How do you conduct HR research and benchmarking?

1 Define your research question and scope

The first step in any HR research and benchmarking project is to define your research question and scope. What is the problem or opportunity you are trying to address? What are the objectives and outcomes you are aiming for? What are the key variables and indicators you need to measure and compare? How will you define and segment your target population and sample? How will you collect and analyze your data? These are some of the questions you need to answer before you start your research.

2 Review existing literature and data sources

The next step is to review existing literature and data sources that are relevant to your research question and scope. This will help you to identify gaps, trends, best practices, benchmarks, and frameworks that can inform your research design and methodology. You can use various sources, such as academic journals, industry reports, case studies, surveys, databases, and websites, to find reliable and valid information. You should also evaluate the quality, credibility, and currency of your sources, and cite them properly.

3 Design and conduct your primary research

Depending on your research question and scope, you may need to design and conduct your own primary research to collect data that is not available or sufficient from existing sources. This may involve using qualitative methods, such as interviews, focus groups, or observations, or quantitative methods, such as surveys, experiments, or tests. You should follow ethical and professional standards, such as obtaining consent, protecting confidentiality, and avoiding bias, when conducting your primary research. You should also use appropriate tools and techniques, such as sampling, questionnaires, software, or statistics, to collect and analyze your data.

4 Compare and contrast your findings with benchmarks

Once you have collected and analyzed your data, you need to compare and contrast your findings with benchmarks. Benchmarks are standards or points of reference that allow you to evaluate and measure your performance, practices, or outcomes against others. You can use different types of benchmarks, such as industry, functional, regional, or best-in-class benchmarks, depending on your research question and scope. You should also use relevant and valid metrics, such as ratios, percentages, or scores, to compare and contrast your findings with benchmarks.

5 Interpret and communicate your results and recommendations

The final step is to interpret and communicate your results and recommendations based on your research and benchmarking. You should synthesize and summarize your key findings, insights, and implications in a clear and concise manner. You should also provide actionable and realistic recommendations that address the problem or opportunity you are trying to solve. You should use appropriate formats and channels, such as reports, presentations, or dashboards, to communicate your results and recommendations to your clients and stakeholders.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?