6  Creating Effective HR Dashboards in Tableau

Tableau is a powerful data visualization tool that allows HR professionals to create interactive and insightful dashboards. By integrating data from various HR functions like recruitment, performance, and retention, Tableau helps HR departments monitor and improve their workforce metrics. The goal is to design dashboards that provide key insights in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand format.

6.1 Designing Key HR Metrics for Dashboards in Tableau

Designing effective HR dashboards in Tableau begins by understanding the key HR metrics that need to be tracked. It’s crucial to identify which metrics are most relevant to the organization’s strategic goals. The most common HR metrics typically include:

  • Recruitment Metrics: Time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and offer acceptance rate.
  • Performance Metrics: Goal achievement, employee productivity, and performance review scores.
  • Retention Metrics: Employee turnover, retention rates, and new hire retention rates.
  • Learning and Development Metrics: Training completion, skills development, and training return on investment (ROI).

6.1.1 How to Design These Metrics in Tableau

  1. Importing Data:
    • Begin by importing your HR data into Tableau. Go to Data > Connect to Data and select your data source (Excel, CSV, or database). Ensure that the data includes necessary HR metrics like time-to-fill, turnover rate, employee satisfaction, and training completion.
  2. Creating Basic Visualizations:
    • Time-to-Fill: For time-to-fill by department, drag the Department field to the Columns shelf and Time to Fill to the Rows shelf. Change the mark type to Bar to create a bar chart.
    • Turnover Rate: For tracking turnover rate over time, use the Date field (e.g., exit date) on the Columns shelf, and the Turnover Rate field on the Rows shelf. Use a Line chart to visualize changes over time.
    • Employee Satisfaction: Create a pie chart to represent employee satisfaction. Drag the Satisfaction field to the Color shelf and the Department field to the Label shelf.
  3. Building KPI Dashboards:
    • Use Text Tables or Number Indicators for KPI displays. Drag key metrics (like average time-to-fill or turnover rate) into the dashboard layout and display them as text values to show quick snapshots of performance.
  4. Aggregating Data:
    • Tableau allows easy aggregation using SUM(), AVG(), and other functions. For example, to calculate the average time-to-fill, use the AVG() function on the Time to Fill field.
    • To visualize the percentage of employees who left in a given time period, use COUNT() or COUNTD() for discrete count of exits.
  5. Adding Color and Formatting:
    • To enhance your dashboard, apply color to your metrics using the Color shelf. For instance, use red for high turnover rates and green for low turnover rates.
    • Formatting tools in Tableau allow you to adjust fonts, background colors, and borders to ensure that your dashboards are visually appealing and easy to interpret.

6.2 Custom Calculations in Tableau

Custom calculations in Tableau allow you to create more complex metrics beyond the standard data fields in your dataset. These calculations are helpful when you need to derive new insights or apply advanced analytical functions to your HR data. Tableau provides the ability to create calculated fields using various mathematical, logical, and string functions.

6.2.1 What Are Custom Calculations in Tableau?

Custom calculations in Tableau enable users to create new metrics that are not directly available in the raw data. These calculations can be based on existing fields or create entirely new values, allowing HR professionals to track advanced metrics or perform more granular analysis.

Calculated fields are created using Tableau’s formula editor, which supports a wide range of functions, including:

  • Mathematical functions (e.g., addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
  • Logical functions (e.g., IF, AND, OR)
  • String functions (e.g., CONCATENATE, LEFT, RIGHT)
  • Date functions (e.g., YEAR, MONTH, TODAY, DATEDIFF)
  • Aggregations (e.g., SUM, AVG, COUNT)

6.2.2 Creating Custom Calculations for HR Metrics

Let’s explore how custom calculations can be used to calculate key HR metrics.

Time-to-Fill

Goal: Calculate the time it takes to fill a job position, from the job posting date to the hire date.

Steps:
  1. Create a Calculated Field:
    • Navigate to the Data Pane and click on the dropdown next to the data source.
    • Select Create Calculated Field.
  2. Enter the Formula:
    • Use the DATEDIFF function to calculate the difference between the Job Posting Date and Hire Date.
    • Formula:
      Time_to_Fill = DATEDIFF('day', [Job Posting Date], [Hire Date])
  3. Explanation:
    • This formula calculates the difference in days between the Job Posting Date and Hire Date to provide insights into how long it takes to fill positions.

Training Completion Rate

Goal: Calculate the percentage of employees who have completed their assigned training programs.

