2024-05-24 - Employee KPIs - Chewing the Fat 📈

[bradystroud]

https://www.ssw.com.au/rules/employee-kpis/

During your annual review, its important to focus on the most important metrics first, and hopefully it will still enable you to get feedback and work out the big-ticket items for the following 12 months.

People are much more than statistics, KPIs are a good conversation starter.

What's your favorite KPI and why?

[PothieuG]

My favorite one is "Helping others".
You can't build anything great alone and without help. Every help or advise are gold.

[tkapa]

Helping Others - If you can (somehow) quantify this (I don't find Checked Bys to be indicative of the whole story) it would be great.

People are much more than statistics, KPIs are a good conversation starter.

I hope that this holds true :)

[piers-sinclair]

Hey @tkapa

The idea is that all the KPIs are subjectively measured and the source is just a guide point.

So when the KPIs are collated, the reviewer is going to give their own 2c on helping others beyond just checked bys.

For example, they might know that on a certain project they don't use checked bys, but they know that person helps other people out a lot, so they would still give a high score.

[duanxinhuan]

My mom runs a accounting company and I have seen hundreds of companies from smaller to medium scale.
I know what's happening

[calumjs]

I think that naturally turning it into a point system will encourage people to maximise their score rather than doing necessarily what is best for the company.
e.g. it seems like I could improve my KPI by doing a lot less client work (utilisation is only worth up to 1), so I can free up a bunch more time to max out all those non-billable 0.25 weighting scores - exams, videos, updating rules, intranet, sugarlearning, sprint review emails, ctfs (worth a potential 1.75)
If everyone does this it will mean less utilisation, which I don't think is good.

I think I would probably keep it as a private internal number (and weighting system) just to give you a rough idea of how people are doing, but not make it public and not make it the only thing that matters.

[jakebayliss]

You always have great comments Calum

[AntPolkanov]

I think making the weighting system public is crucial as it clearly demonstrates the priorities and avoids people spending an excessive amount of time on nice-to-haves.

[SamBWagner]

Completely agree. If writing random Rules while on client work and doing worse work for clients means that my "number" is better. I'd be quite literally shooting myself in the foot to not do that.

Thankfully integrity stops me from doing so. But, very bad to incentivise that kind of behaviour.

[wicksipedia]

Transparency is 👑
I'm waiting for the release notes when certain KPIs are nerfed/buffed

[tiagov8]

I'd say Spec Reviews because they bring us clients, but in fact each of the KPIs is important in its own way... the weights in the image seem right.

Maybe I would give the 2 "Prospect" a 0.5 weight though. And move "Client Love" next to them

[matt-goldman-ssw]

It's awesome that we're providing transparency into this process here. Although KPIs are by definition measurable, so the qualitative KPIs are by definition not KPIs. See: https://www.kpi.org/kpi-basics/

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the critical (key) quantifiable [emphasis mine] indicators of progress toward an intended result.

[leahy268]

Yes perhaps OKR's are more useful here :) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-viva/what-is-okr-objective-key-results

Some things are definitely hard to put down as a KPI though. How do you measure 'Sentiment'.

[Hona]

Also - progress towards an intended result.
What result are we measuring towards?

[jaydenalchin]

+1 - I like that so many of these are qualitative but seems like those qualitative "KPIs" like client sentiment (arguably the most important one) are recorded as quantitative ratings/scores/metrics on a scale which is ultimately subjective or even arbitrary.

IMO they should be pass/fail goals with notes - "Matt is a pleasure to have in class" - which is inherently harder for employees to gamify.

[SamBWagner]

Couldn't agree more. If we replaced KPIs with data in a study, that study would be laughed out of the building due to subjectivity and poor sample sizing alone. The emphasis should be on the word "Key", meaning that they hold weight and merit. All of these "metrics" are better suited to a coin toss. The assessment would probably track on to reality more closely.

[andrewwaltosssw]

Client utilisation and satisfaction are super important. I also think helping with Business Development is important. I most like the one that tracks training/upskilling effort because they lead to better client work.

[danielmackay]

Helping others - I enjoy working with others to help them grow and learn.

There should be a KPI for being a 'thought leader'. This would include blog posts, speaking at user groups or conferences, and running Superpowers/Workshops.

I like the fact that these are qualitative, and not just a pure measurement of statistics.

I also wonder, this seems very geared towards developers. What about other staff like TV Team, Marketing, Managers?

[Hona]

Good idea & thoughts Dan.

[SamBWagner]

I agree with that. At the very least, total number of tries to get "out there", i.e. do videos, do conferences, etc is at the very least, measurable. I would still hold that there are too many confounding factors to actually glean meaningful value from it though.

The question I ALWAYS ask is one of exclusivity. If, given these KPIs over actually talking to someone or having any information on them. Could you make an informed decision. If the answer is no, they just aren't valuable and we should focus more on what is.

[kikibianc]

Agree - other teams would have some different KPIs, specially SysAdmins. There probably should be a template for each team.

[ncn-ssw]

My favorite KPI is the "KPI 2 - Sentiment - Clients" as it is most likely to lead to further work.

Having had to perform performance reviews in the past, I've found KPIs critical in providing structure and justification for the debrief.

[GabbyWard]

My favourite KPI is KPI 2 - Sentiment - Clients.

