In episode 274, Coffey talks with Matt Taylor about how employers can use the data already sitting in their HR and payroll systems to reduce turnover, manage risk, and make better decisions.
They discuss how HRIS platforms, automation, and AI have made workforce analytics accessible to employers with as few as 25 employees; the compliance failures and costly employee turnover that most often convince business owners to start tracking people metrics; overlooked data in HRIS, payroll, and applicant tracking systems such as turnover by manager, PIP completion rates, and overtime trends; why inconsistent data entry undermines HR technology and the value of implementing systems with the end in mind; choosing the workforce metrics and KPIs that actually move the needle for a specific industry and workforce; structured 90-day onboarding goals and daily new hire check-ins as early indicators of engagement and quality of hire; how job description creep and remote work weaken employee connection and drive voluntary turnover; using knockout questions and applicant self-selection to improve quality of hire and reduce interview time; why one-on-one leadership conversations often yield more insight than employee engagement surveys; net promoter scores, values-based peer recognition, and EOS quarterly meetings that connect employees to company vision; and where AI agents can safely automate operational tasks and where human review remains essential for compliance and bias.
For HR teams who discuss this podcast in their team meetings, we’ve created a discussion starter PDF to help guide your conversation. Download it here https://goodmorninghr.com/EP274
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About our Guest:
Matt Taylor is President & CEO of Guardian HR, a people-first HR, payroll, and compliance partner that helps businesses simplify workforce management through expert guidance, employment law support, compliance services and integrated payroll solutions. Under his leadership, Guardian HR has helped organizations nationwide navigate the increasingly complex challenges of managing and supporting today’s workforce.
With more than 20 years of experience in human resources and workforce management, Matt works closely with business owners, executives, and HR leaders on issues ranging from employment law compliance and employee relations to benefits strategy, payroll operations, and organizational growth.
Matt can be reached at https://guardianhr.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewtaylorhr/
About Mike Coffey:
Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher.
In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make better people decisions.
Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, hundreds more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.
Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.
Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 30 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee.
Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week.
Mike and his very patient wife of 29 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify workforce metrics already available in HRIS, payroll, and applicant tracking systems that reveal turnover, performance, and compliance risk.
2. Select people metrics and KPIs tied to organizational objectives rather than collecting data without a defined purpose.
3. Design onboarding goals and check-ins that produce early, measurable indicators of new hire engagement and quality of hire.
4. Compare employee engagement surveys with direct leadership conversations as sources of reliable workforce insight.
5. Determine which tasks AI agents can automate safely and where human review must remain in place to manage compliance and bias risk.
