“Can I have your number?”
The age-old question acquires new meaning when it describes performance metrics. Measuring everything that can be measured has become a key aspect of data gathering in the business world. Beyond basic tracking of revenue or expenses, the careful study of employee performance is now a guiding principle for industries, from hedge funds to hospitality to health care.
Tracking and interpreting data over time yields a wealth of information to optimize business, allocate resources, and engage employees and colleagues in mutual targets or goals. On the job, benefits of performance metrics include:
- Targeting areas of success and improvement
- Pointing to changes in approach or strategy
- Creating a culture of accountability
- Allocating compensation effectively
- Increasing efficiency
- Enhancing productivity
- Identifying candidates for leadership
Getting Hired:
Job applicants are now advised to include metrics on their resumes, grounding claims and qualifications in the lingua franca of numbers. Analysts now focus on data that will let them be proactive rather than reactive – sales calls accomplished in a day, for example, rather than quarterly financial statements.
Examples of metrics that measure, monitor and guide performance include:
- Productivity: sales calls made, hours billed, customers acquired
- Efficiency: cutting costs, shaving time, optimizing resources, upholding accuracy; for example, “budgeted hours” divided by “actual hours”
- Training: test scores post-program that reflect absorption and comprehension
- Marketing and social media: engagement, reach, customer-acquisition cost
- Customer satisfaction scores to ensure repeat business and strong reputation
- Employee satisfaction scores to discourage attrition
- Performance reviews marked by concrete goal-setting
Performance Metrics:
Rather than sitting inert on a page, metrics drawn from the above fields can shape algorithms that circle back to employee performance and business approach, providing feedback and refinement in a continuous loop. For example, Forbes.com details a “Prime Time” marketing metric that gauges the time window when customers will predictively engage with messaging; as well as a “Fat Chat” metric that analyzes just how effective meetings are in terms of time spent, preparation shown, intelligent questions asked, and number of tangible tasks assigned.
Our comprehensive services mean we support your business in devising metrics, gathering data, assessing results, and (most importantly) acting upon findings with a strategic plan.
SOURCES:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-employee-performance-metrics-10879.html