Who's this guide for: Administrators
Platform: Sense HR
Available on: All plans
Before you begin, make sure you’ve:
☑️ Logged into Sense HR
☑️ Been assigned administrator permissions
Overview
This article explains how dashboard insight metrics are calculated and how to interpret them.
It includes how turnover, absence rates, and percentage change are derived, as well as how employee data is grouped in charts.
This helps ensure insights are understood correctly and supports accurate analysis of workforce trends.
How metrics are displayed and calculated
The Insights tab provides real-time workforce metrics based on your employee data.
Some metrics compare a selected time period with a previous period of the same length, helping you understand trends and changes over time.
Time Periods and Comparisons
Some metrics allow you to select a time range (for example, 3, 6, 9, or 12 months).
This currently applies to:
Staff Turnover
Single Day Absence
For these metrics, the system:
Shows a percentage value for the current period (up to today)
Compares the current period with a previous period of the same length
Displays the difference as a change percentage
🖊️ Note: The two comparative periods do not overlap — the previous period ends the day before the current period begins. This ensures a clear, like-for-like comparison.
Understanding Change %
Where shown, Change % indicates how a metric has changed compared to the previous period.
The arrow (↑ / ↓) shows the direction of change
The colour shows whether the change is positive or negative
For metrics such as Staff Turnover and Single Day Absence:
🟢 Decrease (↓) indicated improvement
🔴 Increase (↑) indicates deterioration
Metrics widgets explained
Staff Turnover
What it shows
The percentage of employees who left during the selected period, along with the number of starters and leavers.
How it works
Turnover is based on:
The number of employees who left during the period
The average number of employees across the same period
Using the average ensures the result reflects changes in workforce size over time.
How to interpret it
Lower turnover generally indicates improved retention
Higher turnover may indicate increased employee exits or organisational change
Click for an example of how the staff turnover % is calculated (current period only)
Click for an example of how the staff turnover % is calculated (current period only)
10 employees left during the period
There were 100 employees at the start and 120 at the end
Average employees = 110
The staff turnover figure displayed is based on 10 out of 110 employees, giving a turnover rate of approximately 9%
Click for an example of how staff turnover change % is calculated (current period compared to previous period)
Click for an example of how staff turnover change % is calculated (current period compared to previous period)
Previous period:
12 employees left
Average employees = 120
Turnover ≈ 10%
Current period:
10 employees left
Average employees = 110
Turnover ≈ 9%
Staff turnover has decreased by 10% compared to the previous period
This is a relative change, not a simple difference.
Single Day Absence
What it shows
The percentage of absences that lasted a single day.
How it works
The system compares:
The number of single-day absences
Against the total number of absences
How to interpret it
Higher values may indicate more short-term or intermittent absence
Changes over time can help identify patterns or emerging trends
Click for an example of how the single day absence % is calculated (current period only)
Click for an example of how the single day absence % is calculated (current period only)
30 total absences
12 were single-day absences
Single day absence rate for the current period = 12 out of 30, or 40%
Click for an example of how single day absence change % is calculated (current period compared to previous period)
Click for an example of how single day absence change % is calculated (current period compared to previous period)
Previous period: 10 single-day absences
Current period: 12 single-day absences
This is a 20% increase in single day absence.
Headcount / FTE
What it shows
Total number of employees (Headcount)
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
How it works
Headcount is the total number of active employees
FTE converts each employee’s working hours into a full-time equivalent and combines them
How to interpret it
FTE reflects actual workforce capacity
A large difference between Headcount and FTE indicates a higher proportion of part-time employees
Outstanding Holidays
What it shows
Percentage of holiday entitlement not yet taken
Total number of days remaining across all employees
How it works
The system compares:
Total leave allocated
Against leave already booked or taken
The remaining balance is expressed as a percentage and total days.
🖊️ Important note:
Values may appear unusual (for example, negative percentages) if:
More leave has been taken or booked than allocated
Adjustments or carry-over values are included
How to interpret it
High remaining values may indicate employees are not taking leave
Low or negative values may indicate overbooking or adjustments
Average Length of Service
What it shows
Distribution of employees by length of service
Overall average length of service
How it works
Each employee’s length of service is:
Calculated from their start date
Placed into a range (for example, less than 1 year, 1–5 years, more than 5 years)
The system also calculates an overall average using the underlying values.
If no start date is available employees will be grouped as Uncategorised.
How to interpret it
Higher averages indicate a more experienced or stable workforce
Distribution shows how tenure is spread across the organisation
Breakdown Charts Explained
Breakdown charts show how your workforce is distributed across categories or ranges.
You can switch between views using the available options (such as department, location, age group, or nationality).
How they work
Categorical charts (e.g. department, nationality):
Employees are grouped by category and countedNumerical charts (e.g. age, length of service):
Employees are placed into predefined ranges and counted
Uncategorised
Employees may appear as Uncategorised if required data is missing (for example, no start date or no recorded category).
Others
Some charts may group smaller categories into an Others category to keep the chart clear and readable.
This represents the combined total of all smaller categories not shown individually.
Example:
If many categories exist, the chart may show:
Largest groups individually
Remaining smaller groups combined as Others
🖊️ Important note:
Grouping categories into “Others” does not affect calculations.
Where averages are shown, they are still calculated using the underlying individual data.
Key Things to Know
Insights are based on live system data
Results depend on:
• Data accuracy
• System configuration (e.g. absence types, entitlements)
• Some metrics are point-in-time values (e.g. Headcount, Outstanding Holidays) and do not use time comparisonsMissing or incomplete data will appear as:
• Uncategorised