Metrics Matter

There are many ways to improve productivity and performance - via technology, process change, culture change and so on.  But with each one, we need to measure the success (or otherwise) of our initiative to understand what works in our organisation.

We need to identify which metrics are the most important for determining efficiency.and the most appropriate for our particular project.

When selecting the right operational metrics for your company, ask yourself which of the below is most important at the present time, and work from there:

• Productivity
• Operational costs
• Employee engagement
• Product quality
• Customer satisfaction

You should try and balance leading and lagging indicators so that you know what has happened, what is happening, and what should happen in the future.

We should be looking at the performance of our employees - as individuals and as teams … and here we might need both hard (from production records) and soft data (from appraisals).

Financial metrics are often important - what is happening to labour costs, running costs, overheads? … as are quality metrics (Error rates, customer complaints).  These can be supported or clarified with customer satisfaction and customer retention/repeat business metrics.

Employee satisfaction scores (for retention, absenteeism, satisfaction) are another dimension appropriate for specific projects.

You also have to remember that measurement costs money so try to use data already collected for other purposes.

Pick a 'basket of measures' that do not concentrate too much on any one dimension.  For example concentrating on throughput at the expense of quality.

With a comprehensive, balanced  data-driven approach to performance measurement, your organisation can make meaningful process improvements to lower costs, reduce waste, and improve productivity and profits.  The metrics you choose help signal intent, show progress and demonstrate success.

Focus!

I`nterruptions are distractions.  Those people who constantly respond to texts, emails and  messaging systems might feel 'in the loop' but their productivity is probably woefully low.  Discipline is needed to wait until an appropriate time when the task in hand is finished or can be paused with no detriment. Those who cannot be disciplined should turn off their technology to give them periods in which they can fully concentrate.

Multitasking is also distracting.  Those who either try to do two things at once or switch constantly between two tasks will also suffer a lack of performance.  Have you ever tried to read two books at the same time?  Most people who do so find they gain little from either book.  The problems of multitasking are made worse if the tasks in the rotation require the same part of the brain for completion.  So, a creative task could just about be carried out air he same time as a mundane, repetitive task but two creative tasks at the same time is not possible - except for a very few people with strange (even weird) attributes.

Constant interruptions can not only affect concentration - and thus performance; they can also affect employees' mental health.

Some of the 'productivity techniques' suggest assigning specific periods of time to specific tasks (or portions of specific tasks) - and this can be a useful device - again if practised in a disciplined manner.  These periods should be long enough to allow concentration to grow, settle and be effective - say a minimum of 30 minutes.

However you do it, it is important to build barriers that prevent interruptions and distractions looming into your consciousness when you are trying to concentrate.

It also helps if the leaders of work groups create periods of the day or week when there will be no meetings - and employees are discouraged from interrupting their colleagues.

The aim should be to create periods of time - and to allow employees to create their own periods of time - when focus can be total.

Communication is Key

Most people, on starting a new job, turn up with a positive attitude.  They may be nervous about the new situation but they want to do well, to succeed, and in return to be valued and fairly rewarded.

Yet some of these employees will end up being 'let go' or demoted for poor performance.

What goes wrong?

Well, what those new employees need is a clear understanding of their role, and its place in the wider scheme of things, and the expectations of that role by managers.  What is it they are expected to do - and achieve?  

Put more simply they need to know what the goals are, how to achieve them and their role in that achievement.

They also need the skills required to carry out their role. If they do not have all the skills, they will - and should - expect training or development activity to fill any gaps.

If these two conditions are not met - it is almost always not the fault of the employee.  Something has gone wrong with selection, onboarding, communication or training.   Errors in these areas can be catastrophic for the employees - and expensive for the organisation.

Failure to fully inform and prepare employees is a recipe for low productivity.

Hard Work Plus

 We all know that hared work is needed to be truly successful.

However, we also know that hard work alone is not enough.

We need our hard work to be in the right direction.

