So having agreed that valuing people is pretty important in bringing about a high performance culture, that is all well and good, but we need to put something tangible into our strategy. That usually means articulating some objectives, targets, expectations for the coming years. There could be sales volumes, increase in market share, increased profit (of course!) or maybe qualitative values around improved quality, or maybe reduced customer complaints. Whatever, there are usually some big numbers and all too often the strategy is short on detail. Very aspirational, but perhaps not a practical route to implementation on its own.
The problem usually comes in translating these aspirations into something relevant to the people who have to deliver on this strategy. All too often these “targets” are passed on down the line without any thought to what they actually mean to those on the shop floor. All too often they are told, “These are your KPIs”.
Targets are not the same as KPIs. A target is something to work towards. A KPI is something to indicate how far along the way we have come to meet a target. KPIs are like route markers; they tell you how you are progressing. They are a means to an end, not the end in itself! And they need to relate to the person responsible for delivering on them.
KPIs can do much more than just tell you what you have done…but that is for another day!
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