What is Headcount?

Headcount is the total number of people who work for a company. Sometimes this metric can refer to the total number of employees, while at other times the term can also include contractors, volunteers and outsourcing providers. It is important to clarify which people are included in the definition whenever this metric is being analyzed.

Headcount should also not be confused with another term called "FTE" (meaning Full-Time Equivalent), which is a measure of how much each person works on a full-time basis. For example, if an employee works full-time at 5 days per week then they will be quantified as 1 headcount and 1 FTE. Alternatively, if this employee works part-time at 3 days per week then they will be quantified as 1 headcount but only 0.6 FTE, which is calculated as 3 / 5 days worked per week.

What is Benchmarking?

Benchmarking is the process of comparing something to a group of similar things. Through comparison it is easy to understand whether something is better, worse, or similar to others. Benchmarks are used to understand the performance of many things; but it is mostly used to understand the performance of business activities.

There are two main types of benchmarking, which are internal and external. Internal benchmarking relates to comparing different departments or functions within a company, while external benchmarking relates to comparing parts of a company with other companies. Let’s explore two scenarios to understand how they work:

1.  Internal Benchmarking - Apple Logistics operates in the USA, Canada, and the UK. The revenue by country is split equally at $1M each, which totals $3M revenue at the Group level. However, the profitability is different in each country, as follows: $0.3M in USA, $0.2M in Canada, and $0.4M in the UK. From this comparison, we can identify that operations in Canada has the most potential for improved profitability.

2.  External Benchmarking - Banana Logistics makes $1M revenue and $0.2M profit. There are 10 other logistic companies that also make $1M revenue each and have a median profit of $0.4M. So, how good is Banana Logistics profitability? Not very good. Banana Logistics is performing at 50% of the benchmark median, which highlights the significant potential for improved profitability.

What is Headcount Benchmarking?

Headcount Benchmarking is the process of comparing the size of a workforce from one company with a group of other similar companies. This can be the total size of the organization, or the number of employees within specific a function or location. The goal of headcount benchmarking is to determine whether a company is overstaffed or understaffed compared to its peers, and to identify opportunities for improving the efficiency of its workforce.

Who uses Headcount Benchmarks?

Headcount benchmarks are typically used by Consultants, Investors (e.g., Private Equity), Human Resources (‘HR’) and Management teams to support critical workforce decisions. Some common scenarios behind these decisions include the pursuit of higher profitability, rightsizing after a significant change (e.g., merger or acquisition), and rapid cost out to preserve cash during tough times.

How to perform Headcount Benchmarking

Below are the five steps to perform external headcount benchmarking. You can follow the same process for internal benchmarking, except for step #4 where you will need to gather data from within a company instead of other companies. Now let's walk through the steps:

1.  Identify the part of the workforce to be benchmarked - Is it the whole workforce? A department or function? Or employees in a specific location?

2.  Consider what activities drive headcount in that part of the workforce - Is it revenue? People? Something else?

3.  Calculate the benchmark metric for the company - For example, people is usually the driver for benchmarking the HR function, so the benchmark metric could be the ratio of total employees to HR employees.

4.  Gather data from similar companies - In the example for the HR function, it will require sourcing the number of HR and total employees in comparable organizations.

5.  Analyze and evaluate the results - If the company has a higher ratio of total employees to HR employees, then it suggests that the company has an efficient HR function. However, if this ratio is lower relative to peer companies, it may indicate an inefficient function that should be explored further.

Where do I get Headcount Benchmarking data from?

CompanySights is a leading provider of headcount benchmarks for companies located in Europe and North America. With over 100,000 datapoints our platform is one of the largest headcount benchmarking databases in the world. Click here to search on demand for instant insights on any workforce today.