One of the main reasons that our performance measurement practice fails to produce good KPIs is that we rush through it to quickly. (more…)

Managers and Executives don't usually invest in performance measurement, they invest in the benefits that good performance measurement will bring them, so long as those benefits are relevant to what's on their radar right now. And that's the role of a good KPI business case: to show how better performance measurement can make it easier and faster to achieve their priorities.

Imagine there is a universe of measures. It's the all-encompassing collection of anything an organisation happens to measure. Navigating through the universe of measures, to decide how, when, why and whether to use each of them, is a massively overwhelming task.

Too often we assume that performance measurement depends on technical systems, like a business intelligence system or dashboard application. But for performance measurement to become entrenched in how our organisations work, it's the non-technical systems that matter most.

Nijntje, or Miffy as she is known in English-speaking countries, is the little rabbit character who is drawn with only a few simple lines and primary colours. Yet she's meaningfully recognisable as a little rabbit. She doesn't need any more detail to be meaningful. But any less detail and she looks incomplete. Goals that are meaningfully measurable are just like Nijntje.

Robert D. Behn is a lecturer at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a passionate advocate for public sector performance. His regular Performance Leadership Report is always succinct and salient. His definition of performance management, versus performance measurement, clearly puts the responsibility on leade...

Measuring performance takes some time and effort. But is that a good reason to rely only on readily-available data? (more…)

Can you prove that measuring and monitoring people's performance actually does improve the performance of the organisation? I'll be you can't. A very fundamental dynamic prevents it.

Despite frameworks about what makes a goal worth measuring, like SMART, many of our goals are still not meaningfully measurable. Try these 5 questions instead... (more…)

I'm often asked how to measure people. Managers, executives and human resource professionals all want to know how to cascade company goals to individuals, and put measures in their performance agreements. It's the toughest question I am ever asked, because my answer isn't what they want to hear.