KPI & Team Lead

Introduction

                                                           

Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, are a pertinent part of measuring the successes and failures of your business. Also known as a flash report or dashboard, a KPI allows business owners and managers to get an overview of how their business – or individual departments – is performing at any given time.

A KPI measures the goals of the business against the actual, quantifiable data over a specified period. Key indicators can differ for multiple businesses; a distributor’s KPIs will differ from a manufacturer’s, and so on and so forth. Even like-companies can have varied KPIs as not every business share the same goals and metrics.

What is fundamental to the business is to recognise as the business grows so too will the need for changes in KPI’s be required to evolve.

 

What are key performance indicators?  

 

Key performance indicators are defined measurements that help businesses track performance over time. KPIs help both individuals and groups understand what it means to achieve success towards a goal. Organizations often evaluate these measurements to determine their progress and compare their business against competitors.

KPIs can be used to track progress toward goals of any level. Businesses typically apply them to measure the success of the entire company, departments, projects and even individuals.

As a result, there are different levels of KPIs. Key performance indicators that target an entire organization’s goals are called “high KPIs.” These indicators measure the company’s success as a whole. KPIs that target smaller projects, such as departmental strategies, are called “low KPIs.” Both are critical to helping a company achieve its objectives and identify ways to improve. Ultimately, low KPIs must contribute toward the high KPIs or the organization’s overall goals.

 

What are KPIs used for?

 

Organizations use KPIs to help individuals at all levels focus their work towards achieving a set goal. Based on its measurements, the organization can make adjustments to tasks or goals over time. Employees can also set personal KPIs to gauge their individual success, guide their decision-making efforts and boost performance.

KPIs are sometimes compared to navigational tools like compasses or GPS systems. Similar to these instruments, performance indicators guide employees, managers and businesses on their strategic or financial journeys. If you’re measuring well on your KPIs, you can assume you have an effective strategy and should work to maintain it. If you aren’t, your key performance indicators will help you identify where you need to improve.

By tracking performance indicators, employees can better understand their career development and businesses can evolve with the market. In both cases, you can make the necessary changes quickly and try to stay ahead of the competition.

 

Why Measure KPI’s ?

 

KPIs enable you to understand the health and performance of the business so you can adjust strategies to organizational goals. Some specific reasons why it’s important to measure KPIs are they:

  • Monitor company health: You must monitor KPIs to monitor the overall health and performance of your organization. It can be useful to measure a few KPIs in the categories of employees, customers, processes and revenue. KPIs also ensure that performance is measured not blindly in pursuit of the KPI but in relation to the larger business objectives. This means that every part of work is done with intentionality and for the right purpose.
  • Measure progress over time: By monitoring your KPIs like revenue, gross margin and number of employees, you can monitor your progress toward your long-term goals.
  • Allow you to make adjustments: By monitoring KPIs, you can form predictions about what will happen in the future. This will give you a good idea of whether you are progressing toward the results you want or if you need to make adjustments to stay on track.
  • Analyse patterns over time: If you measure the same KPIs continually, you will begin to see trends over time. This could allow you to see that certain times of year are slower for your business, for example. By understanding this, you could choose to use that time to perform software updates, conduct company-wide training or explore new opportunities for growth.
  • KPI’s Strengthen employee morale – Employees generally thrive in an environment where their efforts and work efficiency is recognized – KPI’s affords you an opportunity to highlight the areas they are performing at optimum best.
  • KPI’s foster personal growth – Employees who are keen to stay and grow within the company will use this matrix to better their performance in all areas. When you track KPIs, especially when you do so on a real-time KPI dashboard, you are able to ask what, why, how and when… and do so whenever. This makes learning from successes and failures a daily (rather than weekly or monthly) activity.
  • Another reason why KPIs are important for personal growth builds off the idea of increased morale. Allowing employees to monitor their performance and respond in the moment means that they are more likely to achieve their goals and better understand how to do so in the future. This sense of continuous improvement allows people to achieve far more than they might think, which is essential for workplace satisfaction and continued personal growth.
  • KPI’s are critical for performance management – in the event an employee has lost interest in his/her job, the KPI’s will be called for when structuring a performance evaluation.

Axiomatics Key Performance Indicators

 

Axiomatic’s scorecard is focused on three specific areas which is further broken done into several key elements in which performance measured. Each employee’s scorecard determines how well the team is performing which is measured against the department’s performance and ultimately into the Goals listed for the year.

 

The Scorecard used to measure each objective is provided below: Important to note that when you are scoring your subordinates you should have evidence to show if the employee is scoring between 1 and 2. In the same token the employee should also provide evidence should they feel their score should be between 4 and 5.  Remember evaluations are done per quarter which means the employee score is based on consistency in that quarter.

If the employee has 1 major achievement or 1 Poor result over the 4-month evaluation period, this should not constitute the overall performance outcome.

The Process

 

When conducting your KPI the following aspects should be considered:

  1. Set up a time for a One on One that works for both you and the employee.
  2. Ensure the employee has a copy of the previous quarters KPI so that you can measure the performance from last quarter to the current quarter. Here you will be specifically looking for growth in each section. Or there may also be a deterioration in objectives not been met.
  3. The employee should come prepared with a score for each section and be able to justify their reasoning for scoring themselves in that manner.
  4. As the manager would also need to prepare ahead of time as you are consistently monitoring the progress the employee is making week on week. Remember you will also need to justify the reason as to why you are rating the employee on the score given.
  5. Disagreeing on scoring at some point is inevitable – however as the manager your scoring is final as it will be justifiable.
  6. Discuss Challenges and successes

Setting SMART KPI’s

SMART objectives or goals are wonderful things because they bring clarity, structure, and measurability, turning a vague aim into something much more realistic.

