Spotlight on: Lisa Chang and Benchmarking

When it comes to making critical business decisions, benchmarks are increasingly considered during the process. A benchmark is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or judged.

We had an opportunity to ask Lisa Chang, EVP of Human Resources for the Weather Channel Companies, about her use of benchmarks.

How often do you use/reference benchmarks in your job?
Almost daily. Whether its salary survey benchmark data, best practices information, the latest business findings, or metrics information I rely heavily on benchmark information to help me gauge where our business is relative to others.

How does your company use benchmarking to achieve its business goals?
We often use benchmark information to establish best practices and goals, such as where we want to be relative to the market, or to identify areas of improvement. For example, if turnover in the market is lower than the organization's turnover, we analyze it to try to determine factors within our organization that may cause turnover to be higher. On the flip side, we also use benchmark data to help us identify where we outperforming the market so we can preserve our strengths.

What are your trusted sources for industry benchmarks?
We rely heavily on reputable data sources for benchmark information. Industry organizations that commission private surveys are the best source of information like CTHRA's Programmer & MSO Salary Survey or Human Capital Metrics Survey. These are terrific sources of information because they are industry-specific and also conducted by reputable third party firms. We also rely on other third party surveys that publish annual benchmark information including consulting firms and other professional organizations such as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and World at Work.

When it comes to using benchmarks, what are the pitfalls?
It’s critical that you make sure the data is "reputable", meaning the data collection methodology is statistically valid and independently compiled. With the abundance of information that is now available via the Web, many organizations may stumble upon information and data that appears to be reputable, but if you dig deeper you find that much of the information is self reported or the sample sizes are too small to draw valid conclusions.

Based on your experience, does the cable industry overuse or under-utilize benchmarks?
My opinion is that when it comes to HR benchmarks the industry under-utilizes it. Because our industry is still developing and changing, competition is still very fierce. We're just now beginning to understand and appreciate the importance of benchmark information.

A common complaint is that it takes a significant time and effort to participate in a benchmarking survey. How do you respond to a naysayer?
Just like any other major initiative, it's all about ROI (return on investment): You have to invest to get a return. I view the time my organization spends on participating in benchmark surveys as the investment. Our return on that investment is valuable, reputable information that allows me to provide my organization with information and knowledge that our leadership can use to better manage our business.