Steps:
  1. Create a Calculated Field:
    • Navigate to the Data Pane and click on the dropdown next to the data source.
    • Select Create Calculated Field.
  2. Enter the Formula:
    • Use the COUNTIF function to count the number of employees who completed training and divide it by the total number of employees assigned to training.
    • Formula:
      Training_Completion_Rate = (COUNTIF([Training Status], "Completed") / COUNT([Employee ID])) * 100
  3. Explanation:
    • This formula calculates the percentage of employees who have completed their assigned training, providing insights into the effectiveness and engagement with training programs.

Employee Turnover Rate

Goal: Calculate the percentage of employees who leave the company over a given period.

Steps:
  1. Create a Calculated Field:
    • Navigate to the Data Pane and click on the dropdown next to the data source.
    • Select Create Calculated Field.
  2. Enter the Formula:
    • Use the DIVIDE function to calculate the turnover rate by dividing the number of exits by the total number of employees.
    • Formula:
      Turnover_Rate = DIVIDE(COUNT([Exit Date]), COUNT([Employee ID])) * 100
  3. Explanation:
    • This formula calculates the turnover rate by dividing the number of employees who left the company by the total number of employees, then multiplying by 100 to get the percentage.

6.3 Interactive Dashboards: Enhancing User Experience in Tableau

Interactivity is a core feature of effective dashboards in Tableau. By adding interactive elements such as filters and parameters, users can explore data more deeply and view it from different perspectives. Interactive features can be added in Tableau through the following methods:

6.3.1 Tableau Functions for Interactivity

  1. Filters: Filters allow users to narrow down the data based on specific criteria, such as viewing recruitment metrics for a particular department or time period. Tableau filters can be applied in several ways:
    • Global Filters: These filters apply to all visualizations within the dashboard. Drag a field (e.g., Department, Year of Joining) to the Filters shelf and set the filter to display specific values.
    • Context Filters: Use context filters to filter data across all dashboards and views that depend on specific conditions.
    • Quick Filters: Tableau allows users to quickly filter data directly on the dashboard using drop-downs, multi-select boxes, or single-select options.
  2. Parameters: Parameters in Tableau provide users with a dynamic way to control certain aspects of the dashboard:
    • Create a parameter to let users select a specific department or time period (e.g., Parameter: Select Department).
    • Parameters can also drive calculated fields. For example, you can use a parameter to allow the user to select a threshold for turnover rate and then adjust the dashboard view accordingly.
  3. Drill-Through:
    • Drill-through enables users to explore more detailed data by clicking on an element of a visualization. For example, clicking on a department’s turnover rate could reveal detailed data about employee exits, tenure, and reasons for leaving.
    • To enable drill-through, right-click on a chart element and select Go to Sheet or Create Drillthrough.
  4. Actions: Tableau provides several types of actions that add interactivity to dashboards:
    • Filter Actions: Clicking on one chart filters data on other charts (e.g., click on a department in the time-to-fill chart to filter the recruitment funnel chart).
    • Highlight Actions: Clicking on a department highlights related data in other charts (e.g., highlight all employees in a department when hovering over the department name).
    • URL Actions: Use URL actions to link to external websites or reports when users click on specific data points.
  5. Dynamic Sorting:
    • Tableau allows dynamic sorting based on metrics. For example, users can click a column header (e.g., Time to Fill) to sort data by ascending or descending values.

6.3.2 Creating Engaging Dashboards

Once all interactive features are implemented, organize your visualizations in a dashboard layout that is both informative and user-friendly. Use floating objects to layer visualizations and tiled objects for a structured layout. Aim for a clean, simple design that prioritizes key metrics and ensures the dashboard is not overwhelming.

Incorporating interactive elements enhances the user experience, allowing HR professionals to explore data dynamically and gain deeper insights into workforce performance.

6.4 Hands-on Exercise: Designing and Enhancing HR Dashboards in Tableau

In this hands-on exercise, you will create an interactive HR dashboard in Tableau, incorporating key HR metrics and visualizations.

Steps:

  1. Prepare Your Data:
    • Import your HR data into Tableau.
  2. Create Basic Visualizations:
    • Create bar charts, pie charts, and line charts to visualize key HR metrics such as turnover rate, recruitment funnel, employee satisfaction, etc.
  3. Add Filters and Interactivity:
    • Implement filters for department, job title, and year of joining.
    • Use parameters to allow users to set goals or time periods for the metrics.
    • Enable drill-through functionality for detailed data exploration.
  4. Customize the Dashboard:
    • Arrange the visualizations logically, ensuring that key metrics are front and center.
    • Customize colors and formatting to make the dashboard visually appealing and easy to interpret.
  5. Publish and Share:
    • Once the dashboard is complete, publish it to Tableau Server or Tableau Public.
    • Share the dashboard with HR teams, managers, and other stakeholders.

By following these steps, you will create an interactive and insightful HR dashboard in Tableau that helps track key metrics and drive data-driven decisions.