I had a good conversation the other day with one of the leaders from a local company. He was frustrated, with good reason, because his staff was really pushing back on his efforts to focus them on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). In general, they found them to be a lot of work, and they didn’t like being held accountable for the numbers when they weren’t in line with expectations. My friend, the leader, couldn’t understand why his employees didn’t see the value of the KPIs that they were responsible for measuring and the success that was expected of them. Sound familiar? I’m sure it probably feels pretty near your own experience at one time or another. So today, I thought I would help you to communicate to your associates about why your company has KPIs and why they are so important to the current and future success of your organization. Here is a brief action plan to help you to get KPIs top of mind with your team, and to drive greater commitment to KPIs.

Why KPIs? – First, you need to ensure that your team REALLY understands what KPIs are, and WHY they are so critical to your organizational success, today, tomorrow and the next day. KPIs help your organization, departments, teams, projects, and individuals to determine what’s currently going on in the business, and help them to visualize the driving factors that need to be adjusted to allow us to determine the best path to the results that we desire in the future. Think about it for a moment. Have you ever driven a car that didn’t have a dashboard? Nope, neither have I. There’s a reason for this. If you want to drive from Minneapolis, MN to Albuquerque, NM, you are going to need a map or a GPS. You’re also going to need a dashboard so that you will know if your engine is overheating, if you’re speeding, if you’re about to run out of gas, etc. Think of the KPIs in your business like they are the dashboard that helps you to stay on course so that you’ll arrive at the destination you are driving toward. See you in Albuquerque, right?

Why Do My Employees Complain About Measuring KPIs? – Having made sure that your employee associates understand what KPIs are, and why they are so helpful, you are off to a good start. Still, your people may complain about them because measuring them is not easy. Your mission is to get started measuring, and then to invest wisely in developing easier ways to measure the KPIs so that they are either more manageable to measure or automatically measured by systems in your business. Remember, nothing worth doing is ever easy, is it? Your team will be more willing to participate once they realize that you’re committed to making the measuring of KPIs easier, and understand that informing you about performance, problems, and opportunities lead to data-driven decisions that make positive changes happen which transforms the business for everyone’s benefit. And once your associates think about how anything worth having is worth working hard for, they will become more willing to help you measure KPIs and drive greater success.

Why Should We Celebrate KPIs? – KPIs are worth celebrating because they work. If they didn’t work, companies and people wouldn’t spend millions of hours globally devising them, measuring them, and using them to guide better decisions. KPI measurements lead to organizations resolving and preventing conflicts, lead to teams getting focused clearly on what’s most important and impactful, and lead to creating predictable results on a consistent basis. Quite simply, Key Performance Indicators help everyone to measure what’s important, and to be able to quantify forward progress and momentum so that we can determine whether we’re on course to successful results or not. If we’re not on a collision course with great results, KPIs help us to course correct, before it’s too late, so that we can increase our chances of tasting the sweet taste of victory.

Measure your Key Performance Indicators regularly. Analyze the data and determine if the trend you see will lead to successful results when they’re expected. If you’re not currently on course for a tremendous victory, you still have time to take some decisive corrective actions that will lead to better results. Change course before it’s too late, and get your plans completed for the victory celebration. I hope the victory celebration is a great one. Remember, KPIs are our friends!

Michael is an award-winning Business Advisor and Executive Development Coach. Michael works with mid-sized companies all across the United States and Europe, advising their C-Suite Executives, Leadership Teams, and Emerging Leaders. Michael loves Key Performance Indicators and recommends that YOU learn to love them too. They will help you to achieve greater success with more consistency when they become a solid part of your routine. If you need help implementing YOUR KPIs, reach out to us at info@michaelbeachcoach.com or call us at 651-335-4505.