People Dashboards: Build HR and Education Performance Dashboards in Excel

People dashboards track individuals and how they perform over time. HR watches employees; Student watches learners. They are paired because both measure the same shape of problem — who is engaged, who is at risk, and how performance trends — just in a workplace vs a classroom. We use the foundation method for both.

Table of Contents

• Part A — HR Dashboard
  • A1. Who Uses It and Why
  • A2. Data You Need
  • A3. Key KPIs
  • A4. Build KPIs with Copilot
  • A5. Charts to Include
  • A6. Attrition Alert
  • A7. ChatGPT Prompt to Plan It
  • A8. Suggested Layout
• Part B — Student Dashboard
  • B1. Who Uses It and Why
  • B2. Data You Need
  • B3. Key KPIs
  • B4. Build KPIs with Copilot
  • B5. Charts to Include
  • B6. At-Risk Alert
  • B7. ChatGPT Prompt to Plan It
  • B8. Suggested Layout

Part A — HR Dashboard

A1. Who Uses It and Why

HR business partners and executives use this to answer: Is attrition rising? Where are the skill gaps? Are we spending fairly on pay? It turns a headcount export into a workforce snapshot.

A2. Data You Need

Load a table named HRData with these columns:

A3. Key KPIs

• Headcount — active employees.
• Attrition Rate — leavers ÷ average headcount.
• Average Tenure — mean years employed.
• Average Salary — per department.
• Training Hours per Employee.

A4. Build KPIs with Copilot

Ask Copilot to add a tenure column:

Add a column TenureYears as (today - HireDate) in years.

KPI cards:

=COUNTA(HRData[EmployeeID])-COUNT(HRData[TerminationDate])
=COUNT(HRData[TerminationDate])/COUNTA(HRData[EmployeeID])
=AVERAGE(HRData[TenureYears])
=AVERAGE(HRData[Salary])

The attrition formula counts terminated rows over total rows.

A5. Charts to Include

• Column — Headcount by Department.
• Line — Monthly attrition trend.
• Bar — Average salary by department.
• Pie — Performance rating mix.

Copilot prompt:

Insert a column chart of headcount by department from HRData.

A6. Attrition Alert

Flag departments with high leavers using conditional formatting on the attrition column, or a simple threshold formula:

=IF([@AttritionRate]>0.15,"High","OK")

Anything above 15% is flagged "High" so managers act early.

A7. ChatGPT Prompt to Plan It

Design an HR dashboard in Excel from a table named HRData with
columns EmployeeID, Department, HireDate, TerminationDate, Salary,
PerformanceRating, TrainingHours. Give KPIs, charts, and a Copilot prompt.

A8. Suggested Layout

Top: KPI cards (Headcount, Attrition, Avg Tenure, Avg Salary). Middle: Headcount-by-department column + Attrition trend line. Bottom: Salary-by-department bar + Rating pie. Slice by Department and Manager.

Part B — Student Dashboard

B1. Who Uses It and Why

Teachers and administrators use this to answer: Which students are falling behind? Which subject is weakest? It turns a gradebook export into an intervention tool.

B2. Data You Need

Load a table named StudentData with these columns:

B3. Key KPIs

• Average Score — across all students.
• Pass Rate — share scoring at or above the pass mark.
• Attendance Rate — average attendance %.
• Subject Averages — per subject.
• Top / Bottom performers.

B4. Build KPIs with Copilot

Ask Copilot to add a pass flag:

Add a column Passed as Yes if Score is 50 or more, else No.

KPI cards:

=AVERAGE(StudentData[Score])
=COUNTIFS(StudentData[Passed],"Yes")/COUNTA(StudentData[StudentID])
=AVERAGE(StudentData[AttendancePct])

The pass-rate card divides passing rows by total rows.

B5. Charts to Include

• Column — Average score by Subject.
• Scatter / Line — Attendance vs Score.
• Bar — Average score by Class.

Copilot prompt:

Insert a column chart of average score by subject from StudentData.

B6. At-Risk Alert

Flag students who need help:

=IF(AND([@Score]<50,[@AttendancePct]<85),"At Risk","OK")

Low score and low attendance together is marked "At Risk" for early support.

B7. ChatGPT Prompt to Plan It

Design a student performance dashboard in Excel from a table named
StudentData with columns StudentID, Class, Subject, Score,
AttendancePct, Term. Give KPIs, charts, and a Copilot prompt.

B8. Suggested Layout

Top: KPI cards (Avg Score, Pass Rate, Attendance). Middle: Score-by-subject column + Attendance-vs-Score view. Bottom: At-risk table. Slice by Class, Subject, and Term.