HR indicators management actually uses.
From the 40-chart report to the six-figure dashboard that changes decisions.
Many HR reports measure activity, not results: number of training sessions delivered, open recruitment processes, evaluations completed. General management rarely makes a decision with that information.
A useful dashboard focuses on a few figures connected to the business: total personnel cost over revenue, voluntary turnover in critical roles, time to fill vacancies, salary positioning against the market, absenteeism and succession-plan coverage.
Each indicator needs three elements to be actionable: the figure, the comparison (against target, against the previous period or against the market) and the explanation of the variance. Without the third, the dashboard informs but does not help decide.
Frequency also matters. Monthly for the operational, quarterly for the structural. An indicator reviewed when nothing can be corrected any more is not a management indicator.