What is headcount reporting?

Headcount reporting describes all the data you gather about the people working at your company at a specific time. It’s not just a simple count of employees on your payroll. It provides in-depth details aboutfull-time vs. part-time employees, salaries, tenure, exemption status and other valuable information to help you fully understand your workforce.

Reasons to do employee headcount reporting

Digging deeper into your employee headcount data can give you valuable information about your company. Some reasons to perform headcount reporting include:

• Identifying obligations and compliance: The size of your company could impact the benefits you’re required to offer, so having an accurate headcount could help ensure compliance.
• Staff planning: A clear understanding of your workforce helps you understand your current available workforce and make decisions going forward. Optimizing your headcount ensures you have the coverage you need without having excessive labor costs.
• Improved staffing: Being aware of your headcount can help you assess your turnover rates, retention levels and similar employment statistics. You can use staffing information to identify problems and work to resolve them to improve those metrics. It can also help with succession planning and talent acquisition.
• Efficiency and productivity: You can ensure your organization is operating efficiently when you understand your staffing and the skills you have available. Higher productivity can improve your profitability, help you grow faster and increase customer satisfaction.
• Budget planning: With a clear idea of your current and projected staffing needs, you can budget for your employment expenses. It can also help you budget for resources your team might need, such as new workstations for additional hires or training to expand skills.

Data included in a headcount report

Headcount reports gather a range of information about the employees working for your organization. Some data that typically goes into headcount reporting includes:

• Active vs. inactive job status
• Part-time vs. full-time schedule status
• Exempt vs. nonexempt status
• Job title
• Salary
• Length of time in the position
• Veteran status
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Age and retirement age

How to do headcount reporting

The bulk of the headcount reporting task is gathering the information you need. Once you have the data, you can use it in different ways, depending on your organizational goals and needs. The following steps can help you get started on headcount reporting.

1. Defineyour classifications

For consistency, consider defining the employment classifications for your employees. Labor laws often regulate many classifications. Brush up on your understanding of various classifications to ensure you’re categorizing your employees correctly.

2. Gatherthe data

Most of the information you need should be accessible in your human resources information system. This central data location should be up-to-date, but it’s important to make sure the data you’re pulling is accurate and current.

3. Set yourorganizational goals

At this point, it’s helpful to know what your goals are and what you want from the data. This might include budgeting, workforce planning, strategic planning and skill gap analysis. This can help you gather any additional information you might need and use the data effectively.

4. Comparethe data to the goals

Analyzing all the data with your goals in mind helps you get a clear picture of your situation. Identify gaps and needs within your organization. Forecast your future needs, and develop strategies to optimize your workforce while working toward your goals. These could be immediate strategies or plans for the future. For example, you might develop a training and development timeline for expanding the skills within your team, or you might plan to hire a certain number of people within the next year.

5. Implement strategies

Putting those strategies and plans into action can help you improve operations and optimize your workforce. Break the strategies down into specific steps with timelines and metrics to measure your progress.

6. Monitor the situation

Headcount planning and analysis isn’t usually a one-time practice. Your needs and staffing can change at any time. Outside factors, such as new technology and industry developments, can also impact your organization. Setting a regular schedule for headcount reporting and monitoring how well your strategies work can help you continue to make changes as needed.

Best practices for headcount reporting

The following best practices can help you improve your employee headcount reporting processes:

• Ensure data safety: Most of the data used for headcount reporting is confidential information about your employees. Consider limiting access, and handle the data according to your policies and procedures.
• Maintain a headcount document: Storing the headcount data in a central location allows easy access when you need to make decisions or track progress toward your goals.
• Use the data to improve the culture: Headcount is often used for budgeting and financial decisions, but it can also help you improve your overall workplace culture. You can use it to recognize missing elements, such as diversity in hires, that could make your workplace a better environment.
• Communicate to key stakeholders: Your HR department might handle headcount reporting, but other stakeholders can benefit from being involved in the process. This includes your executive team and managers. Being transparent with plans based on headcount reporting helps your team to prepare, especially if you’re planning to add or subtract from the headcount.
• Increase collaboration: Bringing more people into the headcount planning process can help you make more well-rounded decisions. For example, you might include team members who are finance experts to talk about the numbers, business experts to weigh in on operations and HR members to keep the human element in mind.
• Remain flexible: Change happens frequently, so remaining flexible with your headcount planning can help you adapt quickly. You might create contingency plans to account for possible scenarios, for example.

FAQs about headcount reporting

How often do you do headcount reporting?

The frequency of headcount reporting can vary depending on your industry and organization. If you have high turnover or your industry fluctuates frequently, you might want to monitor your headcount on a monthly basis. With fewer changes, you might only need to do it quarterly or annually.

How can you increase productivity without increasing headcount?

Keeping your headcount low without impacting productivity can help you optimize your labor costs. Headcount reporting can help you spot inefficiencies in your staffing. It can also help you identify missing skills, allowing you to train your current staff to fill those gaps without hiring new employees. Using the data enables you to make forecasts and staffing decisions for the future to optimize productivity.

What affects your headcount planning?

Headcount reporting helps you make decisions about your company, but you’ll need additional data to make effective decisions. Your overall goals and strategy help you use the headcount information efficiently. Changes in your industry or the overall market can impact your headcount decisions. Goals such as improving your diversity and broadening the organization’s skills can also come into play.