KPI's and How to Track Performance

Ok in part two of my map to business success I am going to cover Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and how you can measure performance to track progress towards your business vision identified in your strategic plan. This is a very important concept for a business and one that is not easy to get correct. If you don't know whether you are closer or further away from your target you are wasting your time and money. As Harold Emerson succinctly put it " If you are not keeping score you are only practicing".

The vital aspect that is easily overlooked when developing a kpi system, performance management system is that there must be a connection between the strategy and the actual work the people are doing. That is do the actions of the staff get us closer to our target or not? If the strategy is set from the top and then handed down to all levels of the business there is no ownership of this process from the employees, no involvement and no belief. The other problem is that this link between strategy and daily work is less likely to be there, the strategy may be appropriate for the top echelon of the business and have a direct link to the work that is done at that level. As it is past down the organisation however it gets less and less relevant.

The answer to this problem is to get each level, team or department to establish their own mini version of the strategic plan. Analyse what they do, how they can measure it and then set targets that are relevant and meaningful to the members of that team (based on their input). This will ensure ownership and a unified team working towards a stretching target that if achieved will help the overall business achieve its vision.

That is why setting up a kpi system or performance measurement system needs to be carefully planned, implemented and communicated. It is like putting lots of puzzle pieces together to make a small picture and when all the small pictures are joined it creates a larger more detailed and rewarding image.

If any of this rings true and you have been struggling with implementing a kpi system or how to measure performance then visit Sacher Associates website. You will find an easy to follow systematic instruction manual to implement these systems that work and deliver stunning results. If you need help doing this Monty Sacher is available at a reasonable cost to help you.