ISO/TS 30431:2021 pdf download – Human resource management — Leadership metrics cluster.
5 Span of control 5.1 General Span of control expresses the number of employees and other workers reporting to one supervisor or manager and can be calculated using two distinct methods, as shown in 5.3. 5.2 Purpose The purpose of this metric is to measure the ratio of supervisory and managerial staff to employees and contingent workers (workforce). Normally a higher ratio of workforce to managers represents a leaner organizational structure, possibly with fewer layers of management. However, increasingly large span of control ratios can also be indicative of overly stretched managers and has been associated with a decrease in employee communication and career development, an increase in employee turnover and lower overall employee engagement.
5.4 Contextual factors Many organizations use management span of control as a lagging, indirect indicator of effective workforce cost management within an organization. Many factors can have a significant impact on the measurement outcome. There can be instances when results are less than expected or indicate a deteriorating situation; further investigation can find positive indicators of improvement. When considering the context supporting the metric results, consider: — FTE count at each measurement point, i.e. has the FTE grown or shrunk significantly enough to change the perspective and meaning of the metric results? — current activities the organization is undertaking — increased production or product expansion; — reorganizations; — current activities in educating the workforce. — cultural shifts, both positive and negative; — generational perspectives; — social change or awareness leading to increases in reporting; — industry expectation; — economic factors — downturns; — upturns. 5.5 Predictive factors Span of control can be more insightful when segmented by level or organizational layer. It is important to note that there can be significant variation between individual managers and supervisors by industry, organization size, organization layer, functional group, job type, type of work, level of automation and other factors. When measurement dimensions such as function, critical job groups, performance category and tenure category are added, management span of control can be used to identify opportunities for increased productivity and retention.