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The role of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the organization is to provide internal and external clients with actionable metrics in easily accessible, customizable formats they can use to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations. What differentiates KPIs from the wealth of metrics that can be generated from any business is that they are key leading and lagging indicators that can be used to reflect the strategic performance of the organization.

In selecting your KPIs it is important not to be tempted to label as KPIs the “top 40” metrics but rather generally at the top level you should limit yourself to the top 1-3 KPIs per strategic objective. These should only include those metrics that are essential to the success of the organization. In addition, each department will have their own contributing KPIs. The departmental KPIs should be selected so that they can be rolled up in support of the overall strategic goals.

The effectiveness of KPIs can be directly related to the care with which they are defined and implemented. Critical questions to consider when developing your KPIs include:

1. How does this measure contribute to the strategic goals?
2. Is it quantifiable?
3. Is the data currently available?
4. Can current performance, benchmarks, and target values be defined?
5. How will it be used as a management tool?
6. What is the high level plan for the establishment of reporting?
7. Is there an outline for how continuous improvement activities will be implemented?
8. Has a cascading plan to all levels of the organization been developed?

A brief discussion of the detailed considerations for each of the above questions is included to assist with the process of initiating a KPI program.

•  How does this measure contribute to strategic goals? –  The success of using KPIs will be dependent on how effective they are at contributing to a better understanding of what drives the success of the organization. Keep in mind that KPIs will differ based on the type of organization and its goals. For example, a non-profit organization such as a school or a hospital will have different fiscal KPIs than a publically traded company. Each KPI should reflect the mission and goals of the organization.
• Is it quantifiable? – A common mistake in developing KPIs is to take too general a statement such as “Improve customer service” as a KPI. To be effective it needs to be specific and measurable so “improve customer service satisfaction scores or increase customer repeat order rates” would be more appropriate measures.
• Is the data currently available? – Another factor to be considered is whether the data to be used for each potential KPI is currently available. The expense of gathering additional data including system changes should be weighed against the value that the measure will provide.
• Can current performance, benchmarks, and target values be defined? – To be effective a KPI must define a clear target so success can be determined. Industry benchmarks can often be useful in setting these targets. For example, an IT department may have as a target 99.999% availability of key systems. Meeting this target in turn will enhance customer satisfaction, ordering functions, etc. and support the other strategic objectives.
• How will it be used as a management tool? – A clear understanding of how this KPI will be used, how improvement opportunities will be developed, and consequences for deteriorating performance should all be clearly mapped out before implementation.
• What is the high level plan for reporting? – Publishing and reporting of KPIs is critical to monitoring progress. Formats for reports should be customized by role and function so that executives will see a summary view while department heads would have a much richer set of detailed metrics. Consideration should be given to the mix between dashboards, scorecards, detailed reports, and self-service tools for ad hoc analysis.
• Is there an outline for continuous improvement activities? – A process improvement process allows the KPI values to be used to identify where focus should be placed to enhance performance.
• Has a cascading plan been developed? – Each level of the organization needs to understand how their operations support the overall strategic goals. Cascading the KPIs clearly delineates their contributions and their opportunities for improvement.

Implementing a well thought out and comprehensive set of KPIs is the first step to a more proactively performance- based operation. This program will provide all levels of the organization clear targets and objectives with the ultimate goal of materially contributing to the success of the organization.

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Tagged as: active garage, Business Strategy, data center trust, hosting services, IT Finance, Key Performance Indicators, KPIs, linda williams, management, measure, mission, quantify, strategic goals, vision

Does your company’s leadership think that having a robust Business Intelligence function is only viable for large corporations? Think again. In today’s global world, with information shared in the blink of an eye it is imperative that all companies know their numbers and manage by them. The information that a Business Intelligence (BI) function can provide can mean the difference between growth and competitive decline. Utilizing BI has been proven to result in significant competitive advantages both for small companies as well as large corporations.

Business Intelligence Planning

Initiating a Business Intelligence function in your company does not need to be excessively expensive but does require careful planning. There are five key steps in developing a plan for a BI function that, if followed, increase your chance for success. The level of complexity required for these steps is dependent on the size and complexity of your organization. Small companies can rapidly design a BI program to accelerate the process with the help of a consultant with BI experience.

The five steps are:

1. Evaluate the company’s  strategic objectives for critical success factors;
2. Design the Performance Measurement Blueprint;
3. Perform a Gap Analysis;
4. Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs); and
5. Develop the high level plan for Reporting – Scorecards, Dashboards, Reports

It is important to involve top management early in this process. Their support will be critical to getting funding for the BI program once the analysis has been done.  Depending on the company culture however a draft of a proposal detailing the potential costs and benefits early on may be beneficial. A clear demonstration of the need for a BI program can facilitate its approval and funding.

It is always best to start the planning process with an evaluation of the company’s strategic objectives. To maximize the probability of success, any BI program should be aligned to the mission, vision, and the strategic objectives of the organization. Another critical success factor is documenting the benefits of a BI program up front in order to garner the support of top management or ownership.

Once you have determined how to align to the strategic objectives take a look at what are the expected levels of performance in order to meet or exceed these objectives. Determine any dependencies between objectives in this review. This will help you determine where you can expect cost savings and cost avoidances. An initial draft of non-tangible benefits should be developed at this time. Common benefits include improving quality, improving customer retention, gaining market share, reducing costs, meeting regulatory requirements, and fostering continuous improvement and innovation.

The next two steps are to identify the high level requirements for data collection and to perform a gap analysis. The gap analysis will identify any gaps in current capabilities to measure, analyze, and present the elements of the performance plan.  From there you can start to develop the KPIs that are needed to track performance. The last step of the planning process is to determine the high level plan for what reporting components will be needed. Generally scorecards and reports will be needed for managers and staff while dashboards will be needed for management.

Before you can complete the proposal for establishing a BI program you will need to determine the expected costs and benefits for presentation to management. This involves determining how the program will be designed. There are several options to consider in developing your capabilities for initiating a BI function. Each option will have different costs, timelines, and pros and cons associated with it.

The most popular options for launching a BI program are:

1. Outsourcing a portion or the entire function;
2. Purchasing a package through one of the many BI vendors; or
3. Starting small with an in-house team.

The costs and the benefits for each of these options should be included in the BI program proposal. For a small company the third option is often the best initial choice due to the lower cost. However the cost of outsourcing and vendor packages can often be competitive and can decrease the time to adoption.

With all aspects of the BI plan identified the last step is to put them together in a proposal that clearly shows the associated costs and the benefits of having a BI program. The most compelling benefit in today’s increasingly competitive environment is to gain the advantages that an analytically focused strategy can give to your company’s success regardless of its size.

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