Measure Your Talent: How to Create 4 People KPIs That Actually Work

Read Time: 3 minutes.

The KPI Problem

People are your most important asset.

Most managers either have no talent metrics or meaningless ones. KPIs become bureaucratic exercises instead of performance drivers.

The solution isn't more metrics.
It's setting up a few to answer the right questions.

The Four-Question Framework

Based on coaching hundreds of leaders, every effective KPI system answers four questions:

1. Are we hiring the right people?

What to measure: Quality of hires at specific intervals (90 days, 6 months)
Why it matters: Bad hires compound. Good hires multiply.
Metric: Percentage of new hires meeting/exceeding expectations at 6-month mark

2. Are we hiring them fast enough?

What to measure: Time to fill by role complexity
Why it matters: Speed and quality create tension—you need both
Metric: Days to fill vs. benchmark (30/60/90 days based on role level)

3. Are we keeping the right people?

What to measure: Retention of high performers vs. overall retention
Why it matters: Not all attrition is bad—you want stars to stay, underperformers to leave
Metric: Retention rate of employees with tenure >6 months meeting expectations

4. Are the right people performing?

What to measure: Performance ratings aligned with manager expectations
Why it matters: This is where hiring quality shows up in business results
Metric: Percentage of team meeting/exceeding performance standards

Making KPIs Work: The Integration Principle

These four questions create natural tension. And that’s by design.

Quality vs. Speed: You can hire slowly and carefully OR quickly and fix mistakes. The metrics force you to consciously optimize that choice.

Retention vs. Performance: You want people to stay AND perform. High retention with low performance means you're not managing, you’re tolerating mediocrity.

The Sweet Spot: High-quality hires, filled quickly, who stay and perform well.

What About Happy People?

I will undoubtedly get a dozen email telling me I’m leaving out critical questions from the Gallup Employee Engagement survey.

• Don’t people need to develop and grow?

• Shouldn’t they feel aligned to the mission?

• What about satisfaction and basic resources?

These are helpful. They’re the basis of my Employee Pulse Check in fact.

But they are a means to end. They’re a level down from this executive view. They may help you diagnose why one of these headline KPIs is flagging, but they may also be a distraction.

Implementation: Start Simple

Week 1: Pick your biggest talent challenge and establish baseline metrics
Week 2: Set realistic targets for each metric (don't aim for perfection)
Week 3: Create simple tracking (spreadsheet works fine)
Week 4: Review patterns and adjust one thing

In four months (and honestly, probably faster since these KPIs connect and compound), you’ll have top-level indicators on the state of talent in your business.

Your Operating Rhythm:

• Weekly Accountability: Track your numbers

• Monthly Diagnostics: Make changes based on patterns

• Quarterly Reset: Adjust targets and align the team to the higher standard

Common Mistakes

Too Many Metrics: Stick to these four core questions
Perfectionist Targets: Work from real data not theoretical ideals
Blame Focus: Use metrics to improve the system, not to punish your people
Static Targets: Talent is a race; there’s always a higher standard to chase

The Real Goal

KPIs aren't about creating statistics. They're about creating a system of indicators that motivate your leaders to elevate your people.

The four questions force you to:

• Hire better people faster

• Keep your best performers happy

• Help everyone succeed

• Make tough decisions when needed

Because what gets measured gets managed.
And what gets managed well gets multiplied.

What You Missed This Week

Our Sunday AM posts:

📌 How to Cut Half Your Meetings (Dave on LI)
📌 Reinvent Yourself at Any Time (Mar on LI)
📌 Simple Ways Anyone Can Lead (Dave on X)

And here are our most popular posts last week:

🔥 Attention is Currency (Mar on LI)
🔥 10 Bad Leadership Habits (Dave on LI)
🔥 How To Manage More People (Dave on X)

Our goal is to build a community of 1 million thoughtful, curious leaders.

You can help us by reposting anything that resonates with you.  

Thank you for reading. Appreciate you!

Dave