New Canadian Study Introduces Employee Lifetime Value (eLTV) as a Financial Framework for Measuring Workforce Performance

National study of 84 Canadian tech companies reveals how top organizations drive stronger returns from talent

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 2026 Canadian Talent Benchmarking Study, based on data from 84 Canadian tech companies, introduces Employee Lifetime Value (eLTV), a financial metric that calculates the net value an employee generates over their tenure, bringing the same rigor to talent decisions as capital investments.

As companies navigate tightening capital markets and rapid AI-driven change, the pressure to improve efficiency has intensified, yet most organizations still lack a clear way to quantify the return on their people.

The study draws on financial and talent data collected between September and November 2025 from companies with $1M+ in annual recurring revenue and 30+ employees, spanning SaaS, creative technology, and hardware sectors. Developed in partnership with research leaders Daneal Charney (FIVEX) and Dr. Konstantin Tskhay (Tskhay & Associates), the eLTV framework adapts the widely used concept of Customer Lifetime Value to the workforce, creating a shared financial language for HR, Finance, and executive leadership.

“This inaugural eLTV study validates what leading CHROs have long understood,” said Daneal Charney, Chief Coaching Officer & Founder, FIVEX. “Disciplined investment in human capital creates appreciating assets with material impact on business performance, and should be treated as such.”

Key findings from the study include:

• Retention is a financial inflection point: Companies with retention above 80% nearly triple Employee Lifetime Value.
• Engagement drives exponential returns: Moving from a disengaged to an engaged workforce can increase employee value by up to 6x.
• Bigger teams don’t mean better results: Top-performing companies generate more revenue with leaner teams, emphasizing talent density and optimization over headcount growth.
• Pay alone doesn’t drive performance: The highest-performing organizations maintain a lower cost base while delivering higher productivity.
• AI is a workforce multiplier: A modeled 20% increase in employee productivity enabled by AI can increase Employee Lifetime Value by nearly 67%.

The findings suggest that organizations applying the same rigor to human capital as they do to financial capital are better positioned to drive sustainable growth, especially in an increasingly volatile and technology-driven market.

“The evidence from this study is clear: the operating model is what actually scales value,” said Dr. Konstantin Tskhay, Managing Partner, Tskhay and Associates. “You can't just hire your way to high performance; you have to design for it. Managing talent within a disciplined operating framework is key to unlocking the efficiencies that drive exponential growth.”

More broadly, the research signals that workforce strategy is not only an HR function, but a core driver of enterprise value.

As TAP Network’s inaugural eLTV study, this research establishes a new benchmark and aims to build a long-term view of workforce trends in Canadian tech. With each year of participation, the dataset will deepen, enabling organizations to benchmark performance against peers and track how workforce decisions impact value creation over time. Organizations are encouraged to participate in future editions to benchmark performance and contribute to industry-wide insights.

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The 2026 Canadian Talent Benchmarking Study is now available, with detailed benchmarks and the full eLTV framework:

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About TAP Network

TAP Network (Tech + People Network) is a community of People and Culture leaders in Canada’s technology sector. The organization provides research, benchmark data, events, and peer-driven insights to elevate the strategic impact of talent in building high-performing organizations. TAP Network’s 1,000 members represent 250 technology companies across multiple subsectors.