Well-designed KPIs and dashboards drive financial success, strategic planning, employee retention and efficiency
What gets measured gets managed. It’s a common saying, and for good reason. Data is crucial in today’s business world—the key to everything from growing sales and profits to implementing a business strategy, retaining employees and increasing operational efficiency.
But many businesses fail to use suitable key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitor them properly with dashboards. This can leave companies at risk—in the dark about critical problems and unable to respond to challenges or set goals.
KPIs serve three major purposes:
and other employees understand the company’s performance and productivity. You can compare data to industry benchmarks, analyze it to identify gaps and opportunities to improve, and monitor trends and progress toward objectives, such as those in your strategic plan or action plan.
teams are operating at a stable rate.
non-emotional way that eliminates favoritism and moves the business toward its objectives.
2. Set appropriate KPIs
Now you’re ready to choose KPIs for various areas of the business and the company as a whole.
Three elements that make up good KPIs
KPIs should be:
your broader objectives. If you want to increase the company’s overall sales, the sales team needs KPIs that support that bigger number. KPIs should also be related to activities that employees can influence. Be aware of how KPIs may incentivize activities that affect other functions. For example, if you incentivize your sales team to sell more, make sure your production department can handle increased orders.
3. Display KPIs to your team
With the right KPIs in hand, it’s important for your team to see them and regularly talk about them. Dashboards are key for this. You can create personalized dashboards that each employee can see on their company portal showing relevant KPIs. You can also put dashboards on monitors or digital displays around the business that show metrics applicable to different departments and the overall company.
Dashboards should be:
Used as a focal point to inspire and guide conversations at meetings and team huddles. You can also include the data in regular KPI reports.