One common expression of this phenomenon is that managers are very good at doing things right, but leaders are good at ensuring the right thing is done.

But we have still not completed our list of success factors.

We have all seen those who work very hard (perhaps even including ourselves at times) fall from their peak of performance due to exhaustion or burnout.

Many of the great thinkers and successful people throughout history have raised the need for 'down time', when the mind and body are able to recover from their exertions and prepare themselves for the next phase of hard work.

This recovery time might include rest, relaxation, reflection but might alsoinclude sport and  exercise - anything that contributes to an overall life balance.

 

So structure such periods into your day/week of hard work snd you are likely to get results which are better - or at least as good- but you will survive in a better state.  After all, we are seeking long-term productivity, not short bursts of success.

Volunteers Needed

 It is getting increasingly common for firms to introduce opportunities for volunteering amongst their staff. This may be partly altruistic - attempting to do some good for a national charity or for the local community - but most of the firms that do it, do so for ‘selfish’ reasons.    They want to show some community and/or some stakeholders that they are the good guys, (so its a PR exercise) and they hope to cement the engagement of their staff with the organisation.

 

The employees who do take the opportunity to become involved in the volunteering efforts do indeed generally engage more positively with the organisation but they also claim to have improved well-being - often in relation to their mental health.  They value the fact that they themselves are valued as more than a ‘human resource’, more than a number on the payroll…. they are valued for  how they interact with others, including the community with whom the charity  is engaged.

 

The net results  - in addition to improved well-being-  are increased staff retention (reducing hiring and onboarding costs for the organisation), improved attractiveness to potential recruits and perhaps most importantly,  a boost to employee performance and productivity.

So, the introduction of a volunteering programme can have bottom-line impact and can make all members of the organisation feel better about the organisation and themselves.

These companies worried about the effects being temporary can ‘hedge their bets’ somewhat by, say, having a volunteering month each yeast when a particular charitable project is taken on.  The benefits should last longer than the month and should proved an annual boost to organisational performance.

Inspire Yourself

To be productive and to make our organisation productive, we have to inspire each person in the organisation to be engaged with the company and their role within it, to want to be the best they can be art their role, to be constructively critical of the way their tasks are carried out, making suggestions for improvement. They should have all the skills they need for their work, understand and accept their targets for performance and be contributing members of their team. 

But if you want your organisation to be like this, you must first make yourself like this.

You need to show up properly skilled,  motivated, assured, committed and inspired if you are to inspire others.

So take a look at yourself and take an audit of your capabilities.

Any gaps? If so, set about filling them.

Develop yourself, seek advice. Improve your knowledge, seek a mentor or coach.  

Again, if you develop yourself, you have a much better chance of understanding how to develop the teams and individuals within the organisation.

This is simple, common sense … but it isn't necessarily simple to do.  If it were, we would have lots of competent,. Inspiring leaders and managers.   

Unfortunately, we don't!

Can Self-/Reporting of Performance be Helpful?

Spoiler alert: Yes it can!

Some forms of self-reporting, as part of employee assessment snd review, ask those employees to report on how well they have performed.

One would assume that most employees would consider their performance to be good - or at least 'acceptable'.

In fact, employees are generally quite honest -and quite perceptive, in self-reporting their performance.  This is useful it gives not just an indication of self-value but a benchmark against which an employer evaluation can be compared.   

If both (employee and employer) evaluations suggest sub-standard performance, it is much easier to agree a forward development path with the employee.

If the employee is happy with his/her performance but the employer is not, a discussion is necessary to see if the employee is fully aware of the requirements/standards for the work.

If the employee is unhappy with their own performance, but the employer is not, this should be investigated.  It might mean the employee is unhappy with some other aspect of the work/employment or is more generally disengaged.

If both agree performance is good, there is no problem - but a friendly chat might serve as a welcome reward to increase employee well-being.

So self-reporting of performance provide the means by which an employee/employer gap in perception of performance can be identified and used to drive improvement.