Without measurement, distraction can steal time, attention and resources. The right kinds of measurement can activate employees, giving them clear direction for growth and potentially changing the organization.
Without Measurement, People Get Confused
You don’t want to micromanage, but it can be difficult to know how your team is performing. You can’t know how to improve operations, coach for individual improvement or reward great performance without measurement.
And if you do it wrong or in a way that’s inconsistent, it’s easy for people to attribute bad motivations.
So how do you bring consistency to how you reward your employees and steady growth and improvement at the same time? You measure.
Let’s talk about some of the advantages of measuring.
How Measurement Looks Daily
Accountability breeds respons-ability.
-Steven Covey
Steven Covey points out that accountability makes people more responsible for what’s going on, but also invests them with more authority—ability—to execute with decision and purpose. Let’s talk about that.
Numbers Clarify
Nothing’s worse than an employee having to read his manager’s expression and body language to find out how well he’s doing. And the best managers, likewise, don’t want to browbeat people or act disappointed in order to motivate better behavior. What you need are objective conversations about how to move the needle.
Numbers take the emotion and general weirdness out of conversations about how people are doing their jobs. Since it’s objective, and everyone’s seeing the same number, you can now have a conversation about how to improve it in real terms.
The Best Employees Like Standards
An employee who is confident in her ability to do her job is much more interested in showing how she’s performing than whether everyone likes her or not. And even if she were concerned with what others think, she’ll have a lot more confidence on the team if she can show numbers that demonstrate she’s contributing to team goals.
And that’s not only good for her confidence, it can garner respect in her team and augment relationships.
Numbers Set the Standard
If the best employees appreciate standards, numbers give you an effective way to set that standard and measure everyone on their ability to meet that standard. Confusion dissolves. New employees learn their jobs much faster, commitment becomes stronger, and problem-employees can be more quickly acquainted with the path of righteousness. And if people aren’t performing, and it’s hurting the team, it’s much easier to make the decision to let them go.
Numbers Get Results
They say you improve what you measure. Gino Wickman even suggests that each person should have one number that they’re responsible for. Can you imagine the focus that one employee would have if he were responsible for moving one number? Think of the resourcefulness. He could measure every conversation, task and meeting request by how it enabled him to meet that number.
Measurement may the single best way to remove confusion from your staff and give employees the satisfaction of being able to focus on just one thing…and become hyper-successful in their jobs because of it.
Measurement Transforms
Measurement can transform your organization from being temperamental and inconsistent to one that exudes consistent, forward motion. You just need the right kinds of measures.
So, what are the right measures for you and your organization? That depends on a lot of things. It might require more strategic decisions, followed by conversations with managers and, finally, the employees. It’s a little work, but it’s worth it.
If you want to speed that process up, talk with us. We have experience. More importantly, we have processes. So if you’re stuck, reach out and we’ll help you execute with speed and confidence.