The Tech and People Network this month released its 2026 Canadian Talent Benchmarking Study.
Founded in 1992, the TAP Network positions itself as the definitive community for People and Culture professionals in Canada’s tech sector, with more than 1,000 members across hundreds of tech companies spanning myriad sectors.
TAP’s inaugural Talent Benchmarking Study unveils a new metric for measuring workforce performance.
The study, which is based on data from more than 80 technology companies from across Canada, introduces the concept of “Employee Lifetime Value.”
Employee Lifetime Value, or eLTV, is presented by TAP as a financial metric that calculates the net value an employee generates over their tenure.
The idea is that eLTV can help provide the same rigour around talent decisions as traditionally more data-based capital investments.
The metric launches as companies navigate tightening capital markets and rapid market changes driven by AI and other technologies, reads a statement from TAP.
The pressure to improve efficiency has intensified, yet most organizations still lack a clear way to quantify the return on their people, according to Daneal Charney, founder of FIVEX, who was closely involved with the study.
“This inaugural eLTV study validates what leading [Human Resources experts] have long understood,” says Charney. “Disciplined investment in human capital creates appreciating assets with material impact on business performance, and should be treated as such.”
The study found that companies with a retention rate north of 80% have high eLTV, while a more engaged workforce is another primary factor. Bigger teams and higher salaries were found to deliver negligible boosts in eLTV.
“The evidence from this study is clear: the operating model is what actually scales value,” posits Dr. Konstantin Tskhay, Managing Partner of Tskhay and Associates, who was also involved in the study. “You can’t just hire your way to high performance; you have to design for it.”
The research signals that workforce strategy is not only an HR function, but a core driver of enterprise value, he suggests.
“Managing talent within a disciplined operating framework is key to unlocking the efficiencies that drive exponential growth,” stated Tskhay.
With each year of participation, TAP says its dataset will deepen, enabling organizations to benchmark performance against peers and track how workforce decisions impact value creation over time.
