I'll bet you have metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) established for your organization, right? How many within your organization understand them and utilize them to drive proper behaviors? Go out and ask. I'll bet you'll find that the personnel who can have the most effect on KPIs do not understand them. You're not alone; most organizations have not spent the time to educate on metrics or KPIs. In fact, few people understand how or even why these measurements are important or what their own roles are in causing the measurements to change.

There is an easy fix...explain it, post it, and change it. Explain why the metric or KPI is established, how it is calculated, why it is important, what the established targets are, and how it is changed by their behavior. Then share the progress and results to see a change toward improvements reflected in the KPIs. For example:

Preventive Maintenance (PM) Compliance

This metric is critical to ensure we complete the PM's on schedule. This metric is applied using the 10% rule. The rule states to ensure compliance simply identify the frequency of the PM and 10% of that frequency gives us a window in which to be compliant. For example a monthly (30-days) PM that is due on the 10th of each month has a compliance window of 1-½ days before the 10th to 1-½ days after in order to be compliant. This metric is calculated by dividing the PM's scheduled by the PM's completed. The target for this metric is 95% per line.

Post this information along with the metric or KPI so that everyone understands and utilizes it. You'll be amazed at how fast the organization responds to information they can understand and the impact from their activities they can see. Not sure where or how to get started? We can help. People and Processes - more than a name it's about the people and giving them sound processes.

Tip provided by Dave Bertolini, Managing Principal
Email:  dbertolini@peopleandprocesses.com
Website: People and Processes, Inc.