employee performance with a critical eye. Company performance reports allow you to do just that and work in tandem with employee performance reporting to add an extra layer of insight into cultural successes and failures.

For example, if your rockstar department is feeling highly valued and your underdogs aren’t, that could signal a management deficiency. If the inverse is true, you may be risking losing great talent while the slackers keep slacking off and getting praised for it.

Headcount Report

A headcount report does just as its name suggests. It reports on the total number of employees within a business. This type of report is simple but super effective. The snapshot of employees can highlight if the company is growing, if teams need more headcount, and can help with workforce planning, budgeting, and more. What you can add to a headcount report includes:

• How many employees you have in the organization
• Diversity metrics
• Types of employees (part-time, full-time, remote, hybrid)
• How many people are in each department

ACA Reports

Filling out ACA forms is onerous enough without the endless hassle of investigating individual employees and stressing over the accuracy of the information you’re submitting. An ACA report that provides benefits history helps you determine employees’ eligibility, which is critical to filling out Part II of the 1095-C. Meanwhile, a report that covers employee status for the whole company gives you an accurate way to double-check your information in Part III of the same form.

How Software Can Help with HR Reporting

By having HR reporting software like BambooHR, you can streamline all of your reporting. Our software gives you a wealth of reporting tools and metrics at your fingertips that can help your business in many areas, including:

• Automating repetitive tasks, which will improve efficiencies
• Collating accurate data so you have the figures to drive change in the business
• Creating custom reports that are centered around the organization’s goals
• Producing instant detailed HR reports in seconds

The Most Useful HR Reports

There are dozens of reports available to HR that can simplify, enhance, or offer a deeper understanding at every level of an organization, from the big picture, down to individual employees. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it should help you get off to a good start.

HR spends a lot of time gathering data, but much less time putting it to work on its behalf. It’s time we evened out the scales. Take the plunge with BambooHR.