Benchmarking HR practices and metrics is valuable; many HR leaders set objectives, budgets and process improvements on these numbers. "You can learn a tremendous amount by looking at other companies—and looking beyond your company’s internal analytics," notes Bill Ziegler, managing director and global head of recruiting at UBS. If you find "companies doing better than you are, it’s worth your while to explore why."

However, appropriately using benchmarks to make decisions requires hard work. Knowing what’s behind benchmarks and when to use them make a difference. (continue here)