Operations Director KPI's – Foundations of Success

Key Performance Indicators (otherwise known as KPI’s) are metrics used to measure key methods of working within an organisation. They can be initially used as starting points to improve a process or processes but the ultimate aim is to improve the performance of the company and to ensure strategic success and to use them on an ongoing basis.

Real Measures!

Key Performance Measures are what is called "quantitative" performance measures, implying that they can be used to indicate how a process is performing. An example could be order entry performance. The achievement is that with higher performance, then the organisation performs better than its competitors and therefore is better positioned to keep customers or to acquire news ones. Key Performance Measures can also be built into staffs personal objectives which can help centre on the overall organisation objectives. Make sure they are achievable otherwise they can cause poor moral

Performance

Key Performance Measures are not always easy to generate and therefore management who are looking at the overall strategic aims need to think deeply before creating them. It is key that the Key Performance Measures are defined the same year on year in order to measure ongoing performance improvement.

Key

Key Performance Measures are the real elements to differentiate the achievers in the business race versus the losers. It is key that a organisation keeps them down to a handful otherwise they could become unmanageable and losing their meaning to management

Business Intelligence

Key Performance Measures are used in Business Intelligence to assist in creating a picture of how a business is performing. Some companies may need Key Performance Measures on a weekly basis in order to acquire a complete outlook as to how the business is performing. Build the measures to your true requirements. If used in the correct fashion it can assist in keeping the business firmly on track.
Key Performance Measures can assist but one must remember to not just run a business purely by numbers. It is also important to use business sense as well.

Organization

Key Performance Measures can differ depending on the type of company and the overall strategy. In todays world of fast information collection, the measures can often be created very quickly with very little (or no) manual intervention. Talking about my personal experience, a lot of the Key Performance Measures results are automatically waiting in my email "inbox" every morning or they enter into my inbox during the day as events unfold. The measures help you retain (or even gain) control.

Conclusion

Key Performance Measures are usually considered for the long term rather than the short term. They can maintain business practices and processes and at the same time offer a significant difference between you and your competitors.Think hard about what needs to be put in place. The Key Performance Measures need to be measurable and reflect where the organisation wants to be in terms of its strategic future.