A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a quantifiable measure used to determine how well an organization is meeting its operational and strategic goals.
KPIs are commonly used to help company leaders gauge organizational health and identify which areas need attention. They enable leaders to make needed adjustments and associates to understand how their department is performing against expectations.
Primary KPIs
Revenue is frequently considered the most important KPI to measure, analyze and review regularly.
Other common KPIs are sales numbers and profit margins, as these are critical components for determining the health of any organization. Members of the executive team scrutinize these reports in team meetings on a regular basis and thoroughly question any unexpected results.
It is no surprise that sales and revenue topics are subject to harsh review, but what about the hidden trends in other department data that may be just as useful? When was the last time your company evaluated which metrics should be tracked?
There could be readily available data going unnoticed that, if reviewed, would uncover groundbreaking observations that could change the trajectory of your entire business.
Secondary KPIs Provide Surprising Intelligence
Businesses that take a fresh look at historical reporting practices and add new metrics find surprising results.
KPIs for customer satisfaction, as an example, are hugely important to monitor. Identifying a trend of poor satisfaction ratings could provide the opportunity to make changes that would improve customer service before you have a churn issue on your hands.
This data is most likely measured in detail within the support department, but is it shared and discussed by the leadership team? Sharing this data could unearth information that affects other departments.
Think about financial reports other than the ones already mentioned. Does your business track KPIs around accounts payable and accounts receivable? Consider the benefits of discussing the outstanding items as a group. What about operating expenses vs. budget? Resource allocation is another advantageous report that is often overlooked.
Create dashboards and reports based on the elements that impact your company’s success. You may not need to review all of them in detail at every meeting, however, starting a cadence for each of them will yield surprising benefits over time.
Set Expectations
The first meeting where new KPIs are being displayed for all to see can be a tough one.
Set expectations in advance so that everyone knows that information sharing is meant to improve overall operations, not to place blame on any particular department or individual.
The first meeting is intended to set a benchmark from which issues can be identified and improvements can be made. Keep the tone positive.
Tracking KPIs Doesn’t Have to be Difficult
An easy way to track KPIs is to implement a BI tool into which you can feed data from every department across the company.
In this way, all senior leaders can access one system from which to pull reporting. The information becomes easy to access and share.
Disparate systems and their various data formats are compiled into easily digestible outputs such as dashboards and reports. This single source of truth enables leaders to make validated, data-driven decisions to propel the business forward.
ClicData offers a comprehensive BI tool with ready-to-use KPI dashboards that enable companies to see results quickly. Additional dashboards can easily be created based on company-specific needs. Mobile access provides quick status updates for business professionals anytime, anywhere.
Would like to implement dashboards for everyone in your company? You can try ClicData for free – or give us a quick call to talk about your needs!