3 useful HR benchmarking resources to supplement your HRMS data

Benchmarking data can provide reassurance that your HR function is performing at or above industry standards as well as highlighting areas for improvement in HR strategy and policy. There are a number of external benchmarking options which can be used to complement internal data; here are three trusted ones that can guide you to success.

1. Sierra-Cedar

Sierra-Cedar (formerly CedarCrestone) has been running their HRMS benchmark surveys for the past 17 years and they provide a strong overall look at the HRMS space, from general adoption of HR technology through to in-depth analysis of modules in use. This survey will help you to benchmark things like HRMS cost as it provides detailed coverage of the per employee cost to implement and maintain various HRMS models, be it in-house or a hosted solution in a variety of company sizes and industries.

An area of particular insight is their forward-thinking focus; not only are companies asked about current usage with a comparison to last year’s numbers but also about their expected future HRMS use. Are you aware of how many companies are expecting to produce embedded HRMS analytics? Will your organization match the spending on talent applications that your competition will be implementing? If you’re unsure of these answers, visit the survey to learn more.

Recommended Reading: HRMS Vendor Guide - Find vendors offering HRMS data capabilities

2. Mercer

If your company is interested in attracting and retaining the best talent, Mercer is a robust source of compensation benchmarking data. Your HRMS holds many data elements such as job title, job family and function, salary and years in position which can be compared to Mercer’s database values to ensure that your compensation and rewards are in line with your industry and geographic location.

Mercer’s data also can help you to attract the right talent when you review your job requisition titles against those of your competitor groups to confirm that your titles are not old or outdated.

3. Towers Watson

If you are interested in benchmarking benefits, Towers Watson is one of the strongest sources in the industry. Towers Watson covers a variety of plans including retirement, health, wellness, death and disability, paid time off and flexible benefits. It is a rich source of intelligence to compare your benefit plans and vacation time from your HRMS to what is being offered by equivalent sized organizations or similar industry competitors.

As you perform your turnover analysis and find that employees are leaving due to benefits, benchmark data can help you drill down into HRMS data to extract the categories and levels of these employees.