Specific – What exactly do you want to achieve?

Measurable – How will you identify that you have achieved your goal?

Achievable – Is your goal attainable?

Relevant – your KPI must measure something that matters and improves performance.

Time-related – When will you deliver your goal, and what are the key milestones?

When you finalize a KPI, it should fulfil all of these SMART criteria.

For example, “Increase new paid sign-ups to the website by 25 percent by the end of the second quarter of the financial year.”

 

Ask yourself the following questions to help you to understand the context and define effective KPIs:

 

What is your organization’s vision? What’s the strategy for achieving that vision?

Which metrics will indicate that you are successfully pursuing your vision and strategy?

How many metrics should you have?

What should you use as a benchmark?

How could the metrics be cheated, and how will you guard against this?

Holding People Accountable

What does “Holding People Accountability” boils down to one thing: Responsibility.

When you hold people accountable, you make sure that they achieve the goals you have agreed, to the standards and deadlines you have set.

However, some managers aren’t comfortable with this, and give their team members extra chances to perform, so they don’t have to discipline them. They worry that if they put pressure on people to meet their targets, they may complain or even quit their jobs. Also, some leaders are more concerned about being liked than about team performance.

These managers may give poor performers’ work to stronger team members, to avoid confronting them, or they simply hope that, over time, everyone’s performance will improve.

But “burying your head in the sand” like this is not the solution. If you let poor performance slide, it can set a dangerous precedent. Your under-achievers might believe that you aren’t serious about deadlines and expectations, and your high performers see your failure to deal with the issue and may decide they don’t need to work so hard.

The key to embracing accountability is to change your thinking from a negative, blame-focused view to a positive, performance-boosting perspective. Holding individuals accountable can improve their results, as well as those of your team.

The Pros and Cons of Accountability

When you hold your people accountable, it benefits them, your team, and your organization.

If you can encourage them to take responsibility and hit their targets, they will likely feel more engaged with their work, which can lead to higher morale and job satisfaction, and better performance. However, if you confuse “accountability” with “control,” it can lead to them feeling micromanaged.

Holding people to account doesn’t mean that you hover over them while they are trying to work. If you become a “control freak,” you can make them feel claustrophobic, resentful and unproductive. They can begin to doubt their own abilities, and their performance can suffer as a result.

Be consistent when you set performance standards and when you measure them. Some team members may feel that they are being singled out for unfair treatment if you handle them differently to their colleagues.

 

Strategies for Holding People Accountable

  1. Start with Yourself.

Teams work hard for leaders they admire, so set a good example. If you have a positive attitude and a high level of professionalism, your people will respect you and put in extra effort. In short, if you expect your team members to perform to your expectations, you must be a good role model for them.

  1. Set Clear Expectations

Don’t assume that your people will instinctively know what you expect of them in terms of quality, deadlines or results. So, if you have specific requirements, explain them. For example, if you expect someone to check in with you at certain times, let them know.

The clearer you communicate your expectations, the better the results are likely to be. Just be careful not to lapse into micromanagement.

As part of this, make sure that your team members have a copy of their job description, and review their duties with them regularly, perhaps in one-to-ones or quarterly reviews.

  1. Establish Performance Standards

Be specific about how you intend to measure performance. That way, you can hold your team members accountable for any gaps between their progress and their goals.

Where this is appropriate, a great way to plan for success is to draw up well-defined SMART goals. These are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused, and Time-bound. They give people a clear target and give you a concrete way to assess their results.

  1. Obtain Commitment.

Unless you can get people to commit to meeting the goals you set, they may fall short. Explain to them how their role ties in with the mission of your organization. You can also describe how their success could lead to greater recognition, financial rewards, or opportunities for growth.

Then, before they get started, ask your team members to agree verbally or, even better, in writing to the schedule, process and targets.

  1. Follow up, Then Follow up Again.

Many people fall short of their goals because of poor follow-up. Set regular meetings to catch up on progress, actions, and issues to encourage your team members to stay on track. If they know that you expect a weekly progress report, they will be less likely to procrastinate and more likely to hit their targets.

You can also “keep tabs” on people informally outside of any scheduled meetings. And give feedback when appropriate, as establishing a culture where feedback is the norm will make people more receptive to it.

 

  1. Assess Performance.

Your team members should be on track with your clear game plan and regular check-ins. If they are, praise them for their diligence. If they are not, you need to step in and find out why.

If someone is falling behind, ask them to brainstorm ways that they can get back on track, working with them if necessary. However, encourage them to come up with their own ideas and take appropriate action on their own initiative.

Also, review instructions to make sure they’re clear, and, where appropriate, provide support or training to resolve any issues.

If, despite your best efforts, they still do not achieve their goals, you need to show them, and the rest of your team, that you are serious about improving performance. But do so in a way that stresses it is an opportunity for personal growth and is not intended as a punishment.

Part of this may involve drawing up a performance agreement. These are written, signed plans that set reasonable expectations, create milestones, and establish consequences for failure. Prepare these agreements in collaboration with your team members, so you can avoid future doubts or misunderstandings.

If there is still no improvement despite your support and coaching, you may need to resort to disciplinary measures. Consult with your HR department on this.

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