To those subject to them, business metrics can seem harsh: annual sales targets are met or they’re not; factory output of first quality goods meets demand or it doesn’t; projects are completed on time, on specification, and on budget or they’re not.
These kinds of pass/fail metrics to evaluate corporate and individual employee performance are not going away. All of us will continue to face them. By themselves, however, they don’t tell the whole story of the value-added by employees. Managers and mentors who view goal-setting strategically can broaden the discussion around metrics to include specific business activities and related time-based milestones that are necessary, even if not sufficient, to achieve ultimate business goals.
Here is a salesforce related example to illustrate the “hard” and “soft” metrics we’re discussing here: (1) Target sales goal: 10% increase in year-over-year sales; (2) business activities to achieve goal: identify and call on “x” specific new customers; reconnect with “y” former customers; survey “z” existing customers for their needs for complementary products and services. Goal (1) is the traditional quantitative sales metric. Goal (2) is the set of specific and measurable value-added activities that relate to and directly support the achievement of Goal (1). Independent of whether Goal (1) is achieved, Goal (2) business activities lay the necessary groundwork for future sales growth. Once successfully completed, these business activity milestones are themselves accomplishments worthy of including in a performance review.
The approach of developing both hard and soft metrics enables not only a broader view of what constitutes job “performance” but also facilitates developing metrics tailored to individual members of a team. Tailoring metrics to individual team members, in turn, makes “real” the concept of “owning” your job – a very powerful motivator.
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