Measuring productivity … what, why and how
“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. ” Paul Meyer
Employee productivity drives business success. No matter what kind of business you’re in, it is critical to have accurate performance measures in order to assess overall business progress, establish targets and managing performance proactively. Having this information not only helps you to assess individual skills, engagement and productivity but also allows you to identify gaps and plan for future needs.
Productivity can be defined as the ratio of total output to total input. There are many intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting employee productivity which makes it challenging to accurately measure. The key is to focus on quantifiable factors (key performance indicators) that are clearly linked to goals and drivers of success in your business/sector.
Key Measures & Tools to Improve Productivity
For sales and service roles you will likely want to consider both observable behaviors and quantitative measures:
1. Observable Behaviors:
- How well they have fulfilled duties and contributed to overall company productivity
2. Quantitative Measures:
- Sales: total sales by time period or $, number of calls/sales made to both current and potential customers, expenses per sale/new customer acquisition
- Service: service times for a customer (process incoming calls, fulfill orders), customer retention rates, return rates, number of customer complaints in a given time period
3. Measurement & Development Tools:
4. Next Steps:
- Identify gaps and reassess individual/team targets and goals
- Create individual/team development plans (assess, train, coach/mentor)
- Allocate resources needed to support plans and drive productivity
- Further resources and support with increasing employee productivity, can be found in both the “Services” and “Resources” sections on our website