While getting the work done and meeting expectations are important, ensuring their is a good standing relationship with the client before/during and after the work is key to laying the ground work for continued support and work, a client more willing to turn over competitors for ideas/work/suggestions and an easier time when working with the client.

[joshbermanssw]

My favourite KPIs tend to be related to 'sentiment - x'. I strongly believe that created relationships, and upholding a positive reputation, is a driver of future work. No-one wants to work with someone they dislike.

[vladislav-kir]

As consultants, "KPI 2 - Sentiment - Clients", in my opinion, is the most important KPI, since it shows how we grow relationships with the clients and reputation as a company.

[ricksu978]

I like "Sentiment - Clients"

If Clients love our work, that's going to keep them coming back and could even help bring in new business through word-of-mouth.

[zacharykeeping]

"Sentiment - Clients" seems like probably the most important for consultants since it's how we keep and get new work.

[JimmyChenSSW]

I like the system, but the weight can be examined to be more practical.
E.g., Clients related may wroth more, and Internal or personal rate (State Managers/ Review Managers) could be less.

[MattParkerDev]

I like the transparency and think this a good starting point. I love the conversation this has sparked and everyone getting involved in this discussion :)

I have seen many people say that KPI 2 - Sentiment - Clients is their favourite KPI, and I probably have to agree? If a client likes you, you must be doing something right - a combination of soft and hard skills that make a valuable consultant.

[jimmidier]

Sentiment - clients
The fundamental of a consulting company

[tomek-i]

Throughout my career, I’ve seen that management often says KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are just discussion points and not strict performance measures. In reality, they often end up being used to judge someone's value or performance based on raw numbers. This can be misleading since these numbers rarely tell the whole story and can be quite subjective.

Client Satisfaction
Client satisfaction seems straightforward but can be distorted by unrealistic expectations. For example, clients with tight budgets may still expect top-tier results, leading to dissatisfaction that doesn't really reflect the team's or individual effort.

Helping Others / Teamwork
Teamwork and helping others are key to a good work environment. Metrics like "checked by" instances might be helpful but don’t fully capture the various ways people contribute. Some roles involve more email communication, while others help in person. Between devs there are is a lot that goes undocumented like rubber duck debugging to name one.

Individual Assessment
Using a one-size-fits-all approach to KPIs isn't always effective. Everyone has unique strengths and roles that might not be captured by the same metrics. Comparing people directly can lead to unfair assessments. It makes more sense to evaluate each person based on their own growth and progress over the past year. This way, we recognize personal development and get more nuanced feedback from peers.

Additional Concerns and Improvements

• Subjectivity of Metrics: Many KPIs are subjective and can be affected by factors outside an individual's control.

  • Example: A developer working on complex backend tasks might not produce as many visible features as a frontend developer but is still contributing significantly.

• Quality Over Quantity: Focusing on quantity-based metrics might lead to rushing work or prioritizing less impactful tasks.

  • Example: High-quality work and meaningful contributions, even if they take more time, should be encouraged.

• Holistic Evaluation: Combining qualitative assessments with quantitative KPIs can give a more balanced view of performance.

  • Example: Regular one-on-one meetings to discuss personal goals, challenges, and achievements can complement KPI data.

Potential Solutions

• Tailored KPIs: Develop KPIs that are tailored to specific roles and responsibilities, acknowledging the diverse ways people contribute.
• Growth and Development Focus: Shift the focus from static metrics to individual growth and development, assessing how employees have progressed over time.
• Peer Feedback: Implement structured peer feedback mechanisms to gather insights on team dynamics and individual contributions that are not easily quantified.
• Contextual Evaluation: Consider the context in which metrics are achieved, recognizing external factors and providing a more nuanced interpretation of the data.

[KristenHu]

Client love - we should focus on clients definitely, that's what we're working for.
BTW, I really think different job levels should have different KPIs, solution architects should have different KPIs from regular engineers🤔

[babakamyljanovssw]

Sentiment - Clients is a important for consultant company and getting more work from clients

[jernejk]

My favorite one is helping others and mentoring. 😊

[miichaelsmedley]

Keeps everyone accountable - good to see SSW is trying to improve this process.

[zl24622]

I like all of the first 3 fundamental ones (Billable, Clients, and Helping others).

If has to pick one, would be the My favorite one is KPI 1 - Clients - Billable

[KostaMadorsky]

I like that there is a balance in total score between between billable/clients and other KPIs.
So, if someone is mostly on client work, they may not be able to contribute much to other KPIs.
At the same time, if someone does not have a client for some period, they can score extra points in other KPIs.

[Marxoz]

If I have to pick one, Sentiment - Clients. Although that would be hard to measure.

[YalalCakirSSW]

Sentiment - Clients is the most important one among the list.

[bahjatalaadelssw]

I'm happy to give advice on a concise framework. I've done performance management in the past 😉

[tino-liu]

Sentiment - clients
For consulting, this is so important as it directly provides client retention and improves company reputation

[bettybondoc]

Top Pick: KPI 2 - Sentiment - Clients
Runner-up: Helping Others

Skills are important, but so is attitude. I’d always pick a good team player over a brilliant lone wolf. ✨

[ozair-ashfaque]

My favorite one is : Helping others