How to Read HR Numbers
Read any HR report and know exactly what mean, median, P90 and rate actually count.
A plain English glossary of the words behind every HR number
What it does
Most disagreements about an HR number are really disagreements about the words around it. One person means the average, another means the typical case, and both are sure they are right. This short reference explains the measurement words that decide whether two people calculating the same thing get the same answer. Reach for it before you sign off a report, when a metric is being challenged, or when you are writing definitions the whole team will use. It covers the words behind the number (mean, median, percentile, rate, population), the words behind a commitment (baseline, target, guardrail, counter-metric), and the short forms you meet everywhere (FTE, HRIS, CSAT, NPS, compa-ratio). A worked example shows the same ten cases producing three different answers depending on which word you pick. No statistics background needed, if you can read that example, you can read the rest.
What is inside
- A worked example: one dataset, three different answers
- A table of words about the numbers: mean, median, percentile, rate, population
- A table of words about the commitment: baseline, target, guardrail, counter-metric
- A table of short forms: FTE, HRIS, CSAT, NPS, compa-ratio
- A one page next step for fixing your first measure
Who it is for
- An HR lead who needs the same report to mean the same thing in two meetings
- An HR analyst writing definitions the whole team will use
- A manager challenging a metric